Paze 1 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



August 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



OfiQeial Organ of The Northwest Fruit Growers' Association 

 A Monthly Illustrated Magazine Published In the 

 Interest of Modern Fruit Growing and Marlteting 



All Communications Should Be Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



E. H. SHEPAKD. Editor and Publisher 

 H. E. VAN DEMAN. Contributing Editor 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 

 OREGON 



C- I. Lewis, Horticulturist CorvalUs 



H. S. Jackson, Pathologist Corvallis 



H. F, Wilson, Entomologist Corvallis 



WASHINGTON 



A. L. Melander. Entomolodst Pullman 



0. M. Morris, Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C. P. Gillette. Director and Entomologist Fort Collins 



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



Engineering, Slate Agricultural College Fort Collins 



E. P, Taylor, Horticulturist Grand Junction 



IDAHO 



W, H. Wicka, Horticulturist Moscow 



W. S. Thomber, Horticulturist Lewiston 



UTAH 



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



Leon D. Batchelor, Horticulturist Logan 



MONTANA 



O. B, Whipple, Horticulturist Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



C. W. Woodworth . Entomologist Berkeley 



W, H, Volck, Entomologist Watsonville 



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 



ADVERTISING 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 Northwest Apple Crop. — An esti- 

 mate is more or less a matter of guess 

 this early in the season in the apple 

 business. Very few associations or 

 shipping concerns have called for esti- 

 mates from the individual growers. 

 Until this is done estimating is really 

 a matter of guess on the part of those 

 who are pretty generally informed 

 about the quantity grown in previous 

 years and the set this year, in a com- 

 parative way. While the editor does 

 not assume to do any estimating he 

 ventures to make a guess based upon 

 the quantity shipped in previous years 

 and the setting this year. 



He makes the following guess: \Ve- 

 natchee, 4,3(10 cars; Yakima, 5,800 cars; 

 Eastern Wa.shington, .lOO cars; total for 

 the State of Washington, 10,600 cars. 

 Hood River, 1,200 cars; Rogue River, 

 500 cars; Willamette and Umpqua, 250 

 cars; Mosicr, 50 cars; Eastern Oregon, 

 800 cars; total for the State of Oregon, 

 2,800 cars. Montanna will .ship 500 cars 

 and Idaho 1,500, making a grand total 

 for the Northwest of 15,400 cars. 



No place in the Northwest was the 

 setting very heavy. The .shedding dur- 

 ing the blossoming time and the June 

 drop were extensive. Many clusters 

 shed completely. Most of the others 

 shed to one in a cluster. While no 

 grower seems to have a large crop, all 

 growers have a fair crop. This year's 

 crop might be put down as somewhere 

 from 65 to 75 per cent of what would 

 be a normal, good sized yield. A splen- 

 did growing season during the remain- 

 der of the year may increase this 

 quantity. On the other hand, a lack 

 of favorable growing conditions may 

 reduce the quantity. Marketing condi- 

 tions will be a factor in the (luantity 

 of apples that are boxed and shipped. 



It is expected this year that the grading 

 rules will eliminate and send many 

 apples to the vinegar factory and cider 

 mill that were shipped in 1912. WTiile 

 it is reasonable to assume the crop may 

 be somewhere near the 1912 crop, still 

 on the other hand the grading rules 

 may make the crop shipped consider- 

 ably less than the 1912. Prices will be 

 a large factor in determining how ex- 

 tensively the C grade or cooking apples 

 will be packed. 



The Compatibility of Insecticides and 



Fungicides. — There is no problem 

 which is more complicated to the fruit- 

 grower than the mixing of sprays. 

 Naturally the fruitgrower, not being a 

 chemist, has no knowledge of what 

 sprays can be combined and what can- 

 not be combined. Certain sprays can- 

 not be combined without impairing the 

 efTiciency and without damaging the 

 fruit or foliage. Other sprays can be 

 combined where the efliciency is 

 slightly reduced without damage to the 

 fruit. In previous years the fruit- 

 grower found out that sprays were in- 

 jurious or inefhcient in combination 

 by practical experience, consequently 

 much damage has resulted in the loss 

 of many hundred dollars to individual 

 orchardists. Professor G. P. Gray has 

 given this matter very careful study 

 and has prepared an article with a 

 table, which appears in this issue of 

 "Better Fruit." Chemistry has been 

 taken into consideration as well as 

 actual results, and therefore we believe 

 the table and the article will present 

 some valuable information that has 

 never been published in any fruit 

 journal before and therefore is cntirelv 

 original. In fact nothing alon.g this 

 line, so far as we know, has ever been 

 given out by anyone jirevious to this 

 article by Professor Gray. Every fruit- 

 grower who sprays, and every fruit- 

 grower should spray, should read this 

 article. It niav prevent the loss of hun- 

 dreds, even thousands of dollars. 



The Grade and Pack. — Grade and 



pack has been a matter of development 

 and evolution. The eilitor of "Better 

 Fruit" wrote the first set of grading 

 rules that were ever written in the 

 Northwest, perhaps anywhere, in refer- 

 ence to packing apples, in the year 

 1904. Since then each year the Hood 

 River Apple Growers' Union has made 

 slight changes and improvements in 

 these rules. Other districts began to 

 adopt rules for grading and packing, 

 also to improve them from year to year. 

 This spring fruitgrowers, inspectors 

 and men engaged in handling fruit met 

 in Spokane in conference, and the re- 

 sult was the adojition of a set of rules 

 for packing and grading. Thev are 

 similar to the rules used in 1913. but 

 improved in various ways, and will re- 

 sult in a better understanding of the 

 requirements. It is ho|)ed anil believed 

 that these rules will meet with general 

 satisfaction. If all the marketing asso- 

 ciations, shipping concerns and private 

 concerns as well as the individiual 

 shippers would adopt this set of rules 



it would be a step in the right direction, 

 because it would result in one set of 

 packing and giading rules for the en- 

 tire Northwest. If this year's expe- 

 rience indicates an improvement in any 

 way it is to be hoped that people in- 

 terested in the fruit industry will all 

 get together next year and improve 

 these in such a way as to meet with the 

 approval of every fruitgrower and 

 shipper of the Northwest. 



The Crop Estimate for 1914.— The 



July government report gave the esti- 

 mate of apples at about ten per cent 

 above the ten-year average. It seems at 

 the present time that estimates are 

 more or less indefinite and actual yields 

 will depend largely upon growth and 

 cleanliness and freedom from insect 

 pests during the remainder of the sea- 

 son. So much has been done to im- 

 prove the grade of apples that un- 

 doubtedly a large per cent will be sent 

 to the vinegar factories and cider 

 presses this year than ever before. 

 This is particularly true in reference to 

 the Northwest. Only the best grades 

 of the Northwest will justify freight 

 .shipment East. The estimates at the 

 present time refer generally to the 

 quantity on the trees and include what 

 must be eliminated as culls later in the 

 season. The improvement in market- 

 ing organizations will do much through 

 wider distribution to assist in market- 

 ing the crop in an intelligent way 

 at satisfactory prices. The immense 

 amount of advertising and publicity 

 that has been given the apple during 

 the last season certainly should be a 

 factor in stimulating a greater con- 

 sumption, which ought to help the mar- 

 keting conditions for both the dealer 

 and the grower. 



The Raker Bill.— The latest advice 



reports that the Raker bill was ])laced 

 on the House calendar with Congress 

 for July 20th. This bill has received 

 the universal support of all the apple- 

 growing sections of the Northwest and 

 the Pacific Coast. In fact the sui)port 

 is almost unanimous. There is every 

 reason to hope at the present time that 

 Congress, although rushed with other 

 matters, will pass this law. It is to be 

 hoped if will be passed because already 

 a bill has been passed for the stand- 

 ardization of apples ])acked in barrels, 

 and there is nothing more important at 

 the present time for the apple growers 

 than a law standardizing the apples 

 packed in boxes. 



Packing Apples in Small Boxes. — 

 Many people interested in the apjilc in- 

 dustry of the Northwest have at various 

 times discussed the advisability of 

 packing apples in small boxes. \ short, 

 interesting aiiicle from the Northwest 

 Fruit Exchange, appearing elsewhere in 

 this issue, gives some interesting data 

 on this subject well worth the atten- 

 tion of the glowers who have had in 

 mind the packing of apjilcs in smaller 

 boxes than ;ire being used at the 

 present time. 



