Page 14 



BETTER FRUIT 



An Illustrated Magazine Devoted to the Interests 



of Modern Fruit Growing and Marketing. 



Published Monthly 



by 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



703 Oregonian Building 

 PORTLAND, OREGON 



The Tractor for Orchard Work. 



The efTiciency of the tractor in the 

 orchard is no longer a mooted question. 

 Its adaptability and economical opera- 

 tion for orchard work have been fully 

 demonstrated, and the main question 

 with the average orchardist who is con- 

 templating the purchase of one of these 

 machines now is, what kind of a tractor 

 to select. 



.\ tractor for an orchard should, like 

 a well pruned tree, be "low headed," in 

 order that it will not injure the 

 branches of the trees and can be driven 

 close enough to them to allow the im- 

 plement it is pulling to cover the sur- 

 face nearest the trees. It should be built 

 so that it can be turned in a small space. 

 It should also be quick acting and have 

 plenty of reserve power for emergency 

 pulls on hilly ground without being un- 

 wieldy and expensive to operate. 



While there are other features that 

 will suggest themselves to the intending 

 purchaser, these are the most important 

 requirements for a tractor for the 

 orchard. The tractor with the right 

 requirements is undoubtedly the ideal 

 power for the orchardist whose mode 

 of production is intensive, whose acre- 

 age in most instances is limited, and 

 who, on this account, grows little if 

 any forage crops with which to feed 

 horses. The horse must be fed whether 

 idle or active. The tractor only eats 

 when it works, and, given proper care, 

 is always ready for work. Irj addition 

 it will perform many duties that cannot 

 be done by horses. 



Fortunately there are now a number 

 of tractors on the market that fill the 

 needs of the orchardist. To the intend- 

 ing purchaser, therefore, the paramount 

 thing is in making the right selection — 

 that is, make the selection with the idea 

 always in mind that the tractor is for 

 the orchard first and for other things 

 afterward. 



Better Fruit Packages. 



The fine grade and pack of apples put 

 up in the Northwest has been one of 

 the most important contributing causes 

 in securing for the fruit of this section 

 better prices. Other things have helped, 

 of course, such as good quality, superior 

 color and long keeping characteristics. 



But all the apples containing these 

 desirable qualities are not grown in the 

 Northwest, and the apple growing dis- 

 tricts of the Middle West and the East 

 have not been asleep during the past 

 few years. They are now carefully 

 grading and packing their apples, 

 whether packed in boxes, baskets or 

 barrels. Grading and sizing machines 

 adapted to the style of pack they put 

 out have been adopted and their com- 

 petition with Northwest fruit is becom- 

 ing keener each year. 



BETTER FRUIT 



To some extent this is a procedure 

 that can be welcomed by the Western 

 box apple grower, as it is resulting in 

 eliminating a large quantity of inferior 

 fruit. At the same time the Northwest 

 grower nuist bring himself to the reali- 

 zation that perfection in grading is one 

 of his greatest trump cards and that it 

 must be looked to with constant care. 



This improvement in fruit packages 

 is marching around the globe. It is 

 being taken up in Australia and South 

 Africa, Canada and Nova Scotia, and it 

 remains for America and particularly 

 the Pacific Northwest to remain in the 

 lead. 



"More Bees, More Fruit." 



Without an exception experts on 

 orchard fruits are recommending the 

 keeping of bees in or near an orchard 

 to assist in pollination. This course is 

 recommended in addition to the plant- 

 ing of a certain number of trees of 

 other varieties that are known to be 

 pollinators in large orchard blocks of 

 one particular variety. It has come to 

 be recognized that bees are one of the 

 most valuable assets that the orchardist 

 can have and that the beekeeping in- 

 dustry should be stimulated and pro- 

 tected in orchard districts in every way 

 possible. In fact, it will pay the 

 orchardist to make a study of the bee- 

 keeping industry and to place as many 

 hives as he believes will secure the 

 necessary food in or near his orchard, 

 regardless of the income he may secure 

 from the honey. 



This course has been advised by 

 many prominent fruit growers in the 

 Northwest. In Washington a campaign 

 is being conducted to raise more bees 

 and to protect them. In California the 

 same action is being urged, while the 

 matter is also receiving the endorse- 

 ment and approval of a large number 

 of growers in Oregon. 



A good slogan in waging this cam- 

 paign for increasing the number of 

 these valuable insects would be "More 

 Bees, More Fruit," and every orchardist 

 should bear this in mind. 



The Penalty for Neglect. 



In an article recently published in a 

 Hood River paper Mr. Leroy Childs, 

 entomologist at the local experiment 

 station, sounds a serious note of warn- 

 ing to growers in that section to not to 

 neglect to spray for anthracnose. This 

 same warning has been sounded to 

 growers by experts in Washington and 

 other sections of the Northwest. 



It is pointed out by these experts that 

 once this tree disease becomes deep- 

 seated in an orchard it is more to be 

 feared than swarms of codling moth or 

 insect pests, which can be controlled if 

 the proper spraying methods are pur- 

 sued. Anthracnose can also be con- 

 trolled in its early stages if the trees are 

 sprayed when it is developing, viz., in 

 the fall just before the heavy rains set 

 in. With a profitable fruit crop being 

 taken from the trees, many growers 

 seem to forget that another year of 

 harvest is coming. Why not remember 

 that it takes a healthy tree to continue 

 to bring this harvest and take the 



November, igip 



necessary precautions to eliminate this 

 most serious tree disease? 



This is an instance where the old 

 adage, "A bird in the hand is worth two 

 in the bush," doesn't work out, for if 

 you kill the bush you will have no 

 birds. 



RECLAIMED. 



(An Ode to the Yakima Valley.) 

 By Alice Crocker. 



I belong to the land of the golden west, 



The land of the bright sunshine, 

 Where myriads of songbirds build their nests. 



Winging their "way from every clime. 

 Back to the gUul springtime. 



The land of the rosy-cheeked apples rare. 

 Where the orchards bloom and flowers fair. 



And far beyond them the desert stretches 

 Ai-e lost in those misty, magic spaces — 

 In the purple haze of the air. 



If you travel the highway, the Scenic Highway, 

 If you list you can hear any time, any day. 



In notes sweet and clear, in coats of gray. 

 The meadow larks singing their roundelay. 



Nature's granaries are full unto bursting. 



Years past and present yield profits untold. 

 The reason? you question; the answer, I give it: 



'Tis soil — irrigation — reclamation — and grit. 



Atop of the hills beyond the fair city. 



Away to the top of the hills. 

 What is it? A serpent, a monster crawling? 



What is it afar, avay up on the hill, 

 Encircling the crest of the hill? 



'Tis the siphon, the flume up yonder 



That causes the water to flow 

 In and out, across the valley beyond. 



'Til it blossoms like the golden glow. 

 Like the shining golden glow. 



'Tis the wonderful way the West has 



Of reclaiming the desert sands; 

 Changing the face of the landscape 



Into the fairest of lands. 



It's not merely a question of luck. 



Neither is it a question of pull; 

 The acres and sunshine and climate 



Are for fellows with plenty of pluck. 



So, if you are coming to Washington, stop 

 Where the people "go over the top"; 



For a cause that is right 



They will boost main and might 

 'Til what they're after's in sight. 



There is room for you, countless millions. 

 Join the ranks that are passing by 



To the land of the western horizon; — 

 Y'ou shall flourish and live for aye. 



Peace and plenty shall crown your endeavors; 



Though you may not be acquainted with fame, 

 Y'ou may add to your laurels and ours; 



All you need is to get into the game. 



What Newspapers Interested in Fruit 

 Are Saying 



Portland's fruit paper. Better Fruit, is 

 widely read. — Portland Telegram. 



Maybe you have a hard row to hoe because 

 you don't like to hoe. — Toppenish (Wash.) 

 Heview. 



Cull apples have their choice this year of 

 being dried or going to the cider mill. — Med- 

 fnrd (Ore.) Mall. 



Apple buyers are not so numerous as they 

 were before the meeting of the International 

 Apple Shippers. — Yakima Valley Optimist. 



Our notion of a waste of effort is the plan of 

 Congress to prevent a farmer from storing a 

 barrel of cider in his cellar. — Fruit Trade 

 Journal. 



W^hile it is probably not advisable to encour- 

 age growers in allowing their hopes to soar 

 too high, in view of the phenomenal prices 

 realized for soft fruits this season, orchardists 

 have every reason to be optimistic. — Hood 

 River Glacier. 



Crown galls on peach trees, where 

 they are not too large, should be cut 

 out with a chisel until a smooth surface 

 is reached in the healthy wood. The 

 cut should then be painted over with 

 bordeaux paste. 



