The geography of the apple industry of the Chelan Valley, Washington

Graduation date: 1965Presentation date: 1964-08-11The Chelan Valley is one of several valleys located on the\ud eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains contributing to the leadership\ud of Washington in apple production. Since the nature of the\ud activity in the Chelan Valley is typical of all these producing areas,\ud it was selected as a case study of this important segment of the\ud agricultural economy of Washington. The study presents an analysis\ud of the principal factors, both environmental and human, basic to the\ud localization of apple production in this valley. The structure,\ud organization, and problems are examined and the potential is\ud analyzed.\ud The principal findings are as follows: the physical requirements\ud of apples are nearly ideally met by the combined environmental\ud conditions of temperature, slope, soils, drainage and\ud irrigation water supply. Development of the activity, however, has\ud been the responsibility of dedicated growers who have been quick both to perfect and to accept improved techniques in the interest of\ud selling a quality product on distant markets. This includes concentration\ud upon four varieties: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Standard\ud Delicious, and Winesap. The Standard Delicious and Winesap\ud were the main early commercial varieties, but they are now being\ud replaced by the Red and Golden Delicious varieties. It is the Red\ud Delicious that has become famous as the Washington State apple.\ud The typical orchard, in contrast to other forms of farming in\ud the nation, is small in acreage. A majority of units contain ten to\ud twenty acres. Apple orchards in the Chelan Valley, however, rank\ud among the highest of the forms of agricultural land in value per acre.\ud Much of the factual material presented in this thesis is applicable\ud only to the Chelan Valley, but conclusions and inferences are\ud applicable to the Washington State apple industry as a whole