December, 19 19 



each succeeding year will strengthen 

 the union considerably. 



The late fall seems to be, as a rule, 

 the best time of year for the work, 

 as the leaves have fallen, enabling the 

 operator to see his work plainly and 

 twist the branches more tightly than 

 would be possible in the summer time 

 without stripping the leaves. While 

 early spring might also, for many 

 reasons prove convenient, the shoots 

 are more pliable in the fall and there- 

 fore easier to handle. Moreover, after 

 the middle of November there is 

 usually less to do than in the spring 

 with its pruning, early spraying, and 

 possibly, ploughing. 



It is very easy to make the natural 

 brace on some varieties and much 

 harder, though seldom, if ever impos- 

 sible on others. The Jonathan apple, 

 for example, nearly always provides 

 a multiplicity of suitable raw material, 

 growing almost at right angles from 

 the main limbs and in just the right 

 direction. They are usually of good 

 length and very pliable. Yellow Belle- 

 flower, Spitzenburg, Black Twig and 

 White Winter Pearmain offer few dif- 

 ficulties, but the Rome Beauty is fre- 

 quently inclined to be obstinate. Each 

 variety will present certain peculiar- 

 ities, which must be dealt with as they 

 are encountered. Sometimes, when the 

 twigs are short, it becomes necessary 

 to tie the twists in place with soft 

 twine, but, when this is done, the 

 strings should be removed within the 

 year, or before they begin to cut into 

 the bark. In most cases it will be 

 found that the twists, if properly made, 

 will hold themselves without tying. 



Cost is a very important item to the 

 orchardist, particularly in these days 

 of heavy initial investments and for 



2. liiauc a year old on a four-year-old 

 Jonathan tree. 



that reason the natural brace will ap- 

 peal to most growers. Whereas 

 methods sometimes used of wiring the 

 scaffold limbs together, need tools, 

 wire, screweyes and considerable 

 labor; making the natural brace calls 

 only for labor and very little of that. 

 Any man with a little practice should 

 be able to handle two hundred trees in 

 a ten-hour day and a fast worker 

 three hundred or more, depending 



BETTER FRUIT 



largely on the varieties. This gives an 

 average cost in labor, which is also the 

 total cost, of about a cent per tree and 

 that it will save many a dollar and 

 considerable disregard of the third 

 commandment, no intelligent orchard- 

 ist will doubt. Like fire insurance, it 



3. The natural trace on a mature apple tree. 



not only provides safety from loss, but 

 it makes the owner feel safe, which 

 every fruit grower will appreciate, 

 coddling moth, scab and blight bring- 

 ing enough gray hairs to his head. 



The brace cannot be broken by any 

 strain that it will be called upon to 

 bear; it will grow stronger each year 

 and as long as the tree lasts, the natural 

 brace will be on hand doing its work 

 without additional expense for up- 

 keep or renewal. It is well worth a 

 trial. 



G. L. Davenport 



Grower and 

 Shipper 



MOSIER, OREGON 



MAIN OFFICE 

 147 Front Street, PORTLAND, OREGON 



BELL & CO. 



Incorporated 

 WHOLESALE 



Fruits and Produce 



110-112-114 Front Street 

 PORTLAND, OREGON 



Write Ufl what you have to offer Car lots or less 



Page 25 



With the Beekeepers 

 Bees are a profitable crop, accord- 

 ing to a report by Roy Gilbert, a Tie- 

 ton, Wash., farmer. Gilbert says that 

 in 1910 he obtained a hive of bees 

 which was swarming while engaged in 

 cutting wood in Tielon. From this 

 he developed 150 stands, which this 

 year yielded honey worth .$2600. They 

 are altogether a side issue on his place. 



An organization of Inland Empire 

 apiarists to be known as the Inland 

 Empire Beekeepers' Association, and 

 to hold its first meeting in Spokane 

 the early part of next February, is 

 recommended in the report of the ex- 

 ecutive committee of the Northern 

 Idaho Beekeepers' Association. 



National Apple Day 

 November 6 was observed in Wash- 

 ington as national apple day and every 

 one of 500 sick and wounded soldiers 

 in the hospitals of that state of Wash- 

 ington received a gift of a couple of 

 dozen of the finest Delicious, Jona- 

 than, Grimes Golden and Spitbenburg 

 apples, with the best wishes of the 

 apple growers and shippers of the 

 Wenatchee and Yakima valleys. The 

 idea of remembering the soldiers on 

 apple day originated two years ago, 

 when the International Apple Ship- 

 pers' Association sent several carloads 

 overseas, enough to give every man 

 in the service there two or three 

 apples. 



The recent freeze in the Northwest has 

 taught apple growers a much needed lesson, 

 namely the necessity of erecting additional 

 packing plants and warehouses. This pre- 

 caution against future frost damage ought to 

 be speeded up the coming Winter and next 

 Summer to a maximum of unbroken and con- 

 tinuous work. — Fruit Trade Journal. 



DAHLIAS 



World's Best Prize-winning 



Latest of the new kinds and the best 



of the old 



Catalogue Free 



H. G. NEY 



E. 614-31st St. - Spokane, W^ash. 



WANTED 



to rent or lease farm with improvements 

 in Western Washington or Willamette Val- 

 ley by party having both practical exper- 

 ience and technical training. Best of ref- 

 erences furnished. 



Address REM, Care of Better Fruit 



APPLES - PEARS 



Whole root stock that 

 will give results 



Send for Price-list No. 10 



Trees - Shrubs - Vines - Plants 



J. B. PILKINGTON 



NURSERYMAN 



Portland 



Oregon 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



