HORTICULTURE IN ARCHIPELAGO DE HARO, ll' ASHING TON. 



for the same purpose. Both of these companies are lo- 

 cated at East Sound, the principal village of the island, 

 and also the point at which the Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 tion has its headquarters. The Haven Fruit and Drier 

 Co. will open up 600 acres in the spring, ten acre tracts 

 and planting 200 acres in fruit for their driers and can- 

 neries. The East Sound Fruit Co. will plant about 300 

 acres and erect canneries. These companies are several 

 miles apart, and all the intervening lands are being sold 

 in tracts of from five to forty acres, ten acres being the 

 usual size! Not counting the mountain slopes, which are 

 valuable for certain kinds of fruit, there are about 28,000 

 acres, all of which will be planted in large and small 

 fruits, and vegetables. 



The island is situated in the midst of the markets and 

 everything raised brings prices that would astonish the 

 fruit growers of the east. Apples, now, Gravenstein 

 and Twenty-ounce, bring $1.40 per bushel. There is 

 much money also, in small fruits, blackberries, especially 



Archipelago de Hard. 



the Lawton, and strawberries. Crescent, Sharpless, Ju- 

 cunda, etc. are being set out rapidly. The principal 

 apples raised are ; — Red Astrachan, Summer Pearmain, 

 Williams' Favorite, Early Harvest, Cole's Quince, 

 Twenty-ounce, Gravenstein, Detroit Red, King of Tomp- 

 kins Co. Rhode Island Greening, Mammoth, 'Red Cheek, 

 Peck's Pleasant, English Russet, Golden Russet. Blue 

 Pearmain, Monstrous, Canada Reinette, Bellflower, 

 Dutch Mignonne, Hubbardston's Nonsuch, Tulpehocken, 

 Golden Ball, Yellow Newton and Danvers Winter. In 

 addition to these varieties we have the Baldwin, North- 

 ern Spy, New York Vandevere, Mcintosh Red, Winesap ; 

 and other kinds have been tried and are being planted 

 in large numbers. 



The peaches grown are the Alexander, Waterloo, Fidalgo 

 (local seedling) and the early and late Crawford. 

 The apricots are chiefly Moorpark and Breda. Pears, 

 Bartlett, Onondaga, Clapp, white and Gray Doyenne, 

 Louise Bonne de Jersey, Kieffer, Buerre Diel, Duchesse 



413 



d'Angouleme and Vicar of Winkfield. Many kinds of 

 cherries are grown and they sell well ; Royal Avon (Na- 

 poleon and Black Republican are chiefly grown. All 

 kinds of plums are raised in the richest profusion ; per- 

 haps the most valuable, because it is late, is Coe's Golden 

 Drop. The true Green Gage is not yet grown on the 

 Pacific slope, so far as my observation goes. There are 

 dozens of so called green gages which are merely poor 

 seedlings of Imperial gage. 



Prunes are becoming the most important of all fruits. 

 The Fellenberg (or Italian Prune), the Prune d'Agen 

 and the German, in the order named, are the most val- 

 uable varieties, although the true St. Catherine has not 

 yet been tested. Perhaps on account of bearing quali- 

 ties and size the Fellenberg will always rank first. There 

 is a so called Hungarian prune grown on the I'acific slope, 

 which is a seedling of the Orleans plum and is no more 

 fit for drying than Damson. When ripe it is very large ; 

 rich reddish purple in color, with light bloom. The true 

 Hungarian is purplish black, with deep bloom ; size, me- 

 dium. At present, however, the one choice is Fellen- 

 berg, and in planting 100 acres 90 per cent, is of this 

 variety, 7 per cent. Prune d'Agen and j per cent. St. 

 Catherine. 



Apricots are being planted largely for drying, and 

 peaches for the local markets. The apple, peach and 

 prune crop this year is very heavy. Ten year old apple 

 orchards will yield 300 bushels of enormous apples to the 

 acre, and long keepers, which last year brought as high 

 as $2.35, will probably this year bring $3 per bushel. 



Orcas Island, like the whole of western Washington, 

 is covered with timber, but the island has very few 

 forests of heavy timber, alder predominating in the val- 

 leys and young fir on the uplands. Wherever natural 

 trees grow prolifically, orchards will flourish and do well 

 without artificial help; but here, as well as elsewhere, 

 the man who prunes and scrubs his trees, cultivates 

 and thoroughly underdrains his land, is the man who has 

 the best success. 



The soil runs from rich sandy loam to heavy clay 

 loams, and on of the available lands the subsoil is 

 found to be clay at an average depth of three feet. 



Perhaps to show the salubrity of the climate it is well 



to state that the island is fast growing into repute as the 



best place on Puget Sound for summer homes The 



safe boating and bathing and the magnificent scenery 



lending their aid to the climate of sunshine, to make the 



place attractive. There are no fogs and but very little 



cold in winter . Thirty days practically includes all the 



really cold weather. To give an indication of summer 



weather, the following table is appended : 



Highest Mean Total rain/ah 



teihpet ature . temperature, for month. 



July 79-1 .S9-I .87 



August 77.5 58.7 .01 



September 74-5 54-2 -29 



The island is also a natural vegetable garden ; green 

 corn is raised in profusion, cantelopes, melons and to- 

 matoes yield excellently, and pumpkins, squash, cauli- 

 flower and celery are good paying crops. 



