16 FIRST FRUITS OF THE LAND. 



The geographical position of the country, its peculiar 

 climatic surroundings, its adaptability to the production 

 of certain fruits, and the lack of similar climatic conditions 

 in vast areas certain to be the homes of vast populations, 

 were pointed out and dwelt upon, and the certainty that 

 these vast populations in the nature of things, would re- 

 quire immense supplies of our fruits, green, dried, canned, 

 and preserved, was made apparent. This view of the 

 case struck the country press forcibly. It was restated, 

 reiterated, and continuously kept before the people with 

 results, which, in their magnitude and importance, can 

 only be hinted at in this article. But, much that was 

 said, and all there was to say, applied as well to Oregon, 

 and our practical thinking men took up the subject. The 

 scare was over the spirit was contagious. Old orchards 

 were trimmed and cultivated and new ones set. All the 

 fruits of the temperate zone, so far as tried, had done well 

 in Oregon. Our Italian prunes, Bartlett pears, and Royal 

 Ann and Black Republican cherries paid best, and were 

 attracting favorable attention abroad. The last few years 

 trees of these varieties had been set out by hundreds of 

 thousands all over the State, but mostly through the Wil- 

 lamette Valley. The trees when properly cared for make 

 a vigorous, healthy growth ; and five years from the set- 

 ting make pecuniary returns. 



As these to-day are our leading varieties and of consid- 

 erable importance and great promise in the future com- 

 mercially, they seem to deserve some historical record. 

 The prune, as before stated was introduced in 1847 by 

 Henderson Luelling of Iowa. Our little German prune 

 Luelling prune is the true German prune, a native of 

 the Rhine, propagated from the seed, and cultivated more 

 extensively in Germany and over the continent of Europe 

 than any other fruit, and is the "butter" and the condi- 



