Wenatchee High School - Wa Wa Yearbook (Wenatchee, WA)

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WENATCHEE AT THE HARVEST SEASON Crowded streets-Busy, happy, jostling people- Lilce a big efficient citysfactory. ' A A misty, haughty mountain background Colorful Indian 'summer descending, Spreading o'er a picturesque flandscape An endless blanket of haiy fwarmth. Gay laughter ringing. Industrious workmen- joyous in their employment. ' ,E .Coopeifagion foremost. Efficient 'fhosses - Partners With. their workmen. , Oh, the greatness and .glaclness found ever Lingering -'round an plentious harvest. -- ' -Mary Catherine De Vo:

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Fall in Wenatchee Valley In the Garden of Eden grew a tempting fruit known as the apple. It was so delicious that pretty Eve must taste it regardless of the penalty. Where it came from, what its variety was, we do not know, but it proved to Eve a delicate and refreshing morsel. The original home of the apple is not definitely known. In prehistoric times it existed in Europe, both wild and cultivated, over an area extending from the Caspian Sea to the .Atlantic Ocean. When the Europeans came to form settlements in this continent they brought with them seeds of selected fruits to plant about their new homse. Thus the introduction of the apple began nearly three hundred years ago, and in these modern times the apple has developed into an industry important to domestic and foreign commerce. Instead of planting seedling orchards, seeds of different varieties of apples are planted by nurserymen. After the seeds come up the French Crab variety is used for the roots of the tree and then the variety wanted is grafted on this root. The trees are ready to be sold when they are one or two years old. The first few years the soil is cultivated and cared for and the trees are pruned according to the shape desired. The fifth year the trees begin to bloomg the sixth year there is a small crop, and the eighth year the trees bear heavily. Fall is a busy season in the apple industry. Boxes are made and assembled conveniently in the orchard for the pickers. Picking for commercial purposes usually starts the last of August with the King Davids. Ar the first of September the Jonathans are picked, followed by Delicious, Rome Beauties, White Winter Permains, Vfinesap, Staymans, and other late varieties. The apples are picked by hand and carefully put in a canvas bag. When the bag is full it is emptied into boxes which are conveniently placed, and then are carried away by trucks to a nearby warehouse. The apples are usually picked by the first of November and are in the sheds awaiting the process of washing, drying, sorting, packing, and lidding. In the warehouse the apples are washed by going through a solution consisting of water and acids, and are dried by revolving cloths. Moving belts carry the apples to the grader, and sorters, who usually sit about four to six at a grading table, pick the apples according to grade: extra fancy, fancy and C grade. The culls are discarded in boxes and carried away, some to vinegar works, canneries, and various places for disposal. After being conveyed to bins the packers wrap each apple in waxed paper and pack them in layers according to size. When the box is packed it is put on a roller and conveyed to a lidding machine which is operated by one man who nails on the lids and stamps them. This completes the warehousing. A rigid inspection force keeps in touch with apple operations during picking, packing, and selling seasons to see that the apples are up to standard and test for unwashed apples. Thus the fall season closes in the valley with the apples packed, stored, and ready for marketing. -Peggy Wilbzcrn RAIN Raindrops dancing like transparent pixies before my startled eyes- Rain falling in a hazy mist like gray powder dusted by some fragrant hand- Rain in slashing, whipping curtains, which envolve one ard trail away to the ground - in a streaming rolling fold- April rain sliding down sunbeams and then disappearing as suddenly as a misty breath, breathed on a cold day. --Alice Snodgrass P. K. Jr.: Therels a maniout there with one eye named Higgins. Editor Kechley: Find out the name of his other eye.