The Great Tree Planting Contest: Who Knows How to Grow a Forest in Seattle?
A local committee has rejected the first round of submissions for a $150 prize on orchard design, declaring them insufficient. Now, they are asking the public to try again with a more rigorous plan for planting 30 acres of fruit trees.
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.
On the 1st of January, the editor of this paper offered a cash prize of $150 for the best plan in detail of selecting and planting trees in the proper proportion for 180 apple trees, 30 each of cherry, pear, plum and peach, 60 in all—a general purpose orchard of 30 acres.
In response to this offer 11 papers from various parts of the territory were received and referred to a committee of three, consisting of E. Meeker of Puyallup, L. M. Swan of Olympia and C. W. Latimer of Seattle, to decide upon the relative merits of all the papers submitted, with instructions to award at their discretion not only the original premium offered but likewise further premiums for meritorious articles.
The committee, after a long and painstaking examination of the competitive papers, have submitted the following report:
To the Editor: The undersigned, the committee selected to decide upon the relative merits of papers submitted to compete for a cash prize of $150, offered by the editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for the best plans of planting 30 acres of orchard as outlined in said offer, would respectfully submit that while several of the papers submitted show merit and erudition yet none are so complete as would warrant the award of the prize offered and recommend that instead a first prize of $100, second of $50 and third of $25, be offered for the best article of not more than 3000 words on planting a general purpose orchard under the following heads:
1. Situation—As affected by the elements, sea, wind and temperature. 2. Soil—Best suited for the different varieties. 3. Preparation (leveling, draining, if deemed necessary). 4. Selection of Varieties—for family use; for market. 5. Proper mode of planting. 6. Cultivation and care of orchard trees. 7. Insects and plants. 8. Pruning. 9. Harvesting Care of fruit. 10. Best mode of marketing.
It is now too late to give the requisite notice to insure a general response in time for the tree planting season of 1888-89; therefore your committee would recommend that three months public notice through a standing notice in the WEEKLY POST-INTELLIGENCER be given to the end that all parties interested may take note, and that the papers already submitted be returned to the writers for revision and resubmission if desired and that the award should be made not later than the 30th of June, 1889.
E. MEEKER, Chairman.
The management of this paper, while regretting that the prize was not awarded, has, nevertheless concluded to act upon the suggestion contained in the report of the committee, and will, therefore, offer a cash prize of $100 for the best paper, $50 for the 2nd best, and $25 for the 3rd, giving instructions under the headings mentioned by the committee.
All papers submitted for competition must be received at this office on or before Monday, the sixth day of May. The papers will be submitted to a committee and the award made on or before the 1st of June, 1889, and payment of the awards made immediately thereafter.
In an era before municipal extension services or easy access to agricultural science, Seattleites had to compete for expert knowledge on how to grow food in a new climate. This contest highlights the early civic obsession with 'improving' the landscape through agriculture, a precursor to today's urban farming and sustainability movements.
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