The Profit in Prunes
How a small-scale orchard near Olympia is proving that fruit farming can be a lucrative venture in Western Washington.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Three miles and a half north of Olympia, on the east side of Puget Sound, lies the fruit farm of Robert F. Whitham. He has only a few trees in bearing, but they will illustrate the possibilities of orcharding in Thurston county. Mr. Whitham has 200 prune trees in bearing. They occupy 1 1/4 acres of land, being set only one rod apart. This is generally regarded as too crowded, but the owner has no cause for complaint. From these 200 trees were gathered 12 tons of green fruit which dried down to 4 tons. Ordinarily there should have been 3 to 4 tons, but the wet season rendered the fruit a little less solid. This dried product is now selling at 7 1/2 cents per pound, and will return the owner the snug sum of $450. Mr. Whitham says fruit can be picked, dried and boxed for 1 1/2 cents per pound, leaving a net figure of $300, or $288 per acre. Mr. Whitham also had success with apples; from 10 bearing Baldwin trees he secured 120 boxes which he sold at $1 per box. At this rate, one acre would have brought him $1,020.
“There is no farmer but what with a little extra exertion could have as much of an orchard as this.”
While land use in the Puget Sound area has shifted heavily toward residential development, small-scale specialty farming and the 'farm-to-table' movement remain persistent economic anchors in the region's cultural identity.
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