lloiniCl LTIUK IN THE KOUTIIWEST. 113 



prosperous in this country at present. When questioned he will frankly 

 admit that the average man is hard up, and that there is no immediate 

 prospect of relief until the country shall have experienced its quadren- 

 nial salvation at the hands of the politicians and the captains of finance. 

 It matters little whether this condition be natural or artifificial; its pres- 

 ence is too manifest to be comfortable." 



CAPITALIZING HOT AIR. 



"It does not require much probing to reveal the fact that the profits of 

 orcharding in the northwest have been exaggerated to the detriment of the 

 country. . I had a most interesting conversation with a onetime member of 

 the faculty of the Washington State Agricultural College touching this 

 point. He admitted frankly that the Ananias Club has a large and active 

 membership in the Northwest, quoting as a typical case that of a. Wenat- 

 chee orchardist who produced 1,200 boxes of apples from seven acres of 

 five-year-old trees. This was heralded far and wide as a sample of the 

 average yield in this wonderland, and the phenomenal story started an in- 

 vestigation by the horticultural department of the college. My friend, the 

 professor, verified the story of the yield and also that the grower sold his 

 seven-acre crop for $2,400 at the orchard. 



"Bear in mind, please, that these were five-year-old trees. Apple 

 trees are very precocious under irrigation. This orchardist might reason- 

 ably expect this crop to increase, year by year, — but, bless you, — no. The 

 next year it fell from 1,200 to 300 boxes, showing once more that it is not 

 wise to count chickens before they are hatched or apples before they grow. 

 The 1,200-box story received due publicity in railroad publications, real 

 'estate literature, and the newspapers. This is probably the first time the 

 300-box story has been told, and would not have now appeared but for 

 the inquisitive faculty which 'dug it out' of the professor." 



"This should not be taken as conclusive that apple growing, is not 

 profitable in the Northwest; it is profitable in many instances, but 'cum 

 grano sails.' Have your salt-cellar ready and handy when those average 

 stories of phenomenal crops are related in your hearing. I have been play- 

 ing the role of an animated interrogation point all over the Northwest 

 and have thought it prudent to ask questions of the people who own and 

 operate the orchards rather than of the real estate agents." 



"The general result of this first-hand investigation is to develop the 

 fact that the reports of thousand-dollar-per-acre crops must be divided by 

 three to strike the average of leaa years, insecr, pests, and occasional 

 mistakes in management. Against this reduced total must be charged 

 expense of management, maintenance charge for water, cultivation, spray- 

 ing, heating, taxes, interest on land, picking and packing, depreciation on 

 tools and machinery, and possibly some few other items, which have 

 escaped my eagle eye — all of which are necessary items in the expense 

 account of a well-managed orchard in that section. 



"The single item of taxes and interest on land value is no joke in the 



