76 OREGON FARMER 



part of the work from early spring to early August, this being the rush 

 season. The first few years a portion of the land can be set to tree 

 fruits, and an area reserved for vegetable gardening and small fruits. 

 Chickens, hogs, and the family cow can be used in this combination 

 to very good advantage. After the entire acreage has been planted 

 and has come into bearing, twenty acres could be disposed of and the 

 capital thus secured invested in better buildings and needed improve- 

 ments. 



When the settler starts in this way he is assured of a good living, 

 a steady income, and a rapid increase in value of the land in which 

 he has invested and which ultimately will become a unit which should 

 insure success. Where feasible it will be well to grow more than one 

 type of fruit, though, in some regions soil and climatic conditions 

 are more favorable to the production of a relatively few varieties. 



Irrigation is a factor in fruit production in the state of Oregon. 

 In such regions as the Umatilla Project, including Hermiston and 

 Stanfield, and in parts of Eastern Oregon, irrigation becomes a 

 necessity where commercial fruit growing is to be undertaken. On 

 the other hand in most of the fruit valleys, such as the Grande Ronde, 

 Walla Walla, Hood River, and Rogue River, irrigation is used to 

 supplement the rainfall and in these regions many orchards have 

 never been irrigated. Fruit growing can be undertaken successfully 

 in such regions without irrigation provided good soil is chosen and 

 proper cultural methods are adopted. In many cases, however, 

 supplemental irrigation will be found to be of great help. 



The question of varieties to plant is largely a local one There 

 is not a fruit valley in this state but what can produce fruit to a high 

 degree of perfection. Choose good soil, put into play up-to-date 

 methods, and choose the varieties which are succeeding the best in 

 your locality, should be the rule to follow. The Experiment Station 

 issues, from time to time, lists of varieties which are recommended 

 for various parts of the state. 



In no region of the world is horticulture becoming more specialized 

 and intensified than in the state of Oregon. Every effort is made by 

 the growers to apply the most up-to-date and improved methods. 

 The most common method used in handling the soils of the orchards 

 is that of clean tillage. Nearly all the orchards are plowed and har- 

 rowed carefully each year and are cultivated at such frequent intervals 

 as to prevent the ground baking, the escape of moisture or growth of 

 weeds. The amount of tillage varies in the different localities, and 

 is controlled by such factors as, climate, soil, variety of fruit, and age 

 octree. 



K Cover crops are used very extensively in bearing orchards in non- 

 irrigated districts, while in the irrigated districts either cover crops 

 are grown, or else orchards are permanently seeded to clover, alfalfa 

 and similar crops. This system is adapted only to regions where 

 they~are"supplied;with irrigation 'water. -j ^ 



Spraying is a universal practice andjiearly every orchard is*provided 

 with a power sprayer,*and the orchard is given a regular, systematic 



