Fruit Growing is Favored 



Montana Orchards, Under Proper Care, are Furnishing an 



Increased Food Supply to Help Win the War. Board 



of Horticulture Aids in Fighting Disease 



and in Marketing 



[ONTANA has made an enviable record for herself in sup- 

 porting all measures calculated to help win the war. She has 

 gladly done her share in subscribing to all Liberty Loans, Red 

 Cross, Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. funds and is proud of the 

 record her men has made in this great war against autocracy. 

 In response to the call for greater food production the farmers 

 have planted additional thousands of acres to food crops, and 

 they have been glad to work harder and longer hours than 

 ever before in order to care for the increased acreage with less than the normal 

 amount of help. 



The fruit growers of Montana have also done their best to increase the production 

 of the various fruit crops, realizing that an adequate supply of good fruit is very 

 necessary to the health and well being of our people at home. The more fruit that 

 is used here the less bread and meat will be needed. Men and women who are 

 growing fruit are doing their part in this Armageddon as well as those who are 

 growing wheat, making munitions, driving battle planes or fighting in the trenches. 



More Orchards Cared For. 



Many orchards have been pruned, cultivated, sprayed and otherwise cared for 

 this year which have been previously neglected. The Montana State Board of 

 Horticulture, through its corps of inspectors, has worked very diligently this year 

 in advising and conferring with the growers regarding the proper care of trees. 

 Instruction has been given in many instances at special meetings, but most of the 

 advisory work has been done personally in the orchards of the owners. 



The United States Department of Agriculture gives the production of apples in 

 the state in 1917 as 911,000 bushels, an increase over 1916 of 143,000 bushels. The 

 pear crop is given as 11,000 bushels in 1917 as compared to 6,000 in 1916. 



The consumption of apples in Montana approximates 1000 cars annually. The 

 normal production of the state is about 500 cars, so the market within the state 

 is capable of absorbing a much greater tonnage than is produced. The growers 

 are beginning to learn the value of co-operation in marketing and within the near 

 future a large amount of the fruit will be packed in community packing houses. 

 This plan will produce uniformity in the product and will do more than any one 

 thing to give Montana fruit a reputation for excellence not only on the home 

 market but elsewhere. 



Co-operation in Marketing. 



In the Bitter Root valley two marketing organizations have been operating, the 

 Montana branch of the North Pacific Fruit Distributors, and the Farmers' Co- 

 operative Equity Association. Last year the growers received a good price for 

 their fruit and they are more than ever impressed with the idea that the fruit 

 grower who possesses an orchard of good varieties, in a suitable location, can make 



