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The Klickitat County Agriculturist, Goldendale, WA., June 11, 1910, page 19

BINGEN
(Observer)

Skirting the foot of the mountains or hills that stand guard over the Columbia river, says the editor in describing a recent tour, we passed orchards of peaches, apples and other fruits that looked as though they might produce fruit sufficient to furnish the demand of an empire. Especially is that so with the peach orchards. Trees but little higher than your head, but stocky and well grown are literally loaded down with the luscious fruit. In one orchard every alternate tree was a nut-bearing variety although not yet old enough to yield very extensively. They are but in an experimental stage, but there is no doubt but that nut-bearing trees will do as well here as apples.
Every nook and corner of this bottom land, between Bingen depot and the White Salmon dock, a distance of about two miles, is being cleared and set out to strawberries or fruit, and occasionally quite a number of acres is devoted to the cultivation of tomatoes. The climate seems especially adapted to the growing of this vegetable fruit, and large quantities was formerly raised here, but owing to limited market principally, the ranchers turned their attention more to the raising of strawberries, but if the increase of strawberry culture in the next two or three years, equals the past year cultivation of the berry will be apt to be replaced by something else, unless canneries are started to take care of the excess of the market demand for the ripe fruit.
At the White Salmon dock the road commences by a gradual assent to climb the face of the mountain to an altitude of a thousand feet or more. As one ascends the road which hangs onto the side of the mountain, at times you can look straight down for hundreds of feet into the river below, and a splendid panoramic view of the Columbia river valley for miles and greets your gaze.
About half a mile out one strikes what is perhaps one of the best pieces of road in the county. Passing through the town will shortly arrived at our starting place, having "looped the loop" and seen a portion of a wonderful productive country, and scenery that is hard to be excelled in this or any other country.
It is probable that nearly as many strawberries will go to waste this year in this section as have been shipped, and as the shipment from Bingen alone it has so far averaged two card-loads a day, the loss in dollars and cents to the community will run into large figures. The complaint is that a sufficient number of pickers cannot be secured. The price that the raisers have been paying has averaged about 40 cents a crate. Whether that is sufficient recompense for the labor performed, we are not in a position to state, but at any rate the raisers declare that it is all they can afford to pay. If this is a fact it is quite probable that they will have to look for some other way to get rid of their product another year besides shipping, as the acreage to be gone over the next year will be perhaps twice as large as this years.
With these prospects in view, this section offers an admirable location for a fruit cannery. All kinds of berries, grape, apples, pears, cherries and tomatoes, growl in profusion, and the acreage would be largely increased, if such home market was established to take the product. There is no place along the S.P. & S., that is so favorably located for an industry of this kind, as is Bingen. With its two miles of side tracks, and water transportation, it is unexcelled. If the fruit growers of this section would organize a stock company to put in a cannery and a box factory, they will find that the people of Bingen, will not only assist but will take stock. A box factory will be an absolute necessity in a short time, and means a money saving proposition to the fruit growers. It will not be long before thousands of boxes will be needed, here, and they should be made right at home instead of sending the money for them to help build up some other place, and which is virtually a portion of the money received by the fruit raisers for his product.