TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 133 



per acre, according to the distance from town; most of this 

 land is covered with large stumps or a heavj- growth of 

 scrub oak and will cost from one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred and fifty dollars per acre to clear it for orchard, 

 so the person who makes the start will, by the time he is 

 ready to plant his trees, have land that cost him from 

 three himdred and fifty to six hundred and fifty dollars per 

 acre, and then he has to wait from six to seven years before 

 he gets any returns for his labor. A bearing orchard will 

 cost according to age, say from eight to fifteen years, from 

 one thousand to two thousajid dollars per acre, so no matter 

 whether a man buys the unimproved land or the bearing or- 

 chard it will cost him a large amount of money. I do not 

 want it understood that the western growers are not making 

 any profit from their orchards, because a good many of them 

 are making good interest on their investments. You can do 

 the same here. Your land, or a large part, is good and will 

 raise just as good apples as those western districts. It is 

 not high priced and does not take a fortune to make the 

 start. I believe if there were a few more young orchards 

 being planted here and taken care of properly and put in 

 a high state of cultivation and prove to the people that you 

 have the goods, you will stop this steady outgo of people 

 going West and have them take up some of the abandoned 

 farms you have in New England. For years the general 

 trend has been from the countr}- to the city, but of late years 

 it has been the opposite, especially among the younger class. 

 A person planning to go into apple growing should be 

 sure that his soil is suitable for apples. Besides this, the land 

 must have good air and soil drainage, exposure and eleva- 

 tion. Our best locations in Hood River are on a northeast 

 or an east slope. Trees planted on these slopes are less apt 

 to make an early start in the spring and then be caught by 

 a late frost. I have known of orchards planted on a south- 

 ern slope being entirely killed on this account. It requires 

 a good depth of soil with plenty of drainage, so that your 

 tree roots are not standing in water during the winter, for 



