OREGON 



1505 



"because the rainfall is from 30 to 60 

 inches and is sufficient for the growing of 

 ordinary crops. We quote again from 

 Professor Lewis, who is perhaps better ac- 

 quainted with this region than any other 

 writer, being located in his professional 

 woTli at Corvalis, which is situated in 

 the valley, and is the seat of the State 

 Agricultural College : 



"It is a valley of great variations and 

 wide adaptability. The river bottom 

 lands are splendidly adapted for peaches 

 and truck crops. Cherries have also done 

 well on these bottom lands, and orchards 

 of apples and pears in a number of cases 

 are making successful growths. Young 

 walnut trees planted on many of these 

 lands have made splendid development. 

 Whether they will prove to be apple and 

 pear lands on an extensive scale will 

 need further demonstration, the one point 

 being that excessive frosts might damage 

 such crops where the orchard locations 

 were at the base of benches quite a dis- 

 tance from the river. Directly above the 

 river soils, which are generally sandy and 

 silt soils, we find especially in the upper 

 part of the valley quite extensive areas 

 of so-called white land. Fruit has never 

 been grown on these lands to any great 

 extent, and probably never will be grown 

 until drainage has been undertaken, al- 

 though with drainage the pear can, in all 

 probability, be successfully grown in pref- 

 erence to other fruits. Apples likewise 

 would be very promising. Small fruits 

 do especially well on such lands. Be- 

 tween these white lands and the foothill 

 lands will be found the gently rolling 

 clay loams, splendidly adapted for ap- 

 ples and pears. 



"In the lower part of the valley in such 

 counties as Washington, Yamhill, etc., are 

 found such areas as we might term table- 

 lands, tending from an elevation of 500 to 

 1,500 feet, or in some cases to the very 

 base of snow-capped peaks. Where these 

 are deep and contain strong clay loams 

 they are splendidly adapted for the grow- 

 ing of apples and pears. Some of the 

 lighter loams seem adapted for the grow- 

 ing of cherries and prunes. Wherever of 

 great depth walnuts should also thrive. 



"The foothill lands which one finds ex- 

 tending from the tablelands south to the 

 white lands of the valley are, as a whole, 

 more adapted for prunes and cherries 

 than for any other crops. They are apt to 

 be thin and poor to the west and south ex- 

 posure, but deep and of greater value to 

 the north and east; it is true not only in 

 this valley but also in the valleys found 

 to the south; there seems to be a general 

 tendency for these hill lands to become 

 poorer as they extend southward. 



"The Willamette valley is the center of 

 the famous Italian prune industry and the 

 cherry industry of the state. The princi- 

 pal walnut interests of the state are also 

 found in this valley, while the apple and 

 pear industries are also increasing rapid- 

 ly." 



Umpqua Valley 



The Umpqua valley lies south of the 

 Willamette and north of the Rogue river, 

 has a rich soil, the surface gently rolling, 

 and has about 25 inches of rainfall. Part 

 of its agricultural areas are irrigated. It 

 is said to be the earliest valley in the 

 state for the production of cherries and 

 strawberries for the markets. Parts of 

 the valley are also adapted to the grow- 

 ing of apples. 



Eogne Eiver Yalley 



What is generally called "The Rogue 

 River valley," is composed of two arms of 

 the main river, one rising in the Cascade 

 range, northeast of Medford, the principal 

 town, and the other rising in the same 

 range toward the southwest. They are 

 hemmed in on every side by ranges of 

 mountains or hills, except toward the 

 westward, where the river flows toward 

 the Pacific ocean. There is for these 

 reasons a meeting of air currents and 

 counter currents that without artificial 

 protection would cause injury from frosts 

 in greater degree than in most fruit-grow- 

 ing sections of the state. However, this 

 fact has caused the development of the 

 best system of orchard heating, perhaps, 

 in use among the fruit growers of the 

 United States. (See under Frost.) 



The apple best adapted to the Rogue 

 river is said by experts to be the Yel* 

 low Newtown. The orchard section is at 

 an elevation of about 1,100 to 1,600 feet 



3— -12 



