Pasc 16 



BETTER FRUIT 



October, 1920 



BETTER FRUIT 



An Illustrated Magazine Devoted to the Interests 



of Modern Fruit Growing and Marketing. 



Published Monthly 



by 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



703 Oregonian Building 

 PORTLAND, OREGON 



The Volstead Act. 



Fruitgrowers generally should be in- 

 terested in securing the passage of the 

 Volstead act at the next session of 

 Congress as it is framed to give their 

 marketing associations features that 

 are necessary to make them a co-ope- 

 rative success. It was believed that it 

 would be passed during the past ses- 

 sion, but owing to opposition and the 

 short time between its introduction 

 and the adjournment of Congress, was 

 held over. Owing to this fact, several 

 of the large co-operative fruit-market- 

 ing associations have found it neces- 

 sary to change their form of organiza- 

 tion this year in order to keep within 

 the law in marketing their crops. 



Since Congress has adjourned, if the 

 statements of candidates and poli- 

 ticians are to be believed, there has 

 been a change in sentiment in regard 

 to the Volstead act, and it is stated by 

 those who are carrying on the fight 

 for it that it can be passed if the fruit- 

 growers and fruitgrowes' associa- 

 tions of the country get solidly behind 

 it. Growers, therefore, have both an 

 opportunity and a duty to perform in 

 furthering its passage and should per- 

 sonally take steps to help in pushing 

 it through Congress. 



The New Prune Pest. 



The depredations of the red spider 

 in Idaho prune orchards, as noted 

 elsewhere in this number in an article 

 by W. H. Wicks, head of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry of Idaho, should 

 serve as a warning to prune growers 

 in other sections of the Northwest. 

 Up to the present time, the work of 

 this insect in Northwest orchards has 

 been limited and little attention has 

 been paid to it, although it has been 

 a serious pest in the orchards of Cali- 

 fornia for some time. 



In Mr. Wick's article, he tells of its 

 habits, the results of its work and 

 methods that his experiments have 

 shown are successful in its control. As 

 a pest of this kind spreads rapidly, 

 prune growers in the Northwest sec- 

 tion should watch their orchards care- 

 fully and where there is any indica- 

 tion of its appearance, take the neces- 

 sary measures to eradicate it. 



country and seen what is being done 

 in developing the fruit industry here 

 in comparison with other sections of 

 the United States that he has been 

 visiting, Mr. Olin becomes enthusiastic 

 and tells us of many things that we 

 are prone to overlook. Even the draw- 

 backs of unfavorable marketing con- 

 ditions and unseasonable weather are 

 forgotten in reading what he says 

 about the development and the future 

 of the fruit industry in the Northwest, 

 and we are deeply impressed with the 

 conviction that the industry is being 

 stabilized and future avenues made for 

 the output of the fruit products of the 

 Pacific Northwest, fresh and pro- 

 cessed, that must mean success. Mr. 

 Olin's article has the punch that stirs 

 to greater activity, particularly when 

 it carries with it the conviction that it 

 is based on facts. The fruit industry 

 of this section is, indeed, assuming 

 huge proportions and bring with it a 

 new and enlarged prosperity. 



As the Stranger Sees Us. 

 It frequently takes an outsider to 

 bring to us a new point of view in 

 regard to the possibilities and re- 

 sources of a district that we have be- 

 come so familiar with that we disre- 

 gard them. This, to a large extent, is 

 the case with the article appearing in 

 this issue by W. H. Olin on "Utilizing 

 the Fruit Crop of the Northwest." 

 Having taken a swing around the 



Increased Freight Rates. 



It is announced that the increased 

 rate allowed the railroads on North- 

 western box apples is seriously hurt- 

 ing the industry and that unless some 

 relief is afforded, that it cannot sur- 

 vive. This is said to be particularly 

 the case this year, with big crops of 

 apples in the East that are grown 

 much nearer the big markets. 



Sales that have taken place on the 

 Coast this year have been on such a 

 narrow margin of returns to the 

 grower that the production cost is 

 said to be eating up the profits. This 

 being the case, it is apparent that some 

 agreement should be reached between 

 the railroads and shippers, whereby 

 there would be a readjustment of the 

 rates. By joint application to the In- 

 terstate Commerce Commission this 

 could be accomplished. As a matter 

 of fact, business conditions have very 

 materially changed since the time 

 when the new rates were being con- 

 sidered. Apple prices, like other 

 commodities, have taken a decided 

 drop, and in asking for a re-hearing, 

 this feature should have considerable 

 weight outside of the fact that any 

 railroad tariff that jeopardizes the life 

 of an industry is not sound business 

 practice, for eventually the carrier 

 will suffer as much as the shipper. 



What Papers Interested in Fruit 

 Are Saying 



According to Etrelbert Johnson, Technical 

 Assistant of the California Department, De- 

 partment of Agriculture, in an article in the 

 Department Bulletin the puncture vine, a pe- 

 culiar form of veb vegetaion vegetation which 

 punctures bicycle and automobile tires is the 

 latest pest that California has to contend with, 

 culiar form of vegetation which punctures 

 bicycle and automobile tires is the latest pest 

 that California has to contend with. 



The earliest report of the juncture vine in 

 California was in 1903, when it was found 

 growing along a railway bank at Port Los 

 Angeles. In 1908 it was found in abundance 

 in the Southern Pacific yards at Colton, and 

 was also collected near San Bernardino. In 

 1912 it was reported as a troublesome weed 

 in the vicinity of Bakersfield. It has now- 

 spread over a large area in the upper San 

 Joaquin valley and is found in a nearly un- 

 broken line along the railroads northward to 

 San Joaquin county. In the Sacramento Val- 

 ley, it has been found at Woodland, Durham 



and Marysville, and is reported as widely 

 spread along the railroads in Tehama county. 



South of Tehachapi, the puncture vine is 

 found from the Mexican border through tin 

 Imperial and Coachella valleys to the coast- 

 ward valleys of Riverside, San Bernardino, 

 Los Angeles and Orange counties. 



From the rapidity of its spread in the up- 

 per San Joaquin Valley in the last ten years, 

 it is to be expected that the pest will con- 

 tinue to extend its limits from these newer 

 centers of infestation until something is done 

 to check it. 



The plant produces numerous prostrate 

 stems which frequently grow to a length of 

 eight feet. At every joint is produced a num- 

 ber of burs, usually five, which separate as 

 soon as they mature. Each bur possesses two 

 or more sharp spines about the size of carpet 

 tacks, so disposed that however the bur may 

 fall, one spine will always point upward. 

 These spines will pierce an automobile tire 

 the tread of which is somewhat worn, and 

 will readily puncture a bicycle tire. 



We have almost reached the crisis in the 

 wage scale, and any increase in the wages 

 for employes outside of the farming districts 

 will certainly cause a re-action which will 

 tend to make the situation worse. Up and 

 up we have moved the wage-scale, until the 

 dollar has little value, but a bushel of pota- 

 toes or other food is a highly prized article. 

 Every time wages go up it can only have a 

 tendency to make food more scarce and higher 

 in price. The workingman, though earnest in 

 his theory that what he needs to solve his 

 problems is a higher wage scale is laboring 

 under a delusion. The remedy does not lie 

 in an advance but in a reduction in the scale. 

 If we would begin to lower wages along with 

 the prices for the necessities of life, we should 

 soon see the value of a dollar begin to in- 

 crease in worth, and soon a dollar would be 

 worth a dollar. — Southern Fruitgrower. 



Modern Farming says: "No intelligent per- 

 son will denv that our present system of dis- 

 tribution of farm products is faulty. The 

 solution, however, does not lie in the 

 elimination of the crooked, inefficient mid- 

 dleman, and the proper regulation and pro- 

 tection of those remaining. The honest mid- 

 dleman will not oppose legitimate regulation; 

 he considers it highly advantageous to him 

 by increasing the confidence of his shippers, 

 aiid by raising the plane of the commission 

 business." 



Interest is still keen in watching the de- 

 velopment of the Leonard Coates 14-18 prune. 

 On the invitation of Ronald H. Coates a goodly 

 number of prominent horticulturists gathered 

 at the home and orchard of Mr. Coates Au- 

 gust 27th to inspect this specimen of im- 

 proved French prune. Its designation "1 1-18" 

 means the vears during which Mr. Coates was 

 developing it from graft to bearing trees. The 

 particular orchard under inspection at the 

 present is ten acres of peach trees top-worked 

 to this and some other varieties of prunes. 

 The 14-18 certainly makes a very attractive 

 showing in the orchard. The trees were 

 evenly and well loaded with fruit that ran 

 evenly in size close around 30's. It was 

 smooth, clean, regular, with flesh of fine tex- 

 ture. In the opinion of those present it is by 

 far the best specimen of improved French 

 prune yet found in the search for the ideal. 

 To be conservative we must say it is still 

 too earlv in its testing to be sure of all of its 

 qualities. Experts in breeding stock or trees 

 know that earlv in the evolution of any strain 

 there is a liability of individuals to revert 

 back to early type. That only after a number 

 of generations can such unreliable individuals 

 be eliminated. — Sunset Standard. 



A Correction. 



Editor of Better Fruit, Portland, Ore.: 



Dear Sir: 



I have just read the September num- 

 ber of Better Fruit. On page 12, under 

 the heading "Combatting Fire Blight" 

 you have made a serious mistake. You 

 state "The wounds should be disin- 

 fected with one grain of cyanide of 

 mercury and one gram of bicloride of 

 mercury to 500cc of water. This com- 

 bination is an effective disinfectant 

 for both wounds and tools, according 

 to Prof. F. C. Heimer " 



This should read one gram of cyan- 

 ide of mercury instead of one grain. 



I would appreciate it if you would 

 correct this in your next issue. With 

 kindest regards, I am 



Very sincerely yours, 



F. C. BEIMFB. 



