August, ipip 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 9 



The Regeneration of the Prune— A Prediction Fulfilled 



[Editor's Note. — The article printed be- 

 low was written for Better Fruit by Mr. H. S. 

 Gile of Salem, Ore., and published ten years 

 ago. It is interesting to note that the pre- 

 dictions of Mr. Gile, who has always been 

 a firm supporter of the superiority of the 

 Oregon prune and the future market for it, 

 have come true. The production of Oregon 

 prunes in 1918 reached nearly 60,000,000 

 pounds and it is believed if it were doubled 

 this year there would be a demand at profit- 

 able prices that would absorb it all. While 

 land values in the district mentioned in this 

 article have become higher, there is said to 

 be an opportunity to still purchase good prune 

 land at §100 an acre and even less than this 

 figure, in the Willamette valley. Prices for 

 bearing orchards are considered conservative 

 considering their income producing power at 

 the present time. In this section as in others 

 the motor truck has lessened the handicap of 

 distance from shipping points. Although there 

 has been a marked improvement in the con- 

 struction and operation of evaporation plants, 

 the cost of labor and materials have increased. 

 But, comparing income and cost with former 

 years, the grower is receiving a much greater 

 return. Owing to the scarcity and high cost 

 of labor, cheaper methods of packing fresh 

 prunes have been adopted. This eliminates 

 much of the hand work and consists in using 

 a receptacle called a suit case box in place 

 of the hand packed four basket crates. The 

 suit case box is made with one side open into 

 which the fruit is carefully poured and set- 

 tled solidly into place when the side is nailed 

 on. It is true that the prices of all fruits have 

 appreciated, but considering the low ebb to 

 which the prune had fallen the increase in 

 price and demand for none of them is as 

 great as the prune, with the exception of the 

 loganberry.] 



APPLES, pears, cherries and wal- 

 nuts have been so much to the 

 front during the past few years 

 that the man who would venture to ad- 

 vocate any other variety of fruit, to say 

 the least, would be very much out of 

 fashion, if indeed, he could expect to 

 receive any attention whatsoever. The 

 writer has been from the very incep- 

 tion of the industry, a firm believer in 

 the Oregon prune, and has never for- 

 saken nor been turned aside by the 

 fabulous tales of wealth in growing 

 and marketing six-dollar apples and 

 ten-dollar pears. 



That this great Northwest is pe- 

 culiarly adapted to the production of 

 many varieties of fruit is no longer 

 questioned, and experience has clearly 

 shown that certain localities are espe- 

 cially adapted to certain fruits, and 

 still further that cetiain varieties of 

 these special fruits do better in spe- 

 cific localities and at different eleva- 



By H. S. Gile, Salem, Oregon 



tions; hence, there is no occasion of 

 rivalry — certainly not for jealousy — 

 because the Hood River district may 

 grow to perfection a certain type of 

 apple, and the Medford district may 

 produce to just as great perfection 

 Comice and Bartlett pears. And while 

 apples, pears and all of the decidu- 

 ous fruits, berries, nuts, etc., are pro- 

 duced in a great abundance and to a 

 more or less perfect degree in the Wil- 

 lamette Valley, it also remains for this 

 great valley to win and to hold the 

 reputation of growing, preparing and 

 selling the finest prunes grown any- 

 where in the wide world. The grow- 

 ing of this fine fruit is still in its in- 

 fancy; we have only touched the 

 fringe of that which will be done in 

 the future, as the real merit of this 

 fruit becomes more widely and gen- 

 erally known. 



Salem is the most important center 

 for both marketing and growing the 

 Oregon prune. Orchards cover many 

 of the elevations surrounding the city, 

 and especially in the Liherty-Rose- 

 dale district, from four to eight miles 

 south of the city, where tlie countr\ 

 is given over almost entirely to prunr 

 orcharding. Fine land in this district, 

 splendidly adapted to this particular 

 branch of horticulture, can still be had 

 for .$100 per acre and less, according 

 to location. In fact, full bearing orch- 

 ards can be bought for less money 

 than they are actually worth, simply 

 because the owners have not yet 

 awakened to the great future which is 

 surely in store for this industry, and 

 have not yet learned to ask the fabul- 

 ous prices which are being paid for 

 orchards of other varieties of fruit 

 in other districts, and possibly they 

 have scarcely even figured the actual 

 returns upon any fixed acreage valua- 

 tion for their orchards. Western 

 Washington may be classed with the 

 Willamette Valley in the production of 

 a high grade, cured prune, though not 

 able to produce crops so regularly as 

 the higher elevations in the best val- 

 ley districts. Eastern Washington, 

 Idaho and certain sections of Eastern 



Oregon also grow prunes (Fallenburg 

 plums) which possess less merit for 

 curing, but have fine canning quali- 

 ties in their fresh state and conse- 

 quently are shipped green almost en- 

 tirely. For green shipping the fruit 



Packing fresh prunes at Toppenish in the Yakima \;tll<j, \\;isliilinti;li. 



Average type of small prune dryer in 

 Douglas County. Oregon. 



must be very carefully picked from 

 the trees and should be so handled as 

 to retain as much as possible of the 

 natural bloom Of the fruit. It is then 

 carefully placed in baskets holding 

 about five pounds each; four of these 

 baskets constitute what is called a 

 crate. The crates are then, as quickly 

 as possible, placed in refrigerated 

 cars, spaced and stripped so that each 

 crate shall have a free circulation of 

 cold air upon all sides of it, and in 

 this condition prunes will carry in per- 

 fect condition to almost any market in 

 this or foreign countries. On the othe'^ 

 hand, fruit of the same variety grown 

 in Western Washington and in the 

 Willamette Valley will not carry so 

 well, but possesses all of the elements 

 which go to make up a rich cured 

 jiroduct, and it is grown exclusively 

 for that purpose. 



The ordinary orchard contains from 

 fifteen to forty acres, although there 

 are two or three tracts in the valley 

 much larger. For an ordinary sized 

 family a thirty-five to forty-acre orch- 

 ard is about the most profitable size. 

 One man and team will do the work of 

 cultivation comfortably and have time 

 for oilier work. Outside help will be 

 required for a few days during the 

 winicr spraying, and possibly some as- 

 sistance will be needed at i)runing 

 lime, but very little money will be 

 expended for labor outside of the one 

 Mian and one team until the time of 

 gathering and curing comes on. The 

 (irchardisl will then pay from five to 

 six cents |)er bushel to the men, women 

 Continued on page 25. 



