Showcasing the Valley's Bounty for St. Louis
Horticultural Commissioner Van Holderbeke tours the region to gather prize-winning produce for the World's Fair, remapping agricultural districts in the process.
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State Horticultural Commissioner Van Holderbeke has returned from an extended trip to eastern Washington in preparation for the upcoming St. Louis fair exhibit. In the Wenatchee valley, he discovered successful experimental crops of cotton, peanuts, and sweet potatoes. Among the specimens secured for the exhibit are massive Wolf river apples, peaches, and limbs laden with Columbia plums. To streamline the state's agricultural oversight, the commissioner has rearranged the horticultural districts, grouping Walla Walla, Franklin, and Adams counties into a single inspection district. Local growers and inspectors are reportedly cooperating fully to ensure Washington fruit remains clean and free of vermin.
“With cotton, potatoes and peanuts growing successfully in Washington, in addition to the many other fruits and products that have already advertised the state, its resourcefulness continues to be a constant surprise.”
This article highlights the early 20th-century push to brand Washington as an agricultural powerhouse. The practice of remapping regional districts for state oversight remains a familiar bureaucratic struggle in Walla Walla’s ongoing civic development.
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