The First Crate of the Northwest
Richland strawberry growers secure record prices in Spokane and Seattle, marking the fifth consecutive year the district dominated the early-season market.
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.
For the fifth consecutive year, the strawberry growers of Richland have put the first crate of ripe strawberries grown in the Northwest on the market. The first crate this year is unique in that the entire 24 hallocks were produced from one patch, that of M. Mason. This crate was shipped by J. Parks, of the Kennewick-Richland Strawberry Marketing Union, to the Davenport Hotel in Spokane and sold for $20.00. On the same day, a crate of berries combined from several ranches was shipped to Seattle and sold to the Washington Hotel for $16.00. This is the record price ever paid for a like shipment in the Northwest.
“There is no question that the Richland district can produce the earliest berries in the Northwest.”
Richland's early agricultural dominance is a far cry from its later transformation into a center for the Manhattan Project. This story captures the era when the Columbia River Valley was being actively 'promoted' as a fruit-growing paradise to attract settlers and capital.
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