The First Big Harvest
Kennewick marks its first major commercial apple season, but farmers fear they've already outgrown their warehouse capacity.
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.
Next week will bring to a close Kennewick’s apple harvest. With the exception of the Growers’ company, all of the houses had closed their packing plants for the year. More than that, the bulk of the crop has been marketed and at very satisfactory prices, it being estimated that the season’s average price for all varieties and all grades will run close to $1.26 a box. The total apple crop of the valley will be close to 450 carloads. This was really Kennewick’s first apple year, and the tonnage will be greatly increased next year and each succeeding year until the young orchards come into full bearing. Every foot of warehouse space and every packing facility has been taxed to its capacity this year. Manager H. W. Desgranges, of the Fruitgrowers’ association said: 'What Kennewick needs and needs badly is a cold storage plant with a capacity of at least 500 cars. The growers should get awake to this fact and begin immediate plans for such a plant.'
“This was really Kennewick’s first apple year and the tonnage... will be greatly increased next year.”
Kennewick's transition from open land to a massive agricultural engine is documented here at its infancy. Today's industrial-scale agriculture in the Columbia Basin stems from this exact period of 'booster' expansion.
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