Page i8 



BETTER FRUIT 



January 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



Official Organ of Tlie Northwest Fruit Growers' Association 

 A Monthly Illustrated MajjarJne Published in the 

 Interest of Modem Fruit Growing and Marketing 



All Communications Should Be Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



E, H. PHEPARD, Editor aiul Publisher 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



OREGON 



C. I. I/€\rfs. Horticulturist Corvallis 



WASHINGTON 



Dr. A. L. Rlelander. Entomologist Pullman 



O. M. Morris, Horticulturist Pullman 



W. S. Thornber, Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C. P. Gillette, Director and Entomologist Fort Collins 



E. B. House, Chief of Department ot Civil and Irrigation 



Enplneoring, State Agricultural College Fort Collins 



ARIZONA 



E. P, Tajlor, Horticulturist Tucson 



WISCONSIN 



Dr. E. D. Ball, Director and Entomologist Madison 



MONTANA 



O. B. Whipple. Horticulturist Bozcman 



CALIFORNIA 



C. W. Woodivorth, Entomologist Berkeley 



W. H. Volck. Entomologist Watsonville 



Leon D. Batchelor, Hoi-ticulturist Riverside 



INDIANA 



H, S, Jackson, Pathologist Lafayette 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 

 R. M. W'inslow, Provincial Horticulturist Victoria 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: 



In the United States, $1.00 per year in advance 



Canada and foreign, including postage, $1.50 



ADVERTISING RATES ON APPLICATION 



Entered as second-class matter December 27. 1906. at the 



Postottice at Hoo<i River, Oregon, under Act 



of Congress of March 3. 1879. 



THE EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE 

 OREGON AGRICULTURAL COL- 

 LEGE, CORVALLIS, OREGON. 



The work of the Experiment Station 

 and its result.s have a bearing upon the 

 prosperity of the state, which is Htllc 

 understood by most members of the 

 Legislature for the reason that tlie ma- 

 jority of legislators are lawyers, busi- 

 ness men and professional men, only a 

 small number being farmers and fruit 

 growers. The work of the Experiment 

 Station has to do almost entirely with 

 farming, stock raising and fruit grow- 

 ing and products of the soil, of which 

 business and professional men have 

 very little knowledge of, consequently 

 they are inclined to look on the Oregon 

 Agricultural College and Experiment 

 Station as purely an educational insti- 

 tution, fcaling to realize that the Ex- 

 periment Station is a big factor in con- 

 tributing to the success of the farmer, 

 fruit grower, the stock raiser, dairyman 

 or poultry man. The Experiment Sta- 

 tion has scientifically trained men for 

 studying all diseases of stock and poul- 

 try, issuing bulletins on rne treatments 

 of the same, as well as the care of stock. 

 They are conducting experiments for 

 the purpose of ascertaining what varie- 

 ties of seeds are best suited to climates 

 and soils in the different sections of the 

 state. In fruit growing the Experiment 

 Station is conducting experiments for 

 the purpose of ascertaining how to con- 

 trol the different pests and eradicate the 

 different diseases, which all kinds of 

 fruits are subject to. There are many 

 diseases and problems to be worked 

 out in connection with these different 

 pha.ses of farming, fruit growing and 

 stock raising that may not be solved in 

 two years, and may retiuire several 

 years. 



The Editor of "Belter Fruit," being a 

 fruit grower of thirteen years' experi- 

 ence in Hood River Valley, feels he can 

 speak more intelligently upon the value 

 of P^xperiment Stations to the fruit 



grower than to the general farmer. On 

 the other hand, there are many general 

 farmers who could explain the value of 

 the Experiment Station to the farming 

 industry or stock industry far more 

 effectively than the Editor of "Better 

 Fruit." However, it remains a fact that 

 the Experiment Station at Corvallis has 

 conducted a number of experiments and 

 developed methods for controlling dis- 

 eases and pests or increasing yiehls that 

 have added hundreds of thousands, per- 

 haps millions, of dollars to the State of 

 Oregon, which in a general way has 

 contributed to the general prosperity of 

 the state, in addition creating hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars more business 

 in the way of farm and fruit products 

 that cannot be covered in a short edi- 

 torial. The benefits derived by the 

 farmers and fruit growers are so many 

 it would lake a full page in "Better 

 Fruit" to cover this subject in a partial 

 way. However, it is hoped one or two 

 illustrations may be sufficient to prove 

 the value of Experiment Stations, at 

 least to the fruit industry. 



The apple crop of the Stale of Oregon 

 is estimated at four or five million dol- 

 lars for 1916. If it had not been for the 

 information furnished by Elxperiment 

 Stations through bulletins on. spraying 

 for San Jose scale there would not be 

 an apple tree or fruit free left today in 

 the State of Oregon. If it had not been 

 for the bulletins, demonstrations and 

 instructions given on spraying for cod- 

 ling moth the apple crop of the State of 

 Oregon, worth if5,000,000 in 1016, would 

 not be worth .50 cents, because it would 

 have been absolutely eaten up by the 

 worms. 



In all sections of the State of Oregon, 

 except Eastern Oregon, there is a dis- 

 ease of apple trees known as anlhrac- 

 nose. This disease got a start in the 

 State of Oregon a few years ago, mak- 

 ing rapid havoc of the orchards. It was 

 not known how to control it. A process 

 of control and eradication was worked 

 out by Dean Cordley. A practical dem- 

 onstration was made in the orchard of 

 Eisman Bros., Grants Pass, after the 

 disease had got a good start. The Edi- 

 tor saw this orchard after it had been 

 saved, loaded with a crop worth sev- 

 eral thousand dollars. Since that time 

 anthracnose has developed in a number 

 of other sections throughout the state, 

 which have all been saved by the 

 method of treatment worked out by 

 Dean Cordley of the Oregon Experi- 

 ment Station. This method is generally 

 used for the control of anthracnose 

 throughout the entire world today. 

 There is another disease known as 

 fungus, more commonly called scab, 

 which attacks apples, particularly in 

 humid climates. Up to a few years ago 

 the general method of treatment was 

 bordeaux, which prevented the apples 

 from being scabby, but under rainy 

 conditions caused them to be so rus- 

 seted they were unmarkelablc. Again 

 the Oregon Agricultural College shines 

 out as a saver of the fruit industry, as 

 Dean Cordley, through several years of 

 experiment work, developed a treat- 

 ment of lime and sulphur which pro- 

 tected fruil from fungus, without in- 

 juring the fruit. The apple crop in 



Hood River Valley alone will amount to 

 over .$1,500,000 for the year 1916, all of 

 which was sprayed under the direction 

 given by the Experiment Station, being 

 practically free from fungus. Without 

 the method of treatment discovered and 

 worked out and recommended by the 

 Experiment Station through Dean Cord- 

 ley and his assistants, the apple crop of 

 Hood River on account of scab would 

 have very little, if any, market value. 



When an Experiment Station starts 

 in to work out a process for the control 

 of diseases, it can be readily understood 

 that they cannot tell how long it will 

 fake: It may take two years; it may 

 take four or six years; therefore the 

 Experiment Station needs a continuous 

 appropriation for the purpose of com- 

 pleting what they have started to work 

 out. Without a continuous appropria- 

 tion they cannot undertake to work out 

 and complete experiments within the 

 limit of the present appropriation of 

 two years. On account of the excel- 

 lent work that has been done by the 

 Experiment Station in the State of Ore- 

 gon, the editor feels justified in recom- 

 mending in a most emphatic way pos- 

 sible that he Experiment Station of Ore- 

 gon is entitled to adequate appropria- 

 tion and continuous appropriation. The 

 editor of "Better Fruit," in behalf of the 

 fruit industry of the State of Oregon, 

 worth many millions of dollars, be- 

 lieves that the Experiment Station is 

 entitled to the fullest support of the 

 Legislature. It is the earnest request 

 of "Better Fruit," in behalf of the fruit- 

 growers, that every member of the 

 Legislature take sufficient time to in- 

 vestigate for himself the work being 

 done by the Experiment Station, and if 

 not posted on what is being done to in- 

 ([uire of someone who is familiar with 

 what is being done and what the Ex- 

 periment Station is expected to do. 

 Without the scientific knowledge in 

 possession of the fruitgrowers at the 

 present time obtained through the Ex- 

 periment Station the crop of fi;uit in 

 the State of Oregon amounting to 

 $9,000,000 this year, in all probability 

 would not be worth marketing. The 

 Legislature cannot afford to ignore or 

 pass up any adeqaute appropriation for 

 an institution like the Oregon Agricul- 

 tural College and Experiment Station. 



Spraying. — In 1915 the growers suf- 

 fered a very severe loss by ineflicient 

 spraying. By ineflicient spraying is 

 meant poor workmanship, lack of nec- 

 essary applications, poor material, omis- 

 sion of applications at the right time, 

 too w-eak strengths, etc. The serious 

 loss of 191.T was an object lesson, con- 

 sequently in 1916 the growers seemed 

 awakened to the situation, doing ijretty 

 generally a first-class job in i)roper 

 shape, the result being a clean crop 

 with very little fungus, and very few 

 stings. A clean crop cannot be obtained 

 if any spray on the i)rogram is omitted. 

 Having obtained dean crops in 1916 the 

 growers should iirofit and remember 

 Uijit it is thorough work that gets re- 

 sults and spray accortlingly in 1017. In 

 1015 growers varied in fungus all the 

 way from 5 per cent to as high as 00 

 Iier cent. In 1016 very few exceeded 5 



