Part 5

East of the Cascade Range the forests are smaller, and confined to the mountain sides. There are some narrow belts of pine along the northern edge of the Great Plain of the Columbia, which furnish a little lumber for local uses; but these will soon be worked out. The mountain rim lying along the Canada line is said to be covered with forest, some of it heavy. The Douglas Fir, the Yellow Pine, the White Pine, and the Larch are all to be found there. There are also skirts of the same timber along the Spokane River. And, at wide intervals, there are strips and bunches of scrubby yellow pine on the Great Plain, which is, however, generally treeless.

The spurs and ridges of the Blue Mountains are thinly covered with small pines and larches. There are some areas of mill-timber on the east and southeast flanks of the Cascade Mountains.

[Sidenote: Range for horses and cattle.]

The flora of the great plateau presents a strange appearance to the traveler. The vegetation is short and scanty, the chief growth being the "sage-brush," a dwarfish, dead-looking shrub, with a hard, crooked stem, of no value as forage, but which is sometimes used for fuel when nothing else is to be had. There are said to be some medicinal, and also some edible, plants; but the only thing of any value is the dry, thin, short, bunch grass which furnishes a fattening food for horses and cattle; though many acres are required to support an animal, and close grazing is rapidly destroying this resource. Indeed, the tract is so barren and desert-like in appearance that in the geographies of my boyhood it was put down as a part of the Great American Desert. And yet, as will be seen hereafter, this is probably the most productive upland in America.

LUMBERING.

Lumbering was the first industry of Washington Territory. Even food was imported for a time. Logging began on Puget Sound, and went up such streams as afforded transportation and water-power. Steam-power soon became the chief reliance for sawing, but water-power will be largely used when the railroads penetrate inland.

Logging and sawing are separate branches of business, which may or may not be carried on by the same parties. And so with transportation to the mill and to market. Large concerns carry on all the branches, even to the building and owning of ships.

[Sidenote: Magnitude of the lumber business.]

Governor Semple gives the capacity of the Washington Territory saw-mills in 1887 as 645,500,000 feet of lumber per annum, of which the Puget Sound mills produce 344,500,000 feet. Of this, they (Puget Sound mills) sent 200,000,000 feet to California; 2,600,000 to Boston, Mass.; 500,000 feet to other Atlantic ports, and over 100,000,000 feet to foreign ports. Among foreign ports, London received 551,500 feet, and the rest went to Mexico, South America, China, Australia, and other Pacific Islands.

Mr. Cyrus Walker, of the Puget Mill Company, Port Ludlow, in a letter which I have from him, says:

[Sidenote: Vast extent of the lumber market.]

"It is safe to say that the lumber market of the Sound may be considered all countries and ports on the Pacific Ocean."

But it may make a more vivid impression of the Pacific market for me to give a list of the ports to which shipments have been actually made in the last year by the lumber dealers of Puget Sound. This list I get not only from public documents, but directly from the millers and port officials:

Melbourne, Callao, Sydney, Guaymas, Iquique, Taku, Hilo, H. I., San Francisco, Townsville, West Coast, Brisbane, Sandwich Islands, New Caledonia, Mollendo, Montevideo, Honolulu, Valpa, Suava, Feejee Is., Kahalui, Cadera, Chili, San Diego, San Pedro, Hong Kong, Enseneda, Mex., Falmouth, Shanghai, Autofogasta, Rio de Janeiro, Broken Bay, Adelaide, Coquimbo.

This is not a complete list of all the ports visited by the lumber ships of Puget Sound, and by no means represents the business of the future, which will increase as fast as the mills can be built to furnish the lumber.

[Sidenote: The great saw-mills.]

No one without seeing it can have an adequate idea of the magnitude of the operations of one of the great saw-mills of Puget Sound. The Puget Mill Company, for the first ten months of last year, sawed on an average 290,000 feet every day of ten working hours. I visited the Port Blakely Mills, just across the Sound from Seattle. There I found a fleet of ships in the harbor, owned chiefly by the company; also, ships building on the stocks; railroads going out to the logging camps; a basin for receiving the logs, and a mill, with four separate tracks, bringing the logs in at one end, and carrying out the lumber at the other. A high iron trestle carried off the slabs to an enormous fire which never ceased to burn, where all this waste was consumed.

Around the mill was quite a town, in which a large number of races and nationalities were represented. This mill cut about 59,000,000 feet in 1887. Up to the 10th of November it had shipped as follows: To California, 32,464,763 feet; to South America, 6,847,427 feet; to Sandwich Islands, 1,799,891 feet; to Australia, 6,681,668 feet; to Feejee Islands, 511,815 feet; and used at home for ship-building, railroads, etc., 2,312,000 feet.

The Tacoma Mill Company and the Washington Mill Company produced the following lumber, etc., during 1886 and the first ten months of 1887:

LUMBER. LATH. PILES. FEET. NO. LINEAR FT. Tacoma Mill 103,448,350 28,815,095 642,385 Washington Mill 42,195,478 8,772,800 266,403

There were other large mills whose statistics I was not able to get in time. Mr. Walker thinks that the cut of all the mills on Puget Sound averages 1,200,000 feet per day; all of which finds ready sale.

[Sidenote: Profits and prices.]

I was not able to ascertain the profits of these mills, but there can be no doubt that, with proper management, the profits are very good. The Seattle wholesale prices were as follows:

Lumber, common, per thousand feet $12 00 " sized, " " " 14 00 " Flooring $15 00 to 20 00 Dressed lumber, per thousand feet 14 00 to 30 00 Laths 2 00 to 2 25 Shingles 1 50 to 2 00

AGRICULTURE.

[Sidenote: Clearing the land.]

[Sidenote: Demand for agricultural products.]

[Sidenote: Large crops.]

[Sidenote: Hop-growing on a large scale.]

After hearing of the forests in West Washington, one cannot be surprised to learn that the agricultural interest develops slowly in this part of the Territory. Even after the logger has taken what he wants, there remains a heavy mass of vegetation which is expensive to clear away. A thorough clearing, including the removal of stumps, costs $75 to $100 per acre; and yet this is sometimes done for hops, hay and vegetables. But the common way is to "slash and burn," at an expense of ten to fifteen dollars an acre. This clears off everything but stumps, and such trees as may be reserved for the mill or other purposes. There are fine farms in every direction, but I had no means of ascertaining the proportion of cleared land, or of the agricultural population. The natural fertility of the soil, the high prices of produce, and the rapidly growing demand, both foreign and local, will tempt to a wasteful destruction of timber in order to prepare the ground for crops. There need be no doubt as to the extraordinary productiveness of the soils, even beyond that of the same quality of lands elsewhere; because the climatic conditions are extra favorable for the growth of all crops suited to the country. There are some crops, such as corn, lima beans and sweet potatoes, which are contra-indicated. The cool summer nights check the maturing of these. Wheat, also, is not suited, though produced to some extent. But for almost everything else the conditions favor extra production. The conditions could scarcely be better for grass and hay. The scantiness of the summer rains is more than compensated for by the long growing seasons in fall and spring. No soil and climate could be better for oats and potatoes. The reported yield of these three staples would be called fabulous if not established by good testimony. Three tons of hay, 100 bushels of oats, and 600 bushels of potatoes per acre are above the average, but by no means reach the maximum on the best lands. Most fruits do well. In the production of hops West Washington has become celebrated as to quality and yield per acre. This is probably the largest of the agricultural interests in this part of the Territory, and was at one time enormously profitable. Present prices are thought to leave some margin, but not much.

[Sidenote: The changed agricultural conditions of East Washington.]

[Sidenote: Irrigation in the Yakima Valley.]

As heretofore remarked, the agricultural conditions change suddenly on crossing the Cascade Mountains to the eastward; and this change begins at the crest line, and is more marked on the mountain side and near its base than anywhere else. The winters are longer and more severe, and the summers drier and hotter. There is natural pasturage similar to that of the plateau country, coming up to the timber line, the lower edge of which is high on the mountain. Much of this mountain land, though covered scantily with sage brush and bunch grass, is really fertile, and, besides supporting cattle, can be made to bring fair crops of wheat and other things; but the rainfall is so insufficient that irrigation is necessary for the development of any large agricultural interest. Fortunately, in the large basin of the Yakima, irrigating streams are abundant, and its enterprising people are availing themselves of this happy resource. By reference to a good map it will be seen that the Yakima River is made up of an unusual number of streams. A group of these come together near Ellensburg, and another group near the town of North Yakima; and there are said to be large bodies of land susceptible of irrigation by these streams. The Ellensburg valley is thirty miles long, and about ten miles wide; and is the best agricultural section in Kittitas County. It is claimed that forty bushels of wheat to the acre can be produced here without irrigation; and that 1,000,000 bushels of wheat were actually produced in this basin in 1887. Hay, hops, vegetables, berries and fruits also do well naturally, but with irrigation the product is uniformly large. There are four irrigating canals in the valley. The Teanaway Ditch Company has one fifty miles long which can water 75,000 acres of land. The Ellensburg Ditch Company has a ditch ten miles long, covering 10,000 acres. Mr. Bull has one six miles long, and the owners of the new roller mill have two and a half miles of ditch.

Next below Kittitas is Yakima County, which contains a number of fertile valleys, and also good uplands, and is well supplied with irrigating streams, which have already been brought into use. Two large ditches are drawn from the Natchess River. Ditches are also taken from the Ahtanum, which is the principal hop-raising section. A plateau, three by ten miles, between the Cowiche and Natchess, will all be irrigated. The Moxee Valley is largely owned by Eastern and other capitalists, who seem to be expending much money in the improvement of the country. This company has fourteen miles of ditch.

[Sidenote: Varied crops.]

By the help of these ditches the people of Yakima Valley are producing corn, which under the hot sun of the locality perfects its product. Tobacco has been tried also with fair results. And the Moxee County will try the dairy business. There is a disposition also to try improved breeds of cattle. The spirit of enterprise has resulted largely from the passage of the Northern Pacific Railroad along the Yakima Valley; but at the same time the greatest obstacle in the way of irrigation lies in the ownership of alternate sections by this railroad. The Yakima Indians have good lands, and Klickatat County is well spoken of. Sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peaches, grapes, and other things requiring much heat, are said to thrive in the lower parts of the Yakima Valley.

[Sidenote: The Great Plain.]

[Sidenote: Boundaries.]

We enter now the last grand division of the country, the Great Plain, or, more strictly, plateau of the Columbia River. In spite of its unpromising aspect, this is the chief agricultural region of the Pacific States. To get the exact boundary, find the point (a little below Wallula Junction) where Washington and Oregon both corner on the Columbia River. From this point, follow the Columbia up to the mouth of Spokane River; follow Spokane River up to the Idaho line; follow the Idaho line south to the Oregon line; follow the Oregon line due-west to the beginning, and within these lines lies the region which is destined to be the granary of the Pacific States.

[Sidenote: Early history.]

The settlement of this plain began near Walla Walla, where a Christian mission was established by Whitman, the hero and martyr, who saved this country to the United States. Hence the most thickly populated part of the plain is between the Oregon line and Snake River. This region was supplied with transportation by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The largest agricultural production is here.

[Sidenote: Area and population.]

Immigration next moved north of Snake River into the valley of the Palouse River, and here we have the next largest area of production. When the Northern Pacific Railroad came in from the east, the new-comers entered the Great Bend country, which is the northern half of the plain. The chief settlement here is in Spokane and Lincoln counties, which cover nearly half of the Great Bend. Douglas County covers the remainder, and is beginning to be settled. There are ten counties on the plateau, with an aggregate area of 20,000 square miles and a population of 52,000. Of this population, 20,000 is south of the Snake River, 14,000 north of Snake River, and 18,000 in the Great Bend, including Spokane Falls.

[Sidenote: Amazing wheat crops: surpassing all other States.]

The great staple of this country is wheat, though almost every crop is grown, and most of them with remarkable results. Corn is grown only south of Snake River, where it yields thirty bushels to the acre. The average yield of wheat year by year for the entire Territory is put by Governor Squire at twenty-five bushels, and no one who knows the country can regard this otherwise than as a moderate estimate. This average places Washington Territory beyond comparison first among the States of America, and, so far as I can learn, second only to England among other nations. England, by the highest manuring, has brought her wheat product up to thirty bushels, which is double the average of former years. By the census of 1880, Washington Territory, as a whole, leads all the other States. The following tables give the average of ten of the chief wheat-producing States:

WHEAT, PER ACRE. BUSHELS.

California 15.8 Dakota 10.6 Minnesota 11.3 New York 15.7 Ohio 18.0 Pennsylvania 13.4 Virginia 8.6 Washington Territory 23.5 Oregon 16.8 Illinois 15.5

The year 1886 was the worst wheat year ever known in Washington Territory: its crop averaged sixteen and a half bushels.

[Sidenote: Railroads overwhelmed with freight.]

It is thought that the wheat crop of East Washington for 1887 will exceed 10,000,000 bushels. It certainly went far beyond the ability of the railroads to carry it away before winter. The most amazing glut of freight I have ever seen was along the railroads in Walla Walla County. Not only were the depots crowded to the roof, but piles of sacks larger than the depots stood outside. It was a common sight through the whole Snake River country to see 10,000 sacks of wheat in one pile outside of the depots.

[Sidenote: Price of wheat and cost of production.]

The price of wheat runs from 40 cents to 60 cents a bushel; whilst the cost of production on good land need not exceed 25 cents a bushel. Mr. Hamilton, of Colfax, has a farm which he cultivates entirely by hired labor, and he told me that the cost of his wheat was from 20 cents to 25 cents, and that his profit was $5 per acre. Good farms about Colfax can be rented out at $2.50 per acre for the whole farm. Mr. Miles C. Moore, of Walla Walla, probably the most exact business man of that region, farms largely by hiring labor. He gave me the following statement of his own operations:

WHEAT GROWING AND DELIVERING.

_Dr._ Cost of ploughing, per acre $1 50 Cost of twice harrowing and sowing 1 00 Seed, 1-1/4 bushel 62 Thirteen sacks at 8 cents 1 04 Keeping up fences 10 Harvesting and hauling five miles to depot, 17 cents per bushel 4 76 ------ $9 02

_Cr._ By 28 bushels per acre at 50 cents $14 00 Cost of production 9 00 ------ Profit $5 00

This product could not be expected on inferior lands, but with the working farmer the cost of production is less. The yield of wheat on the best lands of East Washington is large--almost beyond belief. Mr. Houghton, attorney for the Spokane Falls and Palouse Railroad, told me that he had known of 800 bushels of wheat being raised on ten acres; that it was measured by a committee. Mr. Miles C. Moore has known 1,000 acres to average fifty bushels. A farmer (apparently honest) told me that he had raised seventy-five bushels to the acre over his whole wheat area. His crop was harvested by the acre, and the area measured by the county surveyor. It was all sold, except seed. Thus he got both area and product accurately. Many more instances were stated to me on good authority. But there are different grades of fertility in these lands as in other lands, and the amount of rainfall makes a difference also. Wallula has but twelve inches of rain, and is unproductive. There must be fifteen inches for wheat. Walla Walla has seventeen, and is productive. Nearer to the Blue Mountains the rainfall is thirty to thirty-five inches; here are the largest crops. Spokane Falls has twenty-one inches. Yet where else on the earth can such crops be raised even occasionally? I have been growing wheat for thirty-five years on good land in the Valley of Virginia, and I never could reach thirty bushels to the acre on a single field; and I do not believe that my neighbors can do better than I do. We count twenty bushels an extra crop.

[Sidenote: Also barley and oats.]

Besides wheat, these lands produce barley of superior quality, weighing fifty pounds to the bushel, at the rate of fifty to sixty bushels per acre, and oats weighing thirty-eight pounds to the bushel at the same rate per acre. The weight of wheat is sixty pounds to the bushel. Barley sells at 90 cents per 100 pounds, and is largely shipped East to be made into beer.

The wheat usually grown is the Little Club, a short, strong white wheat; but the Little Giant, Red Chaff and Chili Giant are productive. Spring wheat is generally sown, but winter wheat is probably best. Blue stem brings five cents extra in Portland. Freight, $5 a ton from Walla Walla to Portland; thirty-three bushels counted a ton.

The wheat here has no enemies--no fly, nor rust, nor weeds, nor lodging.

[Sidenote: The soil a natural fertilizer.]

Much of the land has been cultivated for sixteen years without rest or manure, and without diminution of crop; but the best farmers prefer to rest and cultivate in alternate years. By the latter system the ploughing is done in the off-year, and the land left a naked fallow. This is thought to cleanse the land and renew its strength. And in some cases in which lands have an excess of alkali, their productiveness increases with cultivation. Sometimes the land contains as much as eighteen pounds of potash to the cubic yard; which fact, by the way, suggests the possibility of leaching the land to procure potash and other alkalies.

[Sidenote: Quality of the wheat.]

The wheat of the Pacific coast has 4 per cent. less gluten in it than the Eastern wheat, and this practically shuts it out of the Eastern market. Nitrogen in Washington Territory wheat is 22 per cent. to 26 per cent., whilst in the Eastern it is 34 per cent. to 40 per cent., and inferior in quality. The true gluten is too brittle. It is better than the California wheat, however, which has 4 per cent. to 6 per cent. less nitrogenous matter, and the gluten inferior in quality. But the California wheat makes a whiter flour than the Washington Territory wheat, which is an advantage in selling. It should be remarked that the term nitrogen, when applied technically to wheat, includes true gluten, the phosphates, and all albuminoids, and excludes starch, sugar and water, which latter comprise about seventy-two per cent. of the wheat. Still, the Washington Territory wheat-grower has the advantage in quantity per acre, which gives him a better profit than is now made in California or any Eastern State. The price at Spokane Falls varies from 45 cents to 60 cents per bushel, which would give the farmer $10 to $12.50 per acre for his crop, which is more than the average Eastern farmer gets, whilst the cost of production ought to be, and ultimately will be, less.

[Sidenote: The market in England, China, and other Asiatic ports.]

Flour is sent to England, by Cape Horn, at a cost of $1.30 per barrel from Spokane Falls, and in Liverpool brings within 20 cents a barrel as much as the Minneapolis flour, and it is also shipped to China and other Asiatic ports, where it seems destined to supersede rice for bread. China raises wheat, but not nearly enough for home consumption. The Asiatic and Oceanic market will, ultimately, want all the wheat of our Pacific States.

[Sidenote: Astonishing growth of vegetables.]

[Sidenote: Crops without rain.]

Besides the cereals, vegetables of nearly all kinds grow to great size on this plateau. Those requiring a more uniformly warm temperature, such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans and peanuts, do best in the region lying south of the Snake River, which is much less elevated than the country north and east. And this is true also of peaches, grapes, and other fruits requiring similar conditions. But as regards most vegetables, especially roots, and also fruits, the plateau generally is very productive. This is almost unaccountable in view of the fact that after the first of June there is little or no rain until late in the fall. Whilst rain seems to be necessary to start the small seeds, large crops of potatoes are sometimes raised without a drop of rain. The moisture must come partly from the soil, which has retained the winter water, and partly from the deposition of moisture by the sea-air which comes through the gap in the Cascade Mountains and penetrates the deep, loose soil. Mr. Paul F. Mohr has measured a parsnip four feet long and eight inches across the top. I saw potatoes in Colfax, thirty of which filled a bushel measure.

As before intimated, I doubt whether the plateau can ever become a good grass and hay country. For long forage, besides straw, the people must depend upon the cereals mowed in the green state.