James Robert Cardwell

“ Roots from seedling apples planted at Oregon City and on French Prairie, and sprouts from the wild cherry of the Vicinity, and wild plum roots brought in from Rogue River Valley, furnished the first stock. And it is related that one root graft in the nursery the first year bore a big red apple, and so great was the fame of it, and such the curiosity of the people, that men, women, and children came from miles around to see it, and made a hard beaten track through the nursery to this joyous reminder of the old homestead so far away. ”

“ The fruit industry as a business, in its variety, extent, and commercial importance, as we find it to-day, is of recent origin and within the memory of the present generation,—a worthy tribute to the brain and muscle of men of our time. ”

“ About 1870 there was much talk and speculation about prunes and prune growing as a business, for and against, those favoring showing facts and figures, those against claiming that our prunes were not the true German and Italian prunes, and that the prune in this country would, as they had in Eastern States, degenerate into a worthless, watery plum not fit for drying, and, at any rate, that the curculio would soon come and destroy them. Solid business men considered the prune business a visionary scheme, not worthy a serious consideration. ”

“ To hold possibly means that the opportunity to sell will be lost and stock held over. To say the least, the condition is not encouraging. The trade calls for a large black prune. The French prune grown in Oregon is small and light colored and can not compete with the larger dark French prune grown in the Santa Clara Valley, not to speak of their advantage in sun-drying. I have one thousand five hundred twelve-year-old French prune trees yet to work over; am growing wood of the Burbank sugar prune for scions. California is setting and top-grafting into this prune extensively. ”

“ The salal (Gaultheria Myrsinites) is scattered through the dense fir forests of the State; is another beautiful, small shrub, evergreen, bearing an acid, edible berry, size and color of the Oregon grape; much sought by the Indians, and in early days made an excellent wine for the resident Hudson Bay Company employees. The salal is a variety of wintergreen, and seems to thrive best in the deep shade of the forests; has not been cultivated.
The service berry, or Juneberry, a small tree six to twelve feet high, we expect to make a good record for in the future. ”

“ The service berry in the Willamette Valley grows in all soils, and at altitudes as high as the snow line, bearing a sweetish, pleasant tasting berry about the size of our largest wild cherry; as yet it has not been cultivated with us or much utilized. ”

“ At a dinner given in London, in 1824, to several young men in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company bound for the far distant Pacific Coast, a young lady at a table, beside one of the young gentlemen, ate an apple, carefully wrapped the seeds in a paper and placed them in the vest pocket of the young gentleman, with the request that when he arrived in the Oregon Country he should plant them and grow apple trees. ”

“ Under a heavy weight of fruit and in two heavy sleets the union of the graft, to the contrary, has proven to be as strong as any part of the tree, and it has transpired that this top-grafting is not so difficult and mysterious a handicraft as is generally supposed. Any careful, painstaking man can, in a few hours, learn to set a graft ”

“ We sold at sixteen cents per pound, and were assured that they could not drop much below that price.
A correspondent, a grower, Mr. S. J. Brandon, of New York, had discovered, or thought he had, that a heavy clay soil, very like our hilled lands, was unfavorable to the curculio, the blighting pest of the East that had discouraged plum and prune growing in the States east of the Rockies. Mr. Brandon, however, was growing successfully a forty-acre orchard of Reine Claude plums on heavy clay land in New York State, and was reaping a golden harvest from the green products in New York City market. ”

“ The tree is free from all pests, stocky and vigorous; is a regular bearer, carrying its fruits well distributed,and requiring no thinning; remarkable in the respect that it sheds all fruit it can not perfect to a good large size according to the dryness of the season. The tree responds to good treatment but does tolerably in the grass plot and under neglect, and has been called "the poor shiftless man's tree."
About the year 1858 Mr. Seth Lewelling, a brother of Henderson Luelling, set the first Italian prune orchard, five acres, near Milwaukie. ”

“ The Oregon wild plum (Prunus subcordata) , of which there are two or three varieties, was much valued in early times for its fruit to eat green, for preserves, and jam. This plum for quality is about the same as the native red plum of the Middle West, and has been improved by selection and cultivation; was used formerly by nurserymen for stock on which to graft the plum and prune. The tree grows to a height of ten or fifteen feet. Another variety produces a round fruit nearly an inch in diameter ”

“ Here a little patch in the dense fir forest was cleared away with great labor and expense, and the first Oregon orchard was set that autumn with portent more significant for the luxury and civilization of this country, than any laden ship that ever entered the mouth of the Columbia. A fellow traveler, William Meek, had also brought a sack of apple seed and a few grafted trees; a partnership was formed and the firm of Luelling & Meek started the first nursery in 1848. ”

“ Scions cut in January or February, tied in bunches and set (out ends down) in loose earth on the north side of a building, under shed, have always kept well.
Now it transpires that eastern Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, and other localities, grow successfully the Italian prune, and could probably supply the market of the United States. California set great areas of French prunes, and overdid the business, as Californians are apt to do. Probably California, in the near future, will produce more prunes than the world now consumes. ”

“ This marks the decadence of the fruit industry in Oregon. California sent us apples, pears, cherries, plums, prunes, apricots, grapes, and berrries a month or two earlier than we could produce them; and with them came many of the insect pests which she had imported from Australia and the Eastern States, which hitherto had been unknown to us. In our isolation we had no outlet by rail or water for our surplus products. Transportation, such as we had, was enormously expensive. ”

“ The Oregon crab apple (Pyrus rivularis) is found on cold marshy ground, bordering ponds, mountain springs, and streams, and when favorably situated is a good sized tree and attains a diameter of one foot and an altitude of twenty feet. Its rich green spreading top in the season bears heavily a small, oval, golden-colored apple, which when ripe is eaten by the Indians, and was used in early times by the white settlers for making preserves, jelly, and vinegar. ”

“ As these to-day are our leading varieties and of considerable importance and great promise in the future commercially, they seem to deserve some historical record. The prune, as before stated was introduced in 1847 by Henderson Luelling of Iowa. Our little German prune—Luelling prune—is the true German prune, a native of the Rhine, propagated from the seed, and cultivated more extensively in Germany and over the continent of Europe than any other fruit, and is the "butter" and the condiment of the peasantry and a principal source of revenue. ”

“ Fruit culture is most fascinating and ennobling, as well as the most profitable branch of horticulture, and the advance in the fruit product is evidence of the culture and civilization of a people. It is hard to overestimate the beneficial influence on health, morals, and manners of a generous fruit supply. ”

“ Ralph C. Geer also came in 1847 and brought one bushel of apple seeds and half a bushel of pear seeds, and was one of the first to plant an orchard in the Waldo Hills.
People in those days in this sparsely settled country knew what their neighbors were doing, and in the fall of 1848 and spring of 1849, they came hundreds of miles from all over the country for scions and young trees to set in the little dooryard or to start an orchard; so that the trees were soon distributed all over the settlements of the valley—yearlings selling at fifty cents to one dollar each. ”

“ The wild strawberry (Fragaria Chilensis) is widespread, abundant and very prolific, so that in some regions it is said hogs fatten on them. The berry is not large, but improves under cultivation, and by some is classed superior in flavor to the cultivated kinds. ”

“ The ornamental grounds and orchards of the homestead do much in childhood to strengthen that love of home and pride of family which is the foundation of all patriotism. The cherished memories of home thus enriched are, in after life, the strongest bond of family to bring back the absent and wandering to the roof tree ”

“ The object of this grafting story is to say, "Don't dig up old trees because the fruit does not suit you, graft into sorts that will suit you." Spraying, enriching, and deep cultivation will rejuvenate old trees and bring them into vigorous bearing long before you could realize from setting young trees, and at much less expense. ”

“ National and international communication over water and land, the use of railroads with cheap freight rates and rapid transit in fruit and refrigerator cars created the supply; conversely the supply increased creates the greatest demand—an inexorable law of trade. ”

“ The Italian prune, German prune, the Petite d'Agen, Coe's Golden Drop, and all other varieties—just such fruit as we had been growing for these varieties—thus settling the matter of varieties beyond dispute. Whereupon, from 1871 to 1881, I set eighty acres to orchard near Portland; six thousand prunes and plums, one thousand Royal Ann and Black Republican cherries, fifteen hundred Bartlett pears, five hundred Winter Nellis, and other pears and winter apples. ”

“ Old orchards were trimmed and cultivated and new ones set. All the fruits of the temperate zone, so far as tried, had done well in Oregon. Our Italian prunes, Bartlett pears, and Royal Ann and Black Republican cherries paid best, and were attracting favorable attention abroad. The last few years trees of these varieties had been set out by hundreds of thousands all over the State, but mostly through the Willamette Valley. The trees when properly cared for make a vigorous, healthy growth ”

“ There was then a great demand for large-pitted plums in the eastern market, and our grocerymen called for them in considerable quantities at home, and often said to me, "Set out pitting plums and peach-plums, and don't set anything you can not pit, for the American people don't want a prune with the pit in it. They don't like them. A few of our large-pitted plums had reached the Saint Louis market, and were selling readily at thirty-five cents per pound. ”

“ Canneries have come to the rescue and now contract our fruit at three and one half to four cents loose, boxes returned. This, also, will be fairly remunerative. Large dark cherries ship well, sell well, and probably will remain profitable. The world's fairs of 1893 and since revealed the fact that we grow the largest, showiest, and perhaps the finest cherry in the world. Somehow, we ought to do well with our dark cherries. ”

“ In those days the foundation for many a princely fortune was laid, and to-day many of our fellow citizens are enjoying the merited reward of their enterprise in a luxurious competence and the "glorious privilege of being independent." ”

“ At the fourth fair, at Salem, George Collier Robbins of Portland, was elected president, Albert Walling, secretary.
This society has been an important factor in promoting the agricultural interest of the State, now a permanent state institution holding a creditable state fair at Salem annually.
The Oregon State Horticultural Society was organized in Portland January 13, 1889, with a long list of active members from all over the State. J. R. Cardwell, president, E. W. Allen, secretary. ”

“ The geographical position of the country, its peculiar climatic surroundings, its adaptability to the production of certain fruits, and the lack of similar climatic conditions in vast areas certain to be the homes of vast populations, were pointed out and dwelt upon, and the certainty that these vast populations in the nature of things, would require immense supplies of our fruits, green, dried, canned, and preserved, was made apparent. ”

“ In 1872 set three hundred Royal Ann cherries, three hundred Black Republican, and later, four hundred Bing, seventy-five Lambert, sixty Governor Wood, fifty May Duke, and one hundred Early Richmond; for some years the Royal Ann and Black Republican brought from fifty cents to seventy cents per pound, in ten-pound boxes for shipment East. This was fairly remunerative, but of late, on account of fungi, the Royal Ann has not carried well in the long haul; is easily bruised, turns black on the facing, and altogether is an unattractive and unsalable fruit in the eastern markets. ”

“ The old Puritans could not have been such terribly stern and uncompromising foes of the good things of life, after all, since they knew enough to find gustatory delight in such fruits as kind mother Nature provided for them in their exile. ”