416 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Washington's vale of plenty. The fame 

 of its prodigious crops, the excellence of 

 its fruits, and the general prosperity of 

 all of its people are subjects of fascinat- 

 ing interest. The valley may be said to 

 have been absorbed by the Service, which 

 in the interest of economy has acquired 

 the principal irrigation system and con- 

 trols the entire flood flow of the stream. 

 The plans provide for a gradual and com- 

 prehensive development of several hun- 

 dred thousand acres of land of unequaled 

 richness. The work is now centered 

 upon two units — the Tieton and Sunny- 

 side — but in the near future the Wapato 

 unit, embracing the Yakima Indian lands, 

 will be opened to settlement. 



At the risk of losing my reputation for 

 veracity I wish to mention a few of the 

 numerous instances of success on the 

 part of horticulturists in that valley. 



J. O. Shadbolt, for ten years a dry- 

 goods merchant of Virginia, Minnesota, 

 came to Wapato, Washington, in Febru- 

 ary, 1906, and bought 41 acres, all in 

 bearing orchard, including apples, 

 peaches, pears, plums, apricots, and cher- 

 ries. He paid $18,500 for the place, or a 

 little over $450 per acre, a price which 

 his friends declared was evidence that he 

 was crazy. He added $2,500 for im- 

 provements, making an initial investment 

 of $21,000. In 1908 Mr Shadbolt re- 

 fused a definite offer of $50,000 for his 

 ranch. Let us briefly analyze the crops 

 produced in the three years he has owned 

 the ranch. In 1906 his sales were as fol- 

 lows : 



6,933 boxes Bartlett pears $6,612.00 



2,652 boxes Crawford peaches 1,326.00 



8,743 boxes Elbuta peaches 5,245.80 



Over-ripe pears sold at home 250.00 



4,243 boxes plums, apples, apricots, 



and cherries 3,023.72 



Total $16,457.52 



Deducting operating expenses, about 

 25 per cent, left a net profit of $12,000. 



In 1907 the orchard yielded gross, 

 $29,485.47, and net, $20,500. 



In 1908 the business depression af- 

 fected the market and prices were lower ; 

 nevertheless the orchard netted $7,500. 



In the three years former shopkeeper 

 Shadbolt, who never before had any 

 knowledge of fruit-raising or irrigation, 

 has netted $39,500 on an investment of 

 $21,000, or an average of $13,166 an- 

 nually. His net income each year has ex- 

 ceeded 62 per cent on his investment. 

 His annual net returns averaged over 

 $321.13 per acre. 



Edgar Silvers, from an unrrrigated 

 farm near Albion, Nebraska, came to 

 Toppenish six years ago and bought a 

 ten-acre farm under the government ca- 

 nal. He has now 7^ acres in bearing 

 orchard and 2]/ 2 acres in young trees. 

 From his matured trees last year and 

 from the vegetables and clover grown 

 between the rows he received $2,727.60 

 gross. He says this beats 160 acres in 

 the corn belt in net yields, besides being 

 a lot less worry and hard work. 



From 9 acres of apples, or 660 trees, 

 A. Larson, of Zillah Post Office, a 

 former citizen of Stockton, Wisconsin, 

 sold $3,755 worth in 1908. 



L. I. Barbee, a former resident of Red 

 Oak, Iowa, now living on a 20-acre ranch 

 at Toppenish, sold $2,341.60 worth of 

 apples, pears, plums, and prunes from 

 357 trees, or more than $6.50 per tree. 

 These trees occupy 6y 2 acres. 



J. C. Milton, also from Red Oak, Iowa, 

 now owner of 6 1-3 acres in apples and 

 peaches, harvested from 300 trees 

 $2,578.55 worth of fruit in 1908, or 

 nearly $8.60 per tree. His average gross 

 return was $407.14 per acre. 



Robert McCormick, formerly a lum- 

 ber-jack at Blue Earth, Minnesota, landed 

 in Zillah ten years ago with just 75 cents 

 in his pocket. For two years he worked 

 as laborer and teamster, and then with 

 his savings made the first payment on 25 

 acres under the government's canal. It 

 was raw land then, covered with sage- 

 brush. Today it is all in cultivation, and 

 his little farm is bringing him in each 

 year $2,000 above all expenses. Last 

 year he picked 780 boxes of apples from 

 1% acres. He has refused $1.25 per 

 box, or $975 for his crops, which indi- 

 cates a yield of $780 per acre. 



