THIRTY-THIRD BIENNIAL SESSION 
161 
COMMERCIAL ORCHARDING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. 
W. S. Thornber, Idaho. 
The beginnings of all great industries have always been small, uncertain, 
slow and accompanied by risk of loss and permanency. Such was the begin- 
ning of the fruit industry of the Pacific Northwest. Wise men from the East 
said, “The soil was not right; the summers were too warm; the winters too 
mild; the varieties were not adapted to the conditions; and if it should be 
grown it could not be of profit to ship it across the mountains.” In part these 
things were all more or less true and yet in spite of these facts and conditions 
the Pacific Northwest as a fruit producing country has come to stay, and is 
always to be taken into consideration whenever the problems of fruit pro- 
duction and consumption are to be considered. 
Her problems have been the more difficult on account of the varied 
conditions under which the growers have had to work and yet, like the pio- 
neer fruit growers of the middle West, these persistent pioneers set about 
to work out a great problem, and success has been theirs on every side. And 
now as the early pioneers of the West are closing their work we of a later 
generation can do little less than accord them full glory for their grand work. 
The failures and mistakes of the growers of the Pacific Northwest are not less 
numerous than those of any other great country but the Westerners’ ability 
to realize his error and immediately go about to correct it makes it possible 
for the growers to bury and forget their failures and make a new start aright. 
No one familiar with the orchard conditions of the West will doubt for 
a moment that there have been serious mistakes made in the choice of land 
planted to fruit, or in the selection of varieties for particular soils or dis- 
tricts. However, in spite of these mistakes the total acreage of fruit of 
the Northwest is gradually increasing and while from now on this increase 
will be very gradual and possibly there will be years when no increase is 
noticeable, yet as a whole the industry cannot but reach out into undevelop- 
ed territory. 
During the past year fruit growers on certain soils and in certain districts 
have realized only too truly that all land is not adapted to fruit culture; 
so it is that many acres of fine young trees have been removed and the land 
devoted to a more profitable and permanent crop. Other growers have come 
to realize that they are not adapted to the growing of first-class fruits and 
so are gradually turning their attentions to other lines of agriculture. The 
gradual eliminating process covering land, unsuitable varieties, poor man- 
agers, low prices and the pest enemies is combining in a great work of 
assisting the progressive grower in producing a very superior grade of 
extra fancy fruit. 
Care and Condition of Orchards. 
The low prices and unsatisfactory market conditions of the year of 1912 
had a bad effect upon the care of thousands of acres of orchards in the 
Northwest during the close of the year, and the beginning of the year 1913. 
In fact, at the close of the present year many acres are in a very unsatis- 
factory bearing condition for next year’s crop. This is only what might be 
