EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 



73 



country. A show in which more apples and handsomer ap- 

 ples were displayed than at any other exhibition I know of ; 

 a show in which not only the fruit growers were concerned, 

 but the citizens of the place where the show was held were 

 intimately interested. Right here is one of our difficulties in 

 the East, — the townspeople where our meetings are held are 

 never much interested. In the city of Spokane on this occa- 

 sion the streets, the stores, and even the little shops, were dec- 

 orated with apples, to celebrate the event. As you walked 

 down the streets and around the corners and saw those mag- 

 nificent apples in all the windows, you thought you were at 

 the show itself, because the whole city was in a gala attire 

 of apples. That suggests the spirit of the people in the great 

 Northwest. 



There are a good many striking features about the North- 

 west country. One of the things that appeals to you most is 

 the great size of the country. Oregon is about twice as large 

 as the State of New York ; Washington is larger than all of 

 New England, and that other country which we are soon go- 

 ing to hear from — British Columbia — lying to the north of 

 these two States, is eight times as large as the State of New 

 York. A tremendous expanse of outdoors when you come 

 to think of it in relative terms ! 



We can divide the region roughly into two sections, and 

 the division line is a natural one running north and south, the 

 great Cascade Range, one of the backbones of the continent. 



On the coast side of that range we find distinct climatic 

 conditions and products peculiar to the region. On the east 

 side we have a dififerent climate and products governed by 

 those different conditions. On the coast side of the range we 

 have the moist winds from the Pacific sweeping easterly; as 

 they pass over the Cascades they are robbed of their moisture, 

 precipitation occurs and the rainfall on the Pacific side is 

 heavy. You have, then, a humid atmosphere and moist soil 

 conditions. On the east side of the Cascades very different 

 conditions prevail. There we have aridity, and irrigation is 

 necessary. Fruit growing in the oldest part of that country 



