Of those states which in 1909 each produced more than 100,000 bushels of cherries, Oregon made the highest percentage of increase for the decade.

Of the ten states which each produced more than 100,000 bushels of plums and prunes in 1909, Oregon made the highest percentage of increase for the decade.

Of the ten states which each produced more than 100,000 bushels of pears in 1909, Oregon ranked third in percentage of increase.

Of the 29 states which each produced more than 1,000,000 bushels of apples in 1909, Oregon ranked sixth in percentage of increase, the states which ranked higher in their order beginning with the highest, being Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington and Nebraska.

In rank among the states of the Union as to number of farms, Oregon had 33rd place in 1900, but fell to 34th place in 1910.

In production of plums and prunes it had second place in 1899 and held the same place in 1909.

In production of apples it advanced from 25th place in 1899 to 22nd place in 1909.

In production of pears it advanced from 12th place in 1899 to 6th place in 1909.

In production of cherries it advanced from 12th place in 1899 to 10th place in 1909.

In the census of 1900 all trees were counted together whether of bearing age or not. In 1910 the trees of bearing age and those not of bearing age were reported separately. The figures now available for plum and prune and cherry trees in 1910 are the whole number and not the number of the bearing and of the non-bearing trees separately. The published data available for the 1900 census gives the numbers in most cases in round thousands. 1900 and 1910 follow:

The numbers for

We find that the whole number of bearing trees in Oregon of the tree fruits mentioned in the foregoing table in 1910 was 1,771,486 less than the whole number of trees of all ages in 1900. There were 4,285,893 trees in 1900 that had not yet reached bearing age. This indicates an annual yearly planting of more than 600,000 trees in Oregon, and that at least 1,800,000 trees planted after 1900 should have come into bearing in 1910 if they survived until that time. After allowing that one-third of this number died after they were planted from natural causes or through the will of the owner, the conclusion is inevitable that at least 2,870,000 of the fruit trees of Oregon which were in existence in 1900 were not in existence in 1910. A comparison of these figures with those of adjoining states shows that this great mortality was not the result of natural causes, and that the great fatality was the result of the activities of the State Board of Horticulture in bringing about the abatement of neglected, pest-ridden trees

ard orchards in the State which had become a public nuisance and a great drag upon the development of the fruit-growing industry of the State. Owing to the great planting of apple orchards in Oregon in the gold-mining days when apple-growing was extremely profitable, and the fact that for many years the production of apples in this State was many times as great as was required to supply all markets which could then be reached, the Willamette Valley contained a great acreage of long-neglected and worthless orchards. In no other portion of the State was there so much to be done in the way of getting neglected orchards cleaned up or destroyed. The work has not been completed, and the census figures of 1910 as to number of trees by counties are not yet at hand, but it is probable that at least one-half of all the trees which went out of existence for the benefit of their owners and the public generally in the last decade were in the Willamette Valley. The beneficial effects of their destruction are plainly seen in the remarkable growth of production of tree fruits in the last decade, as shown by the census reports giving the aggregate yield in bushels of apples, plums and prunes, pears, peaches and cherries in the counties which lie in the Willamette Valley for the crop years of 1899 and 1909:

This shows that the percentage of increase of production of tree fruits in the Willamette Valley for the decade was more than double that of the State as a whole. A large share of this great increase in the Willamette Valley was due to prunes. The prune orchards were yet young in 1900 and most of them had not then come into full bearing. With apples it was different. There were almost no young apple orchards in the valley in 1900. The yield of apples had been decreasing for nearly twenty years and in 1899 the yield for the whole valley was only 310,000 bushels from more than 1,500,000 trees. There was at that time a general feeling of discouragement and hopelessness about the apple industry in the Willamette Valley. With the destruction of a great share of the worthless trees and better care of what were left apple production made an excellent start upwards again during the decade as shown by the following table giving the yields of apples for the valley counties for 1899 and 1909:

Apples Bushels 1899 26,369 33,815 48,461 46,428 32,381 27,224 38,300 57,739

Apples Bushels 1909 144,329 153,183 95,993 98,157 54,748 70,408 92,843 89,292

Total...........

310,717

798,953

It will be seen that the percentage of increase for the valley for the decade was 157 per cent, as compared with an increase of 132 per cent for the State as a whole. The Oregon Agricultural College deserves much credit for the part it has done in bringing about better care of the orchards.

SMALL FRUITS.

Complete statistics from the 1910 census as to small fruits are not yet available. The following was the production in quarts of the principal small fruits in the crop years of 1899 and 1909:

The value of the crop of small fruits for 188 was $386,632. The figures for 1909 are not available, but as prices were materially higher in 1909 than in 1899 the value of the crop of 1909 probably exceeded $800,000.

The crop of grapes decreased from 5,389,000 pounds valued at $162,543 in 1899 to 3,207,000 pounds valued at $99,000 in 1909. The decrease in this industry has been due to the low average of prices for grapes which have prevailed in Oregon during the greater part of the decade.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS IN OREGON.

By H. M. WILLIAMSON, Secretary of State Board of Horticulture.

(All figures relating to temperature and rainfall, and most of those giving elevations in this article are from the publications of the Oregon Section of the Climatological Service of the Weather Bureau of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Edward A. Beals, district forecaster and section director, Portland, Oregon. For fuller details as to climatic conditions in this State, address Oregon Section, U. S. Weather Bureau, Portland, Oregon.)

From the nature of a large number of inquiries which come to the office of the State Board of Horticulture, it is apparent that many persons who live east of the Rocky Mountains have a very vague understanding of climatic conditions in Oregon. The question most commonly asked is "What is the average temperature and average rainfall in Oregon?" It is easy to answer this question by giving the normal average temperature for all observation stations in the State, which is 50.2 degrees, and the average annual rainfall for all the stations which is 38.71 inches. This reply would be worse than valueless to a person intending to settle at Burns where the annual temperature is 43.7 degrees, and the annual rainfall is 10.58 inches. The annual temperature also lacks much of being a reliable indicator of summer and winter temperatures. The average annual temperature at Marshfield, Oregon, is 49.4 degrees; at Heppner, 50.2 degrees, a difference of only 8 of a degree. The temperature of January at Marshfield is 44.7 degrees; at Heppner, 32.9 degrees. The temperature of July at Marshfield is 59.4 degrees; at Heppner, 68.8 degrees. The annual temperature at Marshfield is seven degrees warmer than it is at Joseph, but the months of June, July and August are all warmer at Joseph than at Marshfield..

The person who has always lived in regions where there are but slight differences of elevation above sea level, or which are remote from an ocean, find it hard to understand climatic conditions in Oregon. Except as modified by mountain ranges, the elevation of the State tends to increase towards the south, and we find that the highest annual temperature at any station is at Blalock on the northern boundary of the State. The ocean profoundly affects the climate by making the winters warmer and the summers cooler. The remarkably small difference between the temperatures for January and for July at Marshfield is due to the fact that Marshfield is but a few miles from the ocean. The modifying effect of the ocean is disturbed by ranges of mountains which interfere with and deflect the currents of air from the ocean, as they pass towards the interior. The Coast Range and Cascade Mountains also greatly affect the rainfall in the different portions of the State. The chilling of the air as it rises over the mountains forces out moisture. The loftier the mountains and the lower the temperature reached by the air the less moisture remains in it. It is generally the case that in any given section rainfall increases with altitude, although not necessarily in the same proportion. It is the