THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



655 



ing is enormous. As a rule, trees average 500 boxes of 

 fruit to the acre. At a profit of $1.00 a box, it would 

 mean an annual income of $560,000. The Potter Palmer 

 estate owns 100 acres adjoining the Bear Creek Orchard, 

 Rogue River Valley. Eighty acres are in five-year-old 

 apple and pear trees, all perfect in health and growth. 

 Another 1,240 acres owned by the same estate is being de- 

 veloped and planted to fruit trees. One of the most com- 

 plete and valuable fruit ranches of today is the Eden Val- 

 ley Orchard formerly owned by the Burrell Investment 

 Company of Portland, but recently sold for $500,000. It is 

 a splendid tract of 605 acres, 500 of which are in apples 



Some of the Mosier Hills Orchards Along the Columbia River. Hill 

 Land Along the Columbia River Is Well Adapted for Fruit Growing. 



and pears. The apple trees that are in bearing have netted 

 the owners $700 per acre for the past five years. Fifty 

 acres of pears have netted an average of $600 a year for 

 the past nine years. 



There are, of course, exceptional profits in every busi- 

 ness. One may pick out cases where a man in almost any 

 locality makes big profits in chickens, cows, pigs, apples, 

 pears or strawberries. It is an easy matter to find cases 

 where lawyers and doctors make exceptional fees, but 

 these cannot be given as reasons why any average man can 

 get rich by studying law or medicine. Because Mr. M. 

 I. Rimel of Asotin, Washington, during the past summer 

 netted $1,000 from a three-fourths acre patch of straw- 

 berries, it is no sign that you or I can do it. Behind all 

 exceptional profits in any line, there is either a struggle 

 story or a person of exceptional ability. The personal 

 equation counts much in success, whether arguing before 

 a jury or raising apples and strawberries. 



My aim in the study of fruit culture in Oregon has 

 been to investigate the cases of men of average means and 

 ability, rather than the exceptional cases. Mr. A. I. Ma- 

 son is one of our best known apples growers. In his or- 

 chard he has two varieties, Newtons and Spitzenbergs. 

 This year his trees are thirteen years old. The records 

 show that in 1908 Mr. Mason received $1,200 an acre for 

 his fruit, which is a large return. If I were to give these 

 figures without those of preceding and succeeding years, 

 it might give an erroneous impression. In 1906 Mr. Ma- 

 son received for his Spitzenbergs $835 an acre and from his 

 Newtons $700 an acre. As a rule, it is the reverse; the 

 Newtons bring the higher price. In 1907 the average re- 

 turns from his orchard were but $250 an acre. In 1908 

 they were $1,200 an acre. The crop was so heavy that 

 year that in 1909 he received but $50 an acre. This year he 

 expects a gross income of $1,200 per acre, or even more. 



As Mr. Mason said in an address before the Apple 

 Growers' Association: "These figures are exact and not 

 colored in any particular. It will be seen that my orchard 

 should bring me in gross receipts of $700 an acre as an 

 average for five years. All expenses of maintenance will 

 amount to about $200 an acre, leaving a net profit of $500 

 an acre. From the time the trees were planted until they 

 were eight years old, 1 have not included the income 

 which was utilized in paying the expenses of development. 



This, of course, is paying ten per cent on a valuation of 

 $5,000 an acre. It looks big, but is nothing more than any 

 young man who gets hold of a good piece of Oregon apple 

 land can do, if he will only select the right land, plant 

 the best varieties and give them proper attention." 



The season of 1909 may be taken as an average year 

 in the Rogue River Valley. I could give examples of 

 where profits of over $3,000 an acre were realized from 

 apples and pears. From $500 to $700 an acre were not 

 unusual profits in berries. With hardly an exception there 

 was a profit of over $200 an acre on all fruit. Where fruit 

 failed to bring that much, it was shown that it lacked in- 

 telligent care and work. Here, as in any other case, a 

 person has to work for the money he receives. This is 

 not a land of snap fortunes for lazy people. You cannot 

 plow money out of the ground or pick it off the trees, even 

 though real estate agents may show you pictures of people 

 doing it. But take even the lowest profits, $200 an acre, 

 on ten acres would mean a net income of $2,000 a year. 

 This, with all the fruit and vegetables a family needs, with 

 a cow and a few chickens, is from a purely money stand- 

 point better than a salary of $200 a month in a city posi- 

 tion. The point is, an exceptional man in a city position 

 cannot raise his salary from $2,000 to $5,000 by straining 

 his energy to the breaking point, but he can do it in the 

 country. The country opens his way to a broader future. 



Fruit growing is a profession that any man or woman 

 of average intelligence can learn. The main pre-requisites 

 are energy and work. A person does not have to start 

 in young to learn how to grow apples or pears. School 

 teachers, doctors, lawyers or preachers all make good fruit 

 growers. Many of the most exceptional cases of profits 

 in fruit are secured by those who have failed in health or 



Cornice Peirs From a Rogue River Valley Orchard, a Fruit 



That Has Sold as High as Twenty Cents a 



Pound Wholesale in London. One of the 



Most Expensive Fresh Fruits Grown. 



worn out in the city grind. A certain man from New 

 York, according to his family physician, had one year to 

 live. He settled on the western slope of the Cascades 

 and was soon absorbed in the companionship of his trees. 

 He ate ravenously, slept well and forgetting to die. has 

 now overrun his time eight years. 



The lure of the orchard is being answered by hundreds 

 of thousands of people who are in business in the city, who 

 are sprouting fortunes by putting their spare earnings in 

 the development of an orchard instead of depositing them 

 in a bank. Professor J. L. Dumas, superintendent of 

 schools at Dayton, Washington, began planting his sav- 



