Page 14 



BETTER FRUIT 



Julv 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



official Organ of The Northwest Fruit Growers* Afisoclation 

 A Monthly Illustrated Jlagazine Published In the 

 Intei^st of Modem Fruit Growing and Marlieting 



AU Communications Should Be Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



E. H. SHEPARD, Editor and Publisher 

 H. E. VAN DEMAN, Contlibutlng Editor 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 

 OREGON 



C. I. Lewis, Horticulturist Corvallls 



H. S. Jackson, Pathologist Corvallls 



H. F, Wilson, Entomologist Coirallls 



WASHINGTON 



Dr. A. L. Melander. Entomologist Pullman 



O. M. MoiTls, Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C P. Gillette, Director and Entomologist Fort Collins 



E. B. House. Chief of Department of Civil and Irrigation 



Engineering. State Agricultural College Fort Collins 



E. P. Taylor, Horticulturist Grand Junction 



IDAHO 



W. H. Wicks, Horticulturist Moscow 



W. S. Thomber. Horticulturist Lewiston 



UTAH 



Dr. E. D. Ball. Director and Entomologist Logan 



MONTANA 



O. B. Whipple. Horticulturist Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



C. W. Woodworth, Entomologist Berkeley 



W, H. Volch. Entomologist Watsonvllle 



Leon D. Batchelor. Horticulturist Riverside 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 

 R. M. Wlnalow. Provincial Horticulturist Victoria 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: 



In the United States. $1.00 per year in advance 



Canada and foreign, including postage, $1.50 



ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION 



Entered as second-class matter December 27. 1906, at the 



Postofflce at Hood River. Oregon, under Act 



of Congress of March 3. 1879. 



The Apple Crop of 1915. — Last year, 

 it is generally assumed, the apple crop 

 of the United States amounted to fifty 

 million barrels. The Agricultural Opti- 

 mist estimated the crop at forty million 

 barrels. In all probability the former 

 estimate of fifty million barrels is more 

 nearly correct. Apparently, from gen- 

 eral reports all over the United States 

 early in June, the apnle crop this year 

 is the shortest the editor remembers in 

 the last thirteen years, during the time 

 he has been an apple grower. The cen- 

 sensus of opinion seems to estimate the 

 crop of the United States at about fiftv 

 per cent of last year, or in all probabil- 

 ity less than fifty per cent of last year, 

 which would mean twenty to twenty- 

 five million barrels. However, there is 

 much in store in the way of the June 

 drop, which has not been reported on 

 fully at the time of going to press with 

 this edition. Drouth and disease are 

 apt to be factors in reducing the crop 

 during the balance of the year, so it 

 seems safe to assume at the present 

 time that the apple crop of the United 

 States will probably not exceed fifty 

 per cent of last year and maybe less. 

 Every year during the last thirteen 

 years in which the editor has been en- 

 gaged in apple growing in Hood River, 

 when the crop did not exceed thirty- 

 five million barrels the apple grower 

 got good prices, so the prospect this 

 year looks very good indeed for good 

 money for the grower, as well as for 

 the dealer. 



few leaders. Frequently some leaders 

 are hobbyists, therefore the Northwest 

 has occasionally gone to extremes in 

 the past. This has been noticeably true 

 in reference to clean cultivation. Too 

 much clean cultivation has exhausted 

 the humus of the soil and depleted the 

 nitrogen content, and therefore many 

 orchards are bearing less than they 

 should and the general condition of the 

 orchard is somewhat off. This is indi- 

 cated both by light crops and light 

 colored foliage, the leaves frequently 

 turning yellow too early in the fall. 

 The orchardists are now turning to 

 cover crops. July and August are good 

 months for sowing. If your orchard is 

 not bearing right or does not have the 

 right colored foliage investigate cover 

 cropping. The cover crops most fre- 

 quently used are clover, alfalfa and 

 vetch. 



A good many orchardists who have 

 planted cover crops in the orchard do 

 not understand that they require con- 

 siderably more water, consequently 

 many orchards are suffering instead of 

 being benefitted by cover crops, because 

 the fruit grower does not irrigate sufTi- 

 ciently. Cover crops take the moisture 

 from the soil very rapidly, leaving not 

 enough for orchard requirements, there- 

 fore fruit growers who have cover 

 crops in the orchard should give the 

 matter especial attention and see that 

 the moisture condition is maintained 

 evenly throughout the orchard and that 

 the soil is kept in a nice moist condi- 

 tion during the balance of the growing 

 season. 



Home Canning. — The fruit grower, 



more than anyone else, should put up 

 enough canned fruit to last until the 

 next year. Tliey can do this because 

 the only cost involved is the cost of 

 production. Everv fruit grower should 

 have a home canning outfit. These can 

 be obtained at a very reasonable price. 

 The advantages of home canning outfits 

 are many. The work is done scientifi- 

 cally, without any danger of spoiling. 

 It is done more rapidly. A home can- 

 ning outfit can be operated by gasoline, 

 which costs a great deal less than the 

 amount of wood that is required where 

 canning is done on the cook stove, be- 

 sides when the weather is hot during 

 the summer a home canning outfit is 

 much more comfortable, as it can be 

 operated outdoors, instead of heating 

 up the kitchen. In addition to tliis, a 

 home canning outfit operates much 

 more rapidly and saves time. 



Cover Crops. — The orchard industry 



of the Northwest has been given some- 

 what to extremes, probably due to the 

 fact that a large percentage of orchard- 

 ists were comparatively new in the 

 business and followed the example of a 



Scab. — Scab is more or less prevalent 

 in humid apple districts this season, 

 with a considerable quantity in semi- 

 arid districts. The experiment stations 

 have devoted considerable time to tliis 

 subject in various sections throughout 

 the Northwest. An excellent schedule 

 for preventiim of scab has been pre- 

 pared by the .\gricultural College at 

 Pullman, Washington, which gives ex- 

 cellent advice. The experiment station 

 at Corvallis, Oregon, has bad to contend 

 with scab more than any other experi- 

 ment station of the Northwest. Their 



recommendations have been excellent, 

 but the main trouble seems to be that 

 the fruit growers do not follow instruc- 

 tions. Excessive scab this year in nearly 

 every instance is due to one of the fol- 

 lowing causes: Not spraying with the 

 right fungicides; not spraying at the 

 right time; not spraying thoroughly or 

 not spraying frequently enough. In 

 nearly every case where there is an 

 excessive amount of scab, where care- 

 ful investigation and inquiry has been 

 made it has been ascertained that the 

 grower has been remiss in some one of 

 the requirements referred to in this 

 brief editorial. 



Tree Propping. — Orchardists are gen- 

 erally becoming more progressive every 

 year, the business now being done in a 

 very scientific and efficient manner. It 

 is the aim of "Better Fruit" editorially 

 to call attention to many features in 

 connection with the orchard business 

 that will be helpful to the grower. 



There is nothing more short-sighted 

 than for orchardists to allow the limbs 

 with heavy loads to be weighted down 

 to the ground. The loss is severe, as 

 many limbs break off if not carefully 

 propped. In addition to this, when 

 limbs are severely bent with heavy 

 loads they never fully go back, nor can 

 they be pulled back to a natural, nor- 

 mal, upright position. Consequently it 

 seems wise that the fruit grower should 

 be urged to begin propping early and 

 we would atlvise them to do the job 

 very thoroughly, too. 



A good many growers use forked 

 sticks which they get out of the woods, 

 but these are not very satisfactory and 

 are difiicult to obtain in many districts, 

 where there are no forests from which 

 to secure them. Consequently tree prons 

 have been invented which ai'e very effi- 

 cient and which are so constructed that 

 the limbs are not bruised when they 

 are propped. 



"Better Fruit" aims to secure adver- 

 tising from all firms who have any 

 modern conveniences for the orchard- 

 ist, in order that he may be informed 

 of the latest and best articles on the 

 market. 



Apple Graders. — The editor of "Better 



Fruit" bought the first api^le grader 

 which was ever sold in the Northwest, 

 in the year 1911. Since then several 

 different makes of grading machines 

 have been invented and are being put 

 on the nKirkct, all of them giving very 

 good satisfaction, (irowers have found 

 by actual exiierience and also by obser- 

 vation that b> using grading machines 

 in ijacking houses a saving of from five 

 to ten cents per box can be made in the 

 harvesting expenses. Therefore we sug- 

 gest to all growers the advisability of 

 investigating the different fruit sizers 

 which are being placed on the market 

 this year and jiurcbasing what they 

 want in time to make a saving on this 

 year's crop. 



This year the growers want to make 

 as much money as possible and at the 

 same time to save as much monex as 

 possible. 



