201S 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



which at first would be incouiiteii insuffi- 

 cient for the growing of fruits, but which 

 is being planted to the extent of thou- 

 sands of acres. 



Walla Walla 



The Walla Walla valley is one of the 

 oldest agricultural and horticultural dis- 

 tricts in the state of Washington. It was 

 soon proved by experience that fruits 

 could be successfully grown, but at that 

 early period little thought was given to 

 commercial orchards and most of the 

 fruit was grown for home use. 



Industry was largely confined to the 

 growing of wheat and vegetables, to 

 which the region was discovered to be 

 well adapted. The Blue mountains, ad- 

 jacent to the valley, rise to a height of 

 about 5,000 feet. 



In recent years artesian wells have been 

 sunk, which furnish at small cost an 

 abundant supply of water with unusually 

 heavy pressure. 



Commercial fruit growing has become 

 a considerable industry in recent years. 



Wenatchec 



Wenatchee valley is small, but for the 

 quality of its apples it has never been ex- 

 celled. It has a soil peculiarly adapted 

 to the growing of the best commercial 

 winter varieties. It is a volcanic ash 

 common to all the region east of the Cas- 

 cade range and west of the Rockies. But 

 in this particular section there is a strong 

 admixture of iron which is favorable to 

 the production of the best grades of 

 apples. The tendency of fruit growing In 

 this district is more toward apples than 

 in any other direction, for in this fruit 

 the orchardists have found their greatest 

 profits. 



Takima Talley 

 The Yakima valley is at present the 

 largest fruit-growing district in the state 

 of Washington. The Government has 

 built dams at the outlets of the lakes, 

 In order to impound water for the supply 

 of the present irrigated areas, and also 

 for a much larger area of land than is 

 at present under any irrigating system. 

 In addition to the irrigating systems 



from "gravity flow ditches and canals," 

 there are several sections where artes- 

 ian water is being used. The farming 

 district in the "Upper Yakima valley" 

 begins near EUensburg, and from this 

 point to Kennewick, at the mouth of the 

 Yakima river, is about 150 miles. The 

 width of the valley is hard to estimate, 

 because it is so irregular; from a broad 

 plain, as in the case of the Yakima In- 

 dian reservation, to narrow gorges, as in 

 the case of Union and Selah gaps. In 

 this valley, the great varieties of soil, 

 climate, altitude and wind currents, make 

 it possible to grow successfully for com- 

 mercial purposes many varieties of fruits. 

 For instance, at Kennewick, on the Co- 

 lumbia, near the mouth of the Yakima, 

 the season is about two weeks earlier 

 than at North Yakima, and about three 

 weeks earlier than at EUensburg. At 

 Kennewick, the conditions are favorable 

 for the growing of strawberries, black- 

 berries, raspberries, grapes, peaches and 

 pears. Strawberries can be ripened for 

 the early markets. As we proceed 

 further up the valley, the spring seasons 

 are later, and the climate better adapted 

 to the growing of commercial apples. 

 In the vicinity of North Yakima, the 

 conditions are ideal for the growing of 

 such varieties of winter apples as the 

 Winesap, Spitzenburg and Yellow New- 

 town; while further toward the moun- 

 tains, or on the higher elevations, the 

 conditions are equally good for the grow- 

 ing of Jonathan, Rome Beauty, Delicious 

 and Wagener. 



Yakima Valley Soils 



Yakima farmers have, in the conser- 

 vation of nitrogen in their soil, a prob- 

 lem before them equally as important 

 as the proper marketing of their fruit. 

 Productive as is the basaltic ash, and 

 remarkable as are the crops, the fact 

 remains that, according to chemical an- 

 alyses carried on by the state college 

 at Pullman, Yakima county soils show a 

 decided shortage of that most important 

 plant food, nitrogen. Indeed, only two 

 counties in the state, Benton and Grant, 

 have less. For King county the nitrogen 



