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BETTER FRUIT 



February 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



OIBclal Organ of The Northwest Fruit Growers' Assoclalloii 

 A Monthly Illustrated Jlacazlne Published In the 

 Interest of llodem Fruit Growing and JIarketing 



AU Communications Should Re Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



E. H. SHEPAKD, Editor and Publisher 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



OREGON 



C. I. Leivls. Horticulturist Corrallis 



WASHINGTON 



Dr. A. L. Melander. Entomologist Pullman 



O. M. Morris. Horticulturist Pul man 



W. S. Thomber. Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C P Gillette. Director and Entomologist Fort Collins 



E B House Chief of Department of Civil and Irrigation 



Engineenng. State Agricultural College Fort Collins 



ARIZONA 



E P. Taylor. Horticulturist Tucson 



WISCONSIN 



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



MONTANA 



O. B. Whipple. Horticulturist Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



C. W. Woodworth. Entomologist Berkeley 



W. H. Volck. Entomologist Watsonvllle 



Leon D. Batchelor. Horticulturist Riverside 



INDIANA 



H. S. Jackson. Pathologist • Lafayette 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 

 R, M. Winslow. Provincial Horticulturist Victoria 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: 



In the United States. $1.00 per year In advance 



Canada and foreign, including postage. $1-50 



AD^'ERTISINO RATES ON APPLICATION 



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



Postofflce at Hood River, Oregon, under Act 



of Congress of March 3. 1879. 



The Ninety-Day Cold-Storage Bill on 

 Apples. — A cold-storage bill has been 

 introduced in Congress, known as Bill 

 H. R. 184-J-l, which would make it un- 

 lawful to store apples for a longer 

 period than ninety days. Every fruit- 

 grower, every sliipping concern and 

 everyone interested in the fruit indus- 

 try, .should sit up and take notice; 

 get in touch with their respective 

 Congressmen and Senators in each 

 state, indicating to them just how this 

 bill would be a menace to them in the 

 Northwest and a hardship on the entire 

 consuming public of the United States. 

 Everybody that is interested in the fruit 

 business in the Northwest should get 

 busy and bring whatever influence and 

 argument they can to bear on Congress 

 in order that it may thoroughly under- 

 stand this bill and the evil effect that 

 would result. Because it is a reason- 

 able assumption that if Congress thor- 

 oughly understands the effect of this 

 bill on the apple industry and the con- 

 suming public, it certainly will not pass 

 it. If apples cannot be placed on cold 

 storage for a period of longer than 

 ninety days it would mean that the bal- 

 ance of the crop which is unsold at 

 harvest time, in the month of October, 

 would have to be placed on cold storage 

 in October and it would be unlawful 

 for it to remain on cold storage after 

 January. Consequently the crop of 

 apples of the T'nited States would have 

 to be consumed, if people wanted it in 

 prime condition, in about four months 

 instead of seven or eight months. In 

 other words, it would crowd the con- 

 sumption of the entire crop into three 

 or four months, which ordinarily occu- 

 pies a period of seven or eight months. 

 The result would be an immense supply 

 of apples for half the season and prac- 

 tically no apples of good quality the 

 other half of the season, a condition 

 that would affect both the grower and 

 the consumer very seriously. Apples 

 when placed on cold storage remain at 



a temperature of 32 degrees. It affects 

 the condition or quality of apples in 

 no way, simply arresting maturity. 

 Winter apples in cold storage in prime 

 condition will keep with compara- 

 tively small loss, commercially, for a 

 period of six months. Apples placed in 

 ordinary storage lose their flavor, 

 aroma, spiciness and juiciness in sixty 

 to ninety days, some varieties less. 

 The only way this can be retained 

 during the entire consuming period of 

 winter months is by cold storage. 

 Every fruitgrower knows this. The 

 editor of "Better Fruit" placed eight 

 boxes of Spitzenbergs and Newtowns 

 on cold storage in the cold storage 

 plant of the Hood River Apple Grow- 

 ers' Association about the first of 

 November, 1915. Six boxes of these 

 were taken out of cold storage and con- 

 sumed during the months of March, 

 .\pril. May and June, being in abso- 

 lutely first-class condition, without any 

 commercial loss. Some of the New- 

 towns are still on cold storage in good 

 condition, having been there for a year 

 and three months. 



The Pacific Northwest Tourist Asso- 

 ciation, recently formed, is an organi- 

 zation having for its object publicity 

 of attractions to tourists throughout 

 the Northwestern country. It is a well- 

 known fact that many scenic attrac- 

 tions of the Northwest are unsur- 

 passed, if equaled, by any other spot 

 in the world. It is a well-known fact 

 that California makes about as much 

 money on tourist travel as it does from 

 some of the biggest industries in the 

 state. The object of the Pacific North- 

 west Tourist Association is to bring 

 tourists from the East by the way of 

 the Northwest. Already differentials 

 in round trips, which in the past have 

 prevented tourists traveling through 

 the Northwest, have been overcome. 

 With everyone working to assist the 

 Pacific Northwest Tourist Association 

 a large volume of traffic can be brought 

 to the Northwest, from which every- 

 body will profit. The Pacific North- 

 west Tourist Association is entitled to 

 the support of everybody, publicly and 

 privately. 



1916 Prices. — The Bureau of Crop 



Estimates, Washington, D. C, issued 

 on December l.oth some very interest- 

 ing data in reference to the apple crop. 

 The crop in 191.5 was 76,670,000 barrels 

 of apples; the crop of 1916 67,695,000 

 barrels, about 15 per cent less of a crop. 

 The value of barreled apples in 1915 

 was placed by the government at .$2.07 

 per barrel, and in 1916 at !?2.75 per bar- 

 rel. In other words, barrel apples have 

 .36 per cent higher value this year than 

 last year. Business is better through- 

 out the United States in general. 

 Money is plentiful. The quality of 

 apples in most of the Eastern States 

 was below normal, poorer than last 

 year. Nevertheless prices of barrel 

 apples are higher. The strange fact in 

 connection with these states is that 

 box apples of the Northwest, which are 

 better in quality this year than last 

 and more perfectly graded, are selling 

 for less money than they sold for last 

 year. This subject merits investigation. 

 The editor has some ideas on this sub- 

 ject, which will appear in future edi- 

 tions of "Better Fruit," but in this issue 

 the editor would like to ask the grow- 

 ers. Why? "Better Fruit" would be 

 pleased to receive letters upon this sub- 

 ject from any of the growers, selling 

 concerns, associations, private shipping 

 firms or selling. There must be a rea- 

 son. What is that reason? "Better 

 Fruit" wants information for the bene- 

 fit of the apple growers. Upon receipt 

 of the various opinions, — and it is 

 hoped the growers, salesmen, etc., will 

 write "Better Fruit" their opinions in 

 reference to this matter, which is of 

 serious importance, — "Better Fruit" 

 will endeavor to analyze the situation 

 and present results in as able a manner 

 as possible for the benefit of the in- 

 dustry, without mentioning the names 

 of the writers of any of the letters. 



Pruning. — The season is at hand 



when every fruitgrower should look to 

 his winter pruning. Too many fruit- 

 growers after harvesting feel justified 

 in taking a rest, and when they get the 

 habit of taking a rest they put off from 

 day to day the winter pruning, until 

 spring is near at hand, when other 

 work commands their attention, conse- 

 quently pruning has to go over until 

 the next year. Pruning is a mighty im- 

 portant part of the orchard industry 

 and should be done regularly and sys- 

 tematically, and not severely at any 

 one time. A good pruning shears is an 

 important matter with the fruitgrower 

 who wants to do a good job and make 

 clean cuts. Clean cuts are the only 

 ones which heal over quickly, conse- 

 quently the orchardist .should supply 

 himself with the best type of shears on 

 the market, of which there are a num- 

 ber which can usually be found at the 

 hardware or implement store. 



Gophers. — The gopher, forever in the 



past and probably forever in the fu- 

 ture, will continue to be a pest and 

 menace to the fruitgrower. In young 

 trees frequently the gopher gets the 

 whole tree. In old trees they fre- 

 quently injure the green around the 

 roots, which affects the bearing capac- 

 ity of the tree. Gophers are particu- 

 larly bad in orchards sown to cover 

 crops like clover and alfalfa. This pest 

 is something every fruitgrower should 

 look after early in the spring, as they 

 usually begin their work along about 

 March or April. There are a number 

 of good ways of getting rid of gophers. 

 Many poisons arc on the market which 

 are very effective, and also some excel- 

 lent traps which are sure to catch them. 



Ornamentals, Evergreens. — There is 



nothing that adds so much to the 

 attraction of the fruitgrowers' home or 

 tends to make life pleasanter or more 

 attractive for the wife and children 

 than a nice lawn, iiroperly set with 

 ornamentals, particularly evergreens, 

 which are beautiful all during the win- 

 ter. A nice lawn around the house is 

 an imiiortant factor in giving value to 

 the place if the fruitgrower should 

 want to sell. 



