PHYSICAL CONDITIONS INFLUENCING THE ftlSEASE. 29 



The niiiiftiU at Portlund, jis already said, is 49 inches, and curl is coni- 

 nioidy i)rcvalcnt and severe. At Umatilla, east of the Cascade Moun- 

 tains, but al)out the same distance north as Portland, the rainfall is 

 onlv 10 inches, while on that side of the mountains the peach industry 

 is extensive and everywhere prosperous, leaf curl l)einj>- nuich less 

 prevalent and of secondary importance. This shows that it is not the 

 distance north and the consciiuent h)wer temperature which makes curl 

 more severe at Portland than at Los Angeles for instance, but that it is 

 the excess of rainfall, for at the east of the mountains, near Umatilla, 

 the temperature goes equally as low or lower than at Portland, and 

 curl is of little importance there. In the Puget Sound region peach 

 culture has never developed extensivelv, the general prevalence of curl 

 and its injurious action lieing one of the chief reasons. The rainfall 

 is 50 inches at Seattle and 56 inches at Olympia. It is only T iiu-hes 

 at Kennewick and inches at EUensburg, on the east side of the Cas- 

 cade Range. The peach orchards of North Yakima and neighboring 

 sections on the east side of the Cascades and near EUensburg, where 

 this rainfall is taken, are noted for their extent, thrift, and general 

 health, and curl is not a serious trouble. This case is paiallel with 

 that of Portland, already considered. The rainfall at the w(>st of the 

 mountains is 50 to 56 inches or more, while at the east it is only 7 to 

 9 inches. In the former region peach growing is not listed liy the 

 Washington Board of Horticulture as one of the horticultural indus- 

 tries, but in the latter region the peach is a leading fruit, being 

 extensive!}' and successfully grown. The winter temperature east of 

 the mountains should range fullv as low where the peaches are grown 

 as at the west of the range. The contrast in peach culture in the two 

 situations results from the difference of rainfall, and the heavy rain- 

 fall at the west of the Cascades results in a development of curl almost 

 prohibitive to peach growing.^ 



In reiDlying to a circular letter sent to the peach growers of Mary- 

 land, November, 1893, Mr. T. C. Stay ton, of Queen Anne, makes some 

 statements which bear dircctlv on the matter here considered and are 

 of uuich interest as resulting from personal observation. After speak- 

 ing of the conditions in Maryland, Mr. Stay ton says: "I was in 

 Washington State during the months of April, May, June, etc., this 

 year, and I find they can not grow peach trees west of the Cascade 

 Mountains or in western Washington, as that part of the State is 

 called, as that is a very wet part of our country." He adds that this 

 was especially true in 1893, and continues: "About all the 3'oung trees 

 that had been planted in that part of the State died from curl leaf, or 

 so nearly so that they were worthless, but over in eastern Washington 

 I did not notice any curl leaf, the climate being dry." 



'For a full and accurate account of the rainfall conditions jirevailing on the 

 Pacific coast, see Report of the Rainfall on the Pacific Slope for from Two to Forty 

 Years, Washington, 1889; also other reports of the Weather Bureau. 



