NEW YORK, JANUARY 14, 1905. 
Vol. LXIV. No. 2868. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
APPLE GROWING IN OREGON. 
NATURAL ADVANTAGES AND HUMAN SKILL. 
Official Packers are Responsible. 
GROWING hOR EXPORT.—This year’s apple crop 
for export purposes in Oregon amounts to about 750 
carloads of 600 boxes each. These export apples are 
largely grown in three different localities, embracing 
all tbe different conditions of soil and variations 
of climate which arc to be found in the State. 
First in point of quantity is the Rogue River 
Valley in extreme southern Oregon, next Grand 
Ronde Valley in eastern Oregon, and least in quan¬ 
tity but first in quality Hood River Valley in north 
central Oregon. It is of the latter I will speak particu¬ 
larly; I believe it is correct to say that there is not 
another single locality in the United States where such 
painstaking care is exercised in the growing of apples. 
Splendidly situated in a small 
valley right in the heart of the 
Cascade Range of mountains, 
at an elevation of from 300 to 
2.500 feet, with a light but strong 
soil, and plenty of rainfall in 
Winter and early Summer, with 
abundance of water easily ob¬ 
tained for irrigation in late 
Summer just at the time when it 
is needed to develop the high¬ 
est degree of coloring and in¬ 
sure a large size, the conditions 
are almost ideal. P>ut there are 
many thousands of acres else¬ 
where in the State where just as 
fine apples are or can be grown, 
and I want to make the point 
very clear and emphatic that the 
reason why “Hood River apples” 
are the standard of excellence 
wherever known is because the 
growers have given the greatest 
possible care to the production 
and the marketing, and not to 
the fact that nature has done 
everything for them. 
PLANTING AND CARE.— 
Yearling trees are selected al¬ 
most invariably for planting, and 
if possible they are planted in 
the Fall, and spaced from 25 to 
30 feet apart. The first two or 
three years it is customary to 
grow some kind of hoed crop, 
like corn, beans or potatoes, be¬ 
tween the trees, but many large 
growers just give clean culti¬ 
vation from the very first. The 
trees are hoed around whenever necessary to keep down 
weeds and retain moisture, and the ground stirred in 
some manner at least once every 10 days during the 
growing season. Some varieties of apples begin to 
hear a little at three years, such ones as Jonathan or 
Wagener, but of course there is not much of a crop 
before the fifth or the sixth year. Spraying is prac¬ 
ticed from the very first, whenever there is any possi¬ 
ble need of it. We have about every pest known to the 
apple grower, so that . spraying is necessary at very 
short intervals. Among the most careful growers it is 
customary to spray once or twice during the Winter 
with the lime, sulphur, and salt for fungus and San 
Jose scale, then with Bordeaux just before the blos¬ 
soms open for scab; just after the blossoms fall with 
the Bordeaux and arsenite of soda combined for scab 
and Codling moth, and then throughout the entire Sum¬ 
mer every two or three weeks for Codling moth, many 
growers spraying as much as 10 pud 12 times per year. 
The two most important sprayings for the moth are 
considered to be the first, and the last, given just a 
week or two before picking time. So thoroughly are 
all these apples sprayed that it is necessary to wipe all 
of them before packing. 
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT.—The Hood River 
Apple Growers’ Union is a model of its kind, and it 
is to the careful business management given to its af¬ 
fairs that the fine prices received for this fruit are due. 
The Union elects annually a board of directors and 
a manager, and they in turn handle all the business. 
A stringent set of rules is adopted, and members are 
compelled to adhere strictly to them. No grower is 
allowed to pack his own fruit, for it is well known that 
no man under such circumstances can be depended upon 
at all times to throw out absolutely all imperfect fruit. 
The plan is to hire a certain number of skilled packers 
and send them around to the different orchard pack¬ 
ing houses, and have them do all the packing under 
orders from the manager. This avoids hauling the fruit 
before it is packed, thus preventing any unnecessary 
bruising. The grower is required to sort out most of 
the imperfect fruit before the packers begin work; if 
the packer has to sort out more than eight per cent 
of the fruit he receives extra pay at the expense of the 
grower. Each packer must stamp every box he packs 
with his number, and in case of complaint of poor 
packing he must repack for nothing, and if complaint 
continues he is dropped from the list. He receives five 
cents per box for all boxes containing 128 apples or 
less, and six cents for all containing more than 128. 
The packer records the number of apples in the box 
in pencil on one end. Each packer is furnished meals 
free by the grower, but he must look out for his own 
bed. Only spring wagons are allowed for use in haul¬ 
ing, and a cover of some kind is required to keep off 
sun and dust. 
BOXING APPLES.—In boxing apples it has been 
found practically impossible to fit all kinds and sizes 
of apples into the same kind of box, so that two styles 
are now used; one known as the standard is 18 inches 
long, 11 J4 inches wide, and I0j4 inches deep, inside 
measurement. 1 he other, known as the special size, 
is 20 inches long, 11 inches wide and 10 inches deep 
inside, each holding nearly the same, a little more than 
one bushel. I he apples are all graded to an even size 
when being sorted and wiped, and then in packing the 
special box is generally used for the size that runs 128 
per box, which means four apples wide, four deep and 
eight long. With the 96 and 112 sizes the standard box 
is better, being both wider and deeper. Different ap¬ 
ples, of course, require different arrangements of the 
apple in the box, but the essential point is that there 
shall be a uniform number of rows each way, and that 
the box shall be full, so that there is no possible chance 
for the apples to rattle about. 
The tops and bottoms of the 
boxes are made of material 
thin enough to bend readily, and 
the largest apples are placed in 
the center of the box, so that 
when the lids are nailed on 
there is a swell of about three- 
fourths of an inch. This in¬ 
sures a tight pack. The box is 
then placed on its side in haul¬ 
ing and shipping. Fig. 13, page 
19, shows apples in boxes. These 
apples are all thinned by hand 
in June and July of each year, 
the rule being never to leave 
two - apples where they will 
touch, and to have them spaced 
not less than four inches apart 
on the twigs. It is sometimes 
necessary, this being a country 
of almost rainless Summers, to 
add a little water along in Au¬ 
gust and September. So mag¬ 
nificently colored are these ap¬ 
ples, owing to the combination 
of a soil rich in potash, bright 
sunshine and plenty of water, 
and so carefully are they sprayed 
and packed, that this year the 
Spitzenburgs sold at the record- 
breaking price of $2.10 to $2.25 
per bushel box packed and de¬ 
livered at the shipping station; 
Yellow Newtowns at $1.75 and 
Baldwins and Kings at $1. 
EASTERN AND WEST¬ 
ERN APPLES.—There is a pe¬ 
culiar feature in the apple mar¬ 
ket this season; these fancy Spitzenburgs all go to 
New York city market, where they sell at from $3.50 to 
$4 per box, while at the same time thousands of barrels 
of Baldwins are being shipped from western New York 
into the California markets, completely underselling 
us. It is surely good business for the railroads at 
least. It has always seemed a little strange to the 
western fruit grower that the barrel is such a favorite 
package in the East. One can readily understand that 
long-established custom is responsible for much of its 
continued use, but it does seem that the trade should be 
quicker to see the advantage of the box for the fancy 
trade, and even for all but the cheapest trade. The 
extra cost is trifling, while the extra price received 
is considerable, and there is no comparison at all in 
the convenience of the two packages. In conclusion, I 
wish to say to all apple growers: Study to find the 
two or three best apples for your vicinity, and then 
grow them in quantity sufficient to make it an object 
WOLF RIVER APPLE, NATURAL SIZE. Fig. 9. 
