OREGON FARMER 75 



$2,000 have built up an industry which is making them independent. 



The nursery business during the past few years has assumed 

 enormous proportions. One of the largest nurseries in the United 

 States is located in this state. The diversity of horticulture has made 

 the nursery business a good one, there being a demand for many 

 kinds of fruit and ornamental trees and plants. The reputation of 

 the state for fruit production has induced many people in various 

 parts of the United States to patronize Oregon nurseries for their 

 stock. (In Eastern Oregon, under irrigated conditions, piece root 

 trees are grown very successfully, while in Western Oregon, the whole 

 root or budded trees grow to better advantage.) 



The prospective settler is always interested in the prices of fruit 

 lands, and it is generally believed by many that it is impossible to 

 buy cheap lands in Oregon. It is true that in some sections of this 

 state land has probably been sold for prices that were unwarranted. 

 However, orchards which have been well selected and properly cared 

 for are producing good interest on a valuation of $1,000 per acre, and 

 some on an even greater valuation. The price of land is fixed by 

 many factors, such as transportation, nearness to rapidly growing 

 centers, the size of the area that is being planted to fruit, all have a 

 bearing on the price. 



In regions where horticulture has become highly specialized the 

 prospective settler must naturally expect to pay more for land than 

 in those localities where less development has taken place. However, 

 it is not necessarily true that the cheaper lands are the best to buy. 

 There is to be found in this state today, an abundance of splendid 

 fruit land for sale for less than $100 per acre. In fact, large areas 

 can still be purchased for as low as $50 per acre. The region in which 

 one will wish to purchase will depend first of all on the choice of an 

 irrigated or non-irrigated tract, climatic preference, or the greatness 

 of the desire to be near magnificient scenery. 



Failure in the fruit business is not unknown. Such failures as 

 occur are due to such factors as improper choice of orchard site, the 

 adoption of questionable horticultural methods, the planting of 

 unsuitable varieties, and the use of poor business judgment. Where 

 suitable locations are chosen, proper orchard methods employed, and 

 sound business methods practiced, fruit growing is found to be 

 a very profitable business. 



Many prospective fruit growers contemplate buying too small 

 holdings. It is true that under proper conditions the small tract of 

 say ten acres is found to be very satisfactory. This is true in those 

 regions of good soil where irrigation can be obtained to supplement the 

 rainfall, or on the non-irrigated river bottom soil, which is alluvial 

 and somewhat sandy in na:ure, and has a wide range of adaptability. 

 Under such conditions ten acres can be made to produce a relatively 

 large income. To the average man, of limited means, it will be better 

 to try and secure a larger acreage.^ Forty acres in many cases will be 

 a desirable tract to purchase, this being approximately about a one- 

 team unit. That is, one man and a pair of horses could do the greater 



