PLAN No. 765. WEALTH PROM A GARDEN PATCH
Strawberries, raspberries, cabbage, cucumbers, currants, rhubarb, beans, cantaloupes, gooseberries, grapes, hubbard squash, summer squash, corn, green peppers, hot peppers, ground-cherries, watermelons, citron, egg plant, tomatoes, are some of the things grown on the irrigated farm of this man living near Spokane, Washington.
And these are the side lines: The entire place of twenty-five acres is planted to fruit trees—apples and pears—now five and six years old. Their 1915 gross returns were above $5,500, practically all from garden produce. In 1914 their sales were $5,400.
This farm is an inspiration and an education. Every available square foot seems to be growing something. Grapes are growing along the low stone wall that separates him from his neighbor. Between trees are long rows of vegetables and in the tree rows themselves are cucumbers, squash and similar products.
One of the 1915 yields was $1,600 from three acres of strawberries. Six rows of raspberries 160 feet long brought a return of $75. Five acres of cantaloupes sold at an average price of $1.25 a crate and brought a gross return that averaged $250 per acre. Sales of green corn ran $60 an acre, and some of the corn and all of the fodder was left. An acre of peppers brought in about $400. Currants proved very profitable, yielding 40 to 50 cents a bush, with about 1,000 bushes to the acre. Eggplant has been made to pay over $300 per acre. From about an acre of tomatoes he sold 1,200 crates at an average price of 35 cents a crate.
This produce was not peddled or even hauled to Spokane for sale among the grocers. It was sold at wholesale and loaded on the cars at the nearby stations. Much of it went to Spokane, but the greater part went to outside markets.
PLAN No. 766. PROFIT FROM IRRIGATED LANDS
It is just a little difficult to tell the story of irrigated lands and not seem to be painting the picture too bright. The enormous crops that can be produced by intelligent use of the water are so large that it is hard to believe that so much value can be taken off an acre of ground. Alfalfa is perhaps the lowest in value per acre per year, and yet this same hay fed to cows and pigs and marketed as milk and hogs can be made to pay an annual return of from $125 to $250.
The well-conducted apple orchards produce from 250 to 500 boxes of apples per acre per year. The average of the good orchards is somewhere in between. These will run from 60 to 80 or 85 per cent fancy and extra fancy and that means a sale price at the orchard around $1 a box.