BETTER FRUIT 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTEREST OF MODERN, PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



New Plums and Prunes for the Pacific Northwest 



By C. I. Lewis, Chief Division of Hurtitulture, Oregon Agiicultural College, Corvallis, Oiegon. 



THE material facts in this article 

 were largely obtained through cor- 

 respondence with successt'id plum 

 growers of California and of the Pacific 

 Northwest, and some of the jirincipal 

 buyers and handlers of green plums 

 and prunes in the various markets. We 

 all know how successfully plums and 

 prunes arc grown in the Pacific North- 

 west. There are relatively few pests to 

 contend with, and this class of fruit is 

 perhaps grown more easily than any 

 other type of fruit we are producing. 



At the present time Western Oregon 

 and Western Washington are producing 

 about thirty million pounds of dried 

 prunes annually. Occasionally a few 

 carloads of green prunes are shipped 

 during those seasons when Idaho has a 

 light crop and there is a general short- 

 age of fresh fruit in Eastern markets. 

 The Champion is being planted some- 

 what, especially in Western Oregon, 

 and being disposed of largely in such 

 markets as .Seattle and Portland, while 

 considerable shiiiment is being sent to 

 Alaska. In Eastern Washington, in such 

 sections as Yakima and Walla Walla 

 Valleys, and in Oregon, in such regions 

 as The Dalles, Freewater, Milton and 

 Cove, and in Idaho, in such valleys as 

 Payette and Boise, considerable quan- 

 tity of green prunes and plums are be- 

 ing shippefl largely to Eastern markets. 

 In a normal season, Idaho alone will 

 ship eighteen hundred carloads of 

 prunes, chiefly Italian and some Trag- 

 edy and Hungarian. Walla Walla re- 

 ports two hundred and twenty-five 

 cars, but this tonnage will be increased 

 to a thousand cars annually. There are 

 at the present time in the Walla Walla 

 Valley, not counting this year's plant- 

 ing, ,Sl,9.i.^ Italian prune trees seven 

 years old or younger. The variety pro- 

 duced in all of these sections is chiefly 

 Italian, with Tragedy and Hungarian 

 increasing. The price at the present 

 time receive<l for Hungarian and Trag- 

 edy is greater than that received for 

 Italian, but this condition is probably 

 only temporary, due to the relatively 

 small amount of these prunes. With 

 the increased yield and acreage there 

 will be very little difference in the 

 price between any of the first class 

 shipping plums. In addition to the 

 varieties already named, there are mis- 

 cellaneous plantings of several plums 

 and a sprinkling here and there of the 

 Japanese varieties. In the vicinity of 

 Portland there are large ciuantities of 

 plums produced which are handled in 

 a very poor way, and a considerable 

 percentage of the crop is of inferior 

 grade. 



The greatest weakness in green prune 

 and plum production in the Northwest 

 at the present time is the fact that the 

 Italian is being planted almost exclu- 

 sively, and while there will always be 

 splendid markets for this plum, as the 

 Italian ijrobably holds the first place 

 in popularity and in carrying qualities, 

 nevertheless, there seems to be danger 

 that we may specialize too much on 

 this one variety and that we are neg- 

 lecting other varieties which may suc- 

 ceed fully as well. We know in the 



Features of this Issue 



NEW PLUMS AND PRUNES FOR THE 

 PACIFIC NORTHWEST 



THE APPLE AS A FARM PRODUCT 



—HISTORY AND PRESENT 



STATUS 



SPLENDID VARIETY OF FRAN- 



QUETTE ■W^ALNUTS 



SOIL MANAGEMENT AND 

 IRRIGATION 



MOVING THE FRITIT GROWER 

 INTO TOV^T^ 



USE CIF DYNAMITE ON THE 

 FARM 



Northwest that we must have not only 

 a more diversified horticulture, but in 

 the case of plums and prunes, a more 

 diversified isroduction. 



Our plums and prunes are shipping 

 east in very good condition and arrive 

 in European markets. Most of the large 

 Eastern markets will handle this class 

 of fruit as long as it arrives in good 

 condition. In 1912 the earliest plums 

 from the Yakima Valley were shipjjed 

 about July 2Ci. In 1914 the ripening 

 season came about fifteen (lavs earlier 

 than the season of 1912. In 1013, at 

 Eugene, Oregon, the Santa Rosa ripened 

 August 10, Climax August \'^. nuibank 

 August 20, and Wickson September 7. 

 The season of 191-1 was about ten days 

 earlier than this. This section of the 

 Willametle Valley reports Santa Rosa 

 and Hungarian as being very ])romis- 

 ing. The Santa Rosa has been picked, 

 held for two weeks and shipped across 

 the contineni in small packages in good 

 condition. While the California season 

 is much earlier than the ripening time 

 in the Pacific Northwest, we will come 

 into comi)etition with them, but their 

 I)hims are largely out of the way be- 

 fore the Northwestern i)liuns are ready 

 for ship|)iug. The Pacific Northwest 



has a wide range of ripening. Such a 

 point as Cove, in Eastern Oregon, is 

 nearly a month later than some of the 

 lower inland valleys. This difference 

 in ripening, however, is a distinct ad- 

 vantage to both sections and gives much 

 less competition. 



There is a possibility that some of 

 the plums which grow to such a large 

 size and have such remarkable color in 

 California, will not do equally as well 

 in the Pacific Northwest. Time alone 

 will demonstrate this point. The North 

 Pacific grower, in attempting to handle 

 some of these newer varieties, will 

 have to prune heavih and thin vigor- 

 ously if he is to get the perfection in 

 size and color. This is especially true 

 of all of the heavy bearers and rank 

 growers. In California there is a great 

 interest being shown in the production 

 of shipping plums. While attending a 

 convention of fruit growers in Cali- 

 fornia last year, the writer was im- 

 pressed by the fact that no subject 

 treated aroused more interest than the 

 subject of new varieties of jjluins and 

 prunes for shipping. California grow- 

 ers are vying with each other in pro- 

 ducing new varieties of superior excel- 

 lence. The shipping period in Califor- 

 nia comes very early. For 1914 the 

 shipping period from the Vacaville dis- 

 trict, which is one of the earliest in 

 the slate, are as follows: First ship- 

 ment of Beauty, May 23; Tragedy, May 

 24; Formosa, May 27; Burbank, May 29; 

 Climax, May 29; Santa Rosa, May 31; 

 California Red, June .">; Gaviota, June 

 12; California Blue, June 12; Wickson, 

 June 23; Diamond. June 23; Grand 

 Duke, June 25; Hungarian, July 7; 

 Giant, July 13. The season for each 

 variety of plums in this district is 

 about three weeks. One of the best 

 prune and plum authorities of Califor- 

 nia has kindly prepared for me a table 

 giving the quality, shi|jping and bearing 

 char.Mcleristics of the ijrincipal ship- 

 ping plums and prunes produced in that 

 state, and while these scores would not 

 hold true for all districts, they are, 

 nevertheless, very interesting, showing 

 the keen attention (^alifornians are giv- 

 ing to this business: 



Quality Shipping Hearing 



lieanly lOn 7.'i(?) 1011 



Hinbiink .iO ion 100 



Giaiul Duke 100 lOO 90 



Diam.MKi 100 lOO 100 



Califiiinia Heel 7,') 7."> 25 



Califiiiiiia Uliie 100 inn 



Tragedy 100 100 ."lO 



Wickson 7.5 inn .50 



(liant 7.5 inn 100 



C.aviola 75 inil 100 



I'oiiiuisa 100 100 75 



Hcingarian 100 100 50 



Cliniax 90 100 100 



Sania Kosa T5 100 100 



