Excerpt from Biennial Report of the Oregon State Board of Horticulture, 1909 To the Honorable, the Legislative Assembly of Oregon: Gentlemen: In conformity with the statute which directs the Board of Horticulture to report biennially to you, I herewith submit my report of the work of the Board for the years 1907 and 1908. You are, of course, familiar in a general way with the object of the Board and with the work that has been accomplished, and I need refer to that only briefly, but I hope in a way that will show its importance. As originally organized, the district commissioners, five in number, were the active working force, the president being merely a figurehead who presided at meetings. Later the president was made an active working member and in 1905 the present organization was perfected; the work of the Board being supplemented by a force of county inspectors. We have now a very efficient working force, having been extremely fortunate in securing the services of some of the best fruit growers in the state as county inspectors. Without any desire to boast, but merely for your correct information. I wish to call your attention to the condition of the fruit industry in the State, past and present. The United States and State census figures show for many years prior to the year 1900, a steady decline in the value of the fruit crop in Oregon. This condition was due to the tremendous increase of insect pests and fungous diseases and the lack of knowledge or incentive to fight them. There was an over-supply of fruit for home use and the condition of the fruit prevented its being marketed abroad, henee the industry languished. Since the year 1900 the value of the crop has steadily grown, increasing from one million, three hundred thousand dollars in that year to over four million dollars at the present time. While, of course, not being so egotistical as to claim all the credit for this, it is only fair to say that without the machinery of such an organization as the State Board of Horticulture, it would have been impossible to have accomplished it. A fact not generally recognized is that the fruit industry, unlike many others, must depend very largely upon a market outside of the State. Without a high standard, and the means of attaining and enforcing such standard, it would be impossible to reach these outside markets and the industry could not enlarge. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.