BETTER FRUIT 



EDITOR: W. H. WALTON 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



OREGON— C. I. Lewis. Horticulturist. 



WASHINGTON — Dr. A. L. Melander, Entoraologlst ; 

 O. M. Morris. Horticulturist, Pullman. 



COLORADO — C. P. Gillette. Director and Entomologist : 

 E. B. House. Irrigation Espert. State Agricultural College. 

 Fort Collins. 



ARIZONA— E. P. Taylor. Horticulturist. Tucson. 



WISCONSIN— Dr. E. D. Ball. Madison. 



MONTANA — O. B. Whipple. Horticulturist. Bozeman. 



CALIFORNIA — C. W. Woodworth. Entomologist. Berke- 

 ley; W. H. Volclt. Entomologist. Watsonrille; Leon D. 

 Batchelor, Horticulturist. Riverside. 



INDIANA— H. S. Jackson. Pathologist. Lafayette. 



An Illustrated Magazine Devoted to the Interests 



of Modern, Progressive Fruit Growing 



and Marketing. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



703 Oregonian Building 



PORTLAND, OREGON 



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 Remittances made payable to 



BETTER FRUIT PUBLISHING COMPANY 



Subscription Price; 



In the United States, $1.00 per year in advance. 



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Entered as second-class matter April 22, 1918, 



at the Postofflce at Portland, Oregon, under 



the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 



Volume XI^' 



Portland, Oregon, November 1, 1919 



Number 5 



The Tractor in the Orchard — Its Selection Important 



WITH prospects of the most 

 successful year for orchard 

 products in the history of the 

 industry this year, 1920 looms up as the 

 period in which many tractors will be 

 bought by fruit growers. The tractor is 

 particularly alluring to the orchardist, 

 as in most cases he grows no other crop 

 and has to buy horse feed the year 

 around. By using a tractor he can dis- 

 pense with horsepower entirely, as the 

 advent of the motor truck is rapidly 

 taking care of most of the hauling from 

 orchard to railroad. 



With ninety per cent of the orchard- 

 ists of the Northwest in possession of 

 automobiles, their fond hope now is to 

 secure a tractor. This fact is shown by 

 the large number of inquiries that are 

 being made in sections of the country 

 where tractors are being used in 

 orchards and also by the quest for in- 

 formation from the engineering depart- 

 ments of agricultural colleges. 



From investigations made by the 

 agricultural colleges it is found that 

 over seventy-five per cent of the 

 orchardists who are using tractors are 

 satisfied with the results they are get- 

 ting and state that the only question as 

 to the efliciency of a tractor in an 

 orchard is in the right selection. 



So many inquiries of this character 

 have been directed to the engineering 

 department of the Agricultural College 

 of California that .1. B. Davidson, con- 

 nected with the state college experi- 

 mental farm at Davis, recently pub- 

 lished a short bulletin on the subject, 

 entitled "Selecting a Tractor for the 

 Orchard or N'ineyard." In handling the 

 question Mr. Davidson says that the 

 largest number of inquiries that are 

 now being received on tractors refer to 

 what kind of a tractor to select. "This," 

 he continues, "perhaps indicates that 

 the selection of a tractor is not only a 

 problem with a large number of ranch- 

 ers, but also is a very perplexing one. 

 Three or four years ago the inquiries 

 were concerning the relative economy 

 of tractor and horsepower, but now this 

 question is not so prominent, and the 

 outstanding question is, what kind of a 

 tractor to buy. It is not always i)ossible 

 to answer this question. However, 

 when the conditions under which the 



By W. H. Walton 



tractor must work are known, it is 

 easier to offer definite suggestions. 



"In buying a tractor the dealer is 

 almost as important to the purchaser as 

 the machine itself. This conclusion is 

 inevitable after coming in contact with 

 an occasional example of bad faith on 

 the part of the dealer or manufacturer 



toward the purchaser. The sale of a 

 tractor should carry with it a guarantee 

 and assurance based upon the responsi- 

 bility of the house making the sale, that 

 the tractor sold is adapted to the work 

 for which it is purcha.sed, and that the 

 seller intends to help make the tractor 

 a good investment. The view held by a 



'1 



A Clctrac Plowing in a Large Orchard. 



