COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN HOOD RIVER VALLEY. 7 



of which extends much farther up the valley. More general farming 

 is found on the west side, and less detailed care is given the orchards 

 there. The Oak Grove district, a large district on the west side, has 

 many beautiful homes of people who have ranches for pleasure as 

 well as for profit. 



Pine groves and trees are numerous, and add greatly to the natural 

 charm of the region. Mount Hood to the south and Mount Adams 

 to the north, both beautiful mountains and continually capped with 

 snow, add a crowning touch of grandeur to the landscape that has 

 made this valley famous for its natural beauty. (See plates I 

 and II.) 



Hood River is a fast-flowing stream ; it is really a mountain brook. 

 (See PL III.) There are no broad, level, flat lands that one 

 thinks of as characterizing a river valley. The orchards are located 

 on the benches and rolling land between the stream bed and the 

 mountains on each side. The topography is extremely varied, and is 

 a combination of buttes, slopes, rolling hills, and fairly level fields, 

 often cut up with little creeks. The areas of level ground 'are very 

 limited in extent. 



COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF HOOD RIVER. 



The popularity and commercial importance of Hood River are 

 based not so much on the quantity of fruit shipped, as on its quality, 

 and the dependence the trade has learned to place in Hood Biver 

 apples. The apples of Hood River are largely limited to two very 

 important commercial varieties which grow to ^perfection here. 

 These varieties are Yellow Newtown and Esopus. 



According to the census figures, there are 60,345 acres of tillable 

 and 62,598 acres of nontillable land in Hood River County. Of the 

 tillable area 13,446 acres, or 22 per cent, are in apple orchards, and 

 of this amount there are 2,665 acres, or about 20 per cent, in trees 10 

 years of age or over. Seven hundred and fifty cars of apples were 

 shipped out of the Hood River Valley district in 1911, 1,100 cars in 

 1912, 1,050 cars in 1913, and 1,200 in 1914, or an average of about 

 1,000 cars per year. The usual number of packed boxes per car 

 is 630. 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 



The first settlers in the valley occupied mainly the narrow strip 

 of alluvial soil along the Columbia River and the more level parts 

 of the valley above. The isolation of the valley retarded its de- 

 velopment, and the lack of market, together with the fact that all 

 produce had to be shipped by boat on the Columbia River, limited 

 the agricultural activities almost exclusively to stock raising. The 



