Pa^c i8 



BETTER FRUIT 



June 



BETTER FRUIT 



HOOD RIVER, OREGON 



OCBdal Organ of The Northwest Fruit Growers' Aseodation 

 A Monthly Illustrated Maeaaine Published In the 

 Interest of Modem Fruit Growing and Marlieting 



All Communications Should Be Addressed and Remittances 

 Made Payable to 



Better Fruit Publishing Company 



B. H. SHEPARD, Editor and Publisher 

 H. E. VAN DEMAN. Contributing Editor 



STATE ASSOCIATE EDITORS 

 OREGON 



C. I. Lewis. Horticulturi£t Corrallis 



H. S. Jackson, Pathologist CorralliB 



H. P. Wilson, Entomologist Corrallis 



WASHINGTON 



Dr. A. L. Melander, Entomologist Pullman 



O. M Morris, Horticulturist Pullman 



COLORADO 



C. P. Gillette, Director and Entomologist Fort ColUns 



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



Engineering. State Agricultural College Fort Collins 



E. P. Taylor, Horticulturist Grand Junction 



IDAHO 



W. H. Wloks, Horticulturist Moscow 



W. S. Thornber, Horticulturist I^wiston 



UTAH 



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



MONTANA 



O. B- Whlpplo. Horticulturist Bozeman 



CALIFORNIA 



C. W. Woodworth. Entomologist Berkeley 



W. H. Volck. Entomologist Watsonrtlle 



Leon D. Batchelor. Horticulturist Riverside 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 

 R. M. WInilow. Provincial Horticulturist Victoria 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: 



In the United States. $1,00 per ye.ar 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. 



Home Canning Outfits — The Experi- 

 ment Station of Idaho has demon- 

 strated very successfully that home 

 canning is a success. The business is 

 carried on in a business like way; the 

 exact cost is obtained and the output 

 sold at a profit. The whole output of 

 the home cannery in connection with 

 the Experiment Station at Moscow was 

 taken entirely by the hotels, restau- 

 rants, boarding houses and private 

 families in that city. A number of 

 fruit growers could install home can- 

 neries and sell their entire outputs in 

 the local city where they trade. Those 

 who could install a large outfit, by 

 visiting some of the large cities and 

 calling on the hotels, restaurants, 

 boarding houses, etc., could easily dis- 

 pose of their entire output at a satis- 

 factory price. For quality and flavor 

 it is hard to beat home canned fruit 

 which is put up fresh from the or- 

 chard the day it is picked. This is a 

 subject that is well worth the atten- 

 tion of every fruit grower, and one 

 that every fruit grower should investi- 

 gate. Home canning outfits can be 

 purchased at very reasonable figures, 

 all the way from" .$25 to .$100. Cata- 

 logues can be obtained by writing the 

 dealers who handle cannery supplies, 

 and these catalogues not only give the 

 price of the outfit but the size, and 

 other information of much value. 



Blossom and Early Estimates. — It 

 seems to be an established custom to 

 call for blossom estimates. For this 

 there must be a reason, but the reason 

 never seemed very clear. Blossom 

 estimates are not very significant. It 

 is true that if there are no blossoms 

 there will be no crop. On the other 

 hand it is equally true there may be 



a heavy bloom and a light crop. Just 

 why the fruit growers should be called 

 on to "count their chickens before 

 they are hatched," has never been very 

 satisfactorily explained. It usually 

 does more harm than good. Any in- 

 formation that is not correct infor- 

 mation and that is not reliable is per- 

 nicious. Where estimates are made 

 in the bloom, it is calculated the crop 

 will be in accordance with the bloom. 

 It invariably happens that there is an 

 immense shedding following the 

 blooming period, with the June drop 

 afterwards. Therefore in most cases 

 the blossom estimates are over esti- 

 mates and create exaggerated impres- 

 sions in regard to the quality of the 

 crop, which are very difficult to over- 

 come. All reputable dealers, hand- 

 lers and growers should stand for re- 

 liable estimates. Apples are seldom 

 sold or contracted for before July or 

 August, and usually not until the har- 

 vesting begins, therefore it seems it is 

 ample time to furnish estimates, if 

 they are given when the crop is set, 

 when there is reasonable assurance of 

 the estimator being able to estimate 

 intelligently with some degree of cer- 

 tainty. 



The Northwest Fruit Grading Rules. 

 — This edition contains a complete 

 copy of the grading rules that were 

 adopted by a committee from the 

 Fruit Growers' Council and the Fruit 

 Shippers' League at a joint session 

 held in Spokane. It will be the first 

 time in the history of the Northwest 

 that a uniform grade has been adopted 

 by all sections, all shippers and all 

 growers. This should mean much to- 

 wards standardizing the fruit industry 

 of the Northwest, which means extra 

 money for everyone engaged in the 

 fruit business. Business is largely 

 done on confidence, but confidence 

 will not hold trade unless the goods 

 are up to standard, therefore it be- 

 hooves every grower this year to con- 

 form absolutely to grade requirements, 

 doing his grading intelligently and 

 honestly. Intelligence and honesty in 

 grading will put many extra dollars 

 in fruit growers' pockets. You can 

 fool a man once, but you cannot fool 

 him twice on the same thing very 

 often. 



The Apple Crop of the Northwest. — 

 It is too early to put out anything de- 

 finite in the way of crop estimates in 

 the Northwest at the present time, be- 

 cause the first shedding after the 

 bloom is not yet over and the June 

 drop not yet occurred. However, it is 

 a fact that the bloom this year was 

 very irregular and in many orchards 

 very light. The shedding following 

 the blossom has been exceedingly 

 heavy and very erratic; some trees 

 shedding completely, others partially, 

 and frequently one limb of a tree 

 would shed while the balance of the 

 tree would set fairly well. Generally 

 speaking the shedding has been very 

 severe. All of the old orchards from 

 12 years of age and over have shed 



excessively heavy, the young trees from 

 5 to 12 years of age have set much 

 firmer and better than the older or- 

 chards. It is the general impression 

 that the apple crop of the Northwest 

 this year will be very much lighter 

 than in the year 1914. 



Crop Estimates. — This edition con- 

 tains a splendid article explaining 

 fully and thoroughly how the Govern- 

 ment estimates are made. It should 

 be read by every fruit grower, who is 

 a subscriber to Better Fruit, who 

 should pass it along to his friends, if 

 there are any in the fruit business, 

 who are not subscribers. There has 

 been a great deal of difference be- 

 tween the Government estimates, the 

 International Apple Shippers' esti- 

 mates, and the growers' estimates. An 

 intelligent understanding of how Gov- 

 ernment estimates are made will ac- 

 count for this vast difference. The 

 Government estimates the entire crop 

 that is produced, including what is 

 shipped, what is consumed by by- 

 product factories, and what goes to 

 waste. District estimates usually only 

 include what is shipped in carlots. 



"The Consumer's Dollar," published 



in the May edition of "Better Fruit" 

 was an address given by Mr. G. Harold 

 Powell, before the Western Fruit Job- 

 bers' Association of America at Los 

 Angeles this year. This excellent ad- 

 dress was published in the Western 

 Jobbers' monthly publication, and also 

 in pamphlet form, copy of which was 

 furnished "Better Fruit," the same 

 being re-printed in the May edition. 

 The editor desires to say itwasanover- 

 sight in not giving credit to the West- 

 ern Fruit Jobbers for a copy of this 

 article, and also for neglecting to state 

 it was an address delivered by Mr. G. 

 Harold Powell before the Western 

 Fruit Jobbers' meeting at Los- Angeles, 

 California. 



Evaporators. — An immense amount 



of fruit goes to waste every year when 

 the fresh fruit markets are glutted. 

 There is always a good demand for 

 evaporated and dried fruits. The sale 

 for dried or evaporated prunes is im- 

 mense every year. There is a good 

 demand for evaporated apples. Fruit 

 growers ought to give the matter seri- 

 ous attention and act quickly, as the 

 time is getting short, if you intend to 

 install an evaporator this year. 



Canning Fruits. — The Northwest is 



at last beginning to realize the import- 

 ance and the necessity of canneries in 

 connection with the fruit industry. A 

 large cannery is being built at The 

 Dalles, Oregon; another large cannery 

 is being built at North Yakima. A 

 cannery was erected at Hood River 

 last year. 



The walnut crop of California for 

 the year 1915 looks unusually good 

 and will probably be one of the larg- 

 est crops of walnuts produced in the 

 state. 



