The battle of the orchards

During World War II students at Central Washington College of Education (now Central Washington University) helped harvest fruit during war related labor shortages. Samuel R. Mohler's The First 75 Years: A History of Central Washington State College states:


"Because of the labor shortage in the apple orchards of the region in the fall of 1942, students voted by an overwhelming majority to close school for three days. Of 540 students and faculty, 375 volunteered for the 'battle of the orchards' and were sent where most needed, principally to the areas near Chelan, Yakima, Okanogan, and Ellensburg. Altogether they picked nearly 36,000 boxes of apples worth almost $60,000, most of which would otherwise have been lost, since cold weather came early that year. The next year college classes began a week early so that the apple harvest holiday would not take school time"

http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7554

It was not the first "battle" so named. In 1862, the Third Brigade, familiarly known as the Jersey Brigade, fought a seven day "battle of the Orchards" near albany under a Colonel Carr.