December, ipip 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 7 



upon the after-war reconstruction of 

 the small farmer and with this in view, 

 the Red Cross brought together the 

 leading French and many American 

 specialists to consider the problems 

 and to decide upon the most wise solu- 

 tion. 



The wondrous old orchards in 

 Northern France had been laid to the 

 ground, and, for replanting them, the 

 Red Cross contributed 40,000 fruit 

 trees. 50,000 francs were also appro- 

 priated for the cultivation of small 

 fruits. 



Southern France is a great fruit 

 country, and here the vineyards are 

 suffering from the unavoidable short- 

 age of labor. Many men from this 

 part of the country are attending the 

 Red Cross Agricultural School at 

 Rannes. Here the "Mutiles" are fitted 

 with artificial appliances which will 

 permit them to wield the farmers' 

 tools. They return, when well, to 

 their communities to earn their liveli- 

 hood and to cultivate their neglected 

 fruit-lands. 



While solving the housing problem 

 of refugees, the Red Cross has simul- 

 taneously solved one in agriculture. 

 There were hundreds of homeless 

 families wandering over France, 

 forced from their homes by the inva- 

 sion. These were collected and re- 

 placed in communes. The Red Cross 

 communes consisted of thirty or forty 

 buildings which accommodated about 

 seventy-four persons each. Five of 

 these villages were constructed near 

 the Somme. The people were given 

 the necessary farming equipments and 

 not only did they supply their own 

 needs, but soon began to help sur- 

 rounding communities. 



Lands were rented from the govern- 

 ment by the Red Cross and given to 

 the refugees and repatries to cultivate. 

 Agricultural centers were established, 

 an especially flourishing one being at 

 Bourges-Montefaut. 



In the military hospitals were hun- 

 dreds of men, unable to be removed 

 from medical supervision, yet capable 

 of engaging in the farming occupa- 

 tions and eager for employment. So 

 it was, that gardening and horticulture 

 became a part of the cure of the army 

 hospitals, the Red Cross supplying the 

 necessary materials. The work proved 

 beneficial to the men, especially to the 

 shell-shocked and the tubercular. 

 Many were experienced fruit-growers 

 and welcomed the chance to get back 

 to "the simple life." Both French and 

 American soldiers took part in this 

 work and many prosperous farms are 

 now in operation. In fact, the experi- 

 ment was so successful that it has been 

 introduced in hospital work over here. 



The raising of vegetables was es- 

 pecially favored by the men, because 

 their labors w-ere so soon rewarded. 

 At Base Hospital No. 6, the soldiers' 

 gardens produced two tons of vegeta- 

 bles in a season. They served to sup- 



A happy group of H.irvesters at an American Red Cross hospital farm in France run solely 

 by convalescent soldiers. These men are being taught agriculture that they may return to their 

 homes and help in the restoration of the fruit and other soil products of their native land. 



ply the mess officer with foodstuffs 

 and gave the boys dishes which would 

 have cost a fortune had their contents 

 been purchased by the quartermaster. 

 The response of the French people 

 to the efforts of the governmnt and 

 the Red Cross to assist them to regain 

 their lost fortunes has been most grati- 

 fying. Fighting against great odds, 

 suffering from ill health, from sorrow 

 for lost ones who fell in the war, the 

 people, with a valiant spirit worthy 

 of those who died for their protection. 



are taking up the task of rebuilding 

 the orchards of France. 



The Red Cross has established 

 schools for the chiklren, where mod- 

 ern agricultural methods are taught. 

 This, coupled with the natural intui- 

 tion and the knowledge gained from 

 associates, promises to make an intel- 

 ligent group of agriculturists, through 

 whose efforts, the ruined orchards of 

 France will be restored in a far 

 shorter time than would have been 

 otherwise possible. 



Improving the Seedling Walnut — Important 



By J. C. Cooper, President of the Western Walnut Association 



The request for information con- 

 cerning the best seedling walnut 

 grown in the Northwest has been an 

 issue ever since the Western Walnut 

 Association has been in existance. 

 Some years ago I published a blank 

 for giving the history of seedling trees 

 and nuts, but of the thousands dis- 

 tributed in this and other states, not 

 more than three blank cards were re- 

 turned filled out. Committees have 

 been appointed year after year, and 

 furnished with blanks with orders to 

 comb the country for the best seed- 

 ling walnut trees. All of this has been 

 productive of no material results. 



Finally, two years ago, Mr. M. Mc- 

 Donald, of Orenco, offered in the 

 name of the Walnut Association prizes 

 aggregating $100 for the best seedling 

 walnut. Owing to the disturbed con- 

 dition of the country last year, nothing 

 was done. A few weeks ago Mr. Mc- 

 Donald called my attention to the mat- 

 ter and I appointed a committee which 

 I think will make a start toward the 

 object of our search. 



A seedling walnut adapted to our 

 soil and climate is of paramount im- 

 portance to the industry of the North- 

 west, and the search therefor takes 



first rank in the duties of our associa- 

 tion. To be of material value this 

 seedling must be a better nut with all 

 other conditions of vigor, timely 

 growth and productivity than any we 

 have. But to use a slang phrase, the 

 proposed seedling will have to "go 

 some" to beat the Meylan, Wiltz, Fran- 

 quette and possibly some others. 



There are seedlings already growing 

 that equal these standard varieties in 

 many respects, but it may take some 

 years of orchard tryout to establish 

 their claims of being the super nut of 

 commerce. In the meantime the 

 standard varieties will be reaching out 

 and occupying much of the lands 

 suited to the walnut. The demand now 

 for grafted trees is beyond the com- 

 bined powers of all the nurseries in 

 the Northwest to fill in the next four 

 or five years. 



This need not stop the search or 

 discourage the experimenter who 

 loves his work and his country with 

 its coming millions of nut eaters, who 

 will demand the best, and we must 

 stick to the trail of the seedling, even 

 if we did not have the inspiring and 

 patriotic offer of prize money. A seed- 

 Continued on page 36. 



