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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1880)
38 THE WEST SHORE. December, 1880 OKKCON A V I WASHINGTON AS A FAR. MKK'S IIOMK. Tlx finl miilakt an immigrant makes in in expecting to fiiul here even more tlmn the moot enthusiastic writer ever promise. Descriptions of the climiite, noil, product, mid prosperity of Oregon, lira true. The fact j)penr in the fig ure which are in our commercial re porti anil journnlH. Hut the farmer who proxMMi to move hither from Iowa, or Kansas, or I)iikotn, imagine thin to be a priiiric region like those interior StulCH. Ho comet mid fimU hills, moiiiitiiiiiN covered with forest, haul to Ik: denied off, while enst of tha Cas cades, he find high nnd dry prairies ml deep riivtiien, with hardly a tree in night. In the Willnmettc valley he will find a few prairie sections from two to twenty mile square, like those of the Missouri valley, 'out the Miil in of lighter coler resting on clay, nnd it lc inviting to the eycH than the black loam of the Wcktcrn prairie. Hi id en I of large fnrmt or open liimU into which he can put the plow anil run fur row one or two mile long the first yenr and gather the harvests, in not met. liven the Ircclc plain of Eastern Oregon nnd Washington are much lirokcn up hy present or former water conn- 1'he outlook it rough. Work, patience, time, energy, nnd the outlay of cm.h, nrc needed to make farm here, at well a in the Middle nnd Eastern Stair. These plain fact destroy the poetic ident of the new immigrnnt. He also Itccomc dissatisfied with the mild mint of winter nnd the dry air of kiimuuT, The woodt nnd mountuiui teem t'H) dark and rugged, nnd the riv er nnd hay too densely fringed with forest for him to penetrate, and too deep amid the canyon for him to enjoy their isolation. In a word, the Pacific Northwest i not the interior north, west of his imagination. It in not the pnmdise of which he i in tcarch. It it a country lor hard woik, economy, courage ami enterprise, every day and every mouth in the yenr. It it a coun try in which the farmer mutt use hit pencil and keep hi account look, of the cost of every acre and it income; the gain or lot on every animal; the expense of raising of every Ion of hit harvest, whether hay, oats barley, wheat, corn, vegetable or fruit, ami the expense per mile of transporting them to the markets of the world. If the immigrant is not prepared to study these questions or is not willing to make these close calculations of profit and loss, item hy item, he mistakes the resources and advantages of Oregon. Hit uwnd mistake is nn adverse opin ion formed on a wrong standard of judgment. It is a fact that the exports of flour, wheat and other cereals, from the Columbia river increased annually 3854 per cent, for eleven years from 1869. It is a fact, that the value of the average annual productions of the State per person, is $So, reckoning the pop ulation nt 177,000. Counting the num ber of voters nt .)o,Soo, the average is $37 l)tr l""n' It is a fact, that the products of Ore gon and Washington can he annually transported to the markets of Europe from our seaports several dollars cheaper per ton than the products of the Mis sissippi valley can he transported from the lake or river ports of that interior. It is a fact, that the cost of carriage to our seaports is less than the cost of car riage to their lake and river ports. It is a fact, that the farmer in West ern Iowa and Nebraska can not nfford to raise corn or wheat for distant mar kets, while it is a fact that the wheat nnd flour from Oregon nnd Washing, ton are sent to Europe, Asia and Aus tralia, in annually increasing fleets of thip. It is a fact that the farmers of the Interior west can nnd do afford to ell out their estates nnd buy improved farms in Oregon and Washington at nn advance upon current rates, and that the limit of profit upon these yearly exchange hat not yet been reached. It it a fact, that our soil and climate have not failed of a fair harvest of the cereals, vegetables or fruits, for thirty, one years, as the writer can testify from hit own observations. The farmer can take hit homestead, or buy his land in the interior east of the Cascade moun tains nnd transKirt his grain on the Columbia at $6 per ton to the ship, or $8 per ton from Lcwiston, Idaho, 400 milet, handling it ix or eight timet, which it at the rate of iS to 25 cents per bushel, and do hi own carting to the river at the rate of 3 to 21 cent per bushel, according to the distance from the landing, nnd receive a dollar per bushel on a yearly average nt the ship. Eastern Oregon and Washington lands will, if proH-rly tilled, give a ton of wheat per acre. Or, the farmer can choose the woodlands of the Wil lamette, lower Columbia, Cowlitz, or Chchalis, or Puget Sound basin, near tide-water and ship navigation, and clear, fence, plough and sow these lands at an average of $25 to $100 per acre. For example, if it cost 18 cents per bushel, or $6 to transport a ton of 33 bushels to the ship, this is equal to the interest on $60 per acre, and $8 per ton is equal to the interest of $80 per acre. It is possible by rotating crops and good cultivation to raise 50 bushels per acre of wheat. This has been done on the hill lands of Clackamas county. It is possible to raise in these valleys, 250 to 340 bushels of potatoes per acre, which range from 25 cents to $1.10 per bushel at the ship. Fowls, eggs, but ter, cheese, fruits and many other edi ble products of the garden and the farm, are easily raised and transported to market. The English, German, Welch, Scottish, Swedish, French and Italian farmers and gardeners, soon make rich farms and comfortable homes in these valleys. They are eager to get the title to these fine forest-covered hill lands. ' A few acres cleared, sup port the family, while the balance of the timber and wood land increases in value every year. With these facts well known to residents here, the ad verse opinion of the new comer and his hasty departure, will not only prove his mistake, but his loss, as it has proved the great sacrifice and loss of many others, who have come and staid a few months or years, and then returned to California or the Western States, and finally, made their home on the Pacific Northwest, tired and disgusted with their frequent removals elsewhere. The wise thing for the immigrant is to study all these facts and figures before he starts, then if he decides to come, let him settle down to the hard work of making his home here and he will succeed. Sorghum of a superior quality, to that raised in the Mississippi valley, has been successfully grown in the Yakima valley. W. T. The cane when cut was six feet high and the sap crystal wed in ten day without chemical treat ment. Good sugar and syrup from Yakima valley cane will before long form one of thejtcmsof exports from the upper country.