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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1882)
May, 1882. THE WEST SHORE. 97 is usually the most efficient remedy, in the absence of which nothing remains but copious additions of fresh water, which mav be obtained in such an emergency by tapping the nearest brook or spring and placing brush wiers at intervals to prevent the ingress of pre dacious fishes and egress of the carp or immediately capturing the carp and transplanting them. After the adapt ability of the carp to many waters, and to our waters particularly, was discov ered, and when the practicability of their successful propagation was demonstrat ed, and their excellence as a food-fish recognized, first among the philanthropic- citizens of Oregon to introduce this valued fish to the people of our State' was Captain' John Harlow of Portland. Impelled by motives of public worth, and impressed with the gratefulness the hearts of his fellow-men would bear, arid anticipating the pleasures resulting from the successful cultivation of those prizes, Capt. Harlow appeared the one ordained to successfully inaugurate the cultivation of carp in Oregon. A visit by the writer of this article to Troutdale, 16 miles east of Portland, on the Sandy River, some two weeks ago, revealed the fact that this culturist was considerably learned in the busi ness. Possessing, unquestionably, the finest piece of land embracing, moun tain, meadow, stream and dale,' as was ever provided for the habitation of man by a Divine Providence, the remaining conveniences required by him in the proper pursuit of pleasure are but the resources of this combination developed. My pencil has attempted a portrayal of this rich estate; but it reveals its own in anition as a means of arranging that co herence of parts in glittering beauty, by conveying but the shadow of what is, Three years ago Capt. Harlow had imported to this state a lot of genuine food carp.' 'Upon the arrival of this consignment .the total number of fish was 35. They were hurriedly trans ported bysteamer to the mouth of the Sandv River, from whence they were carted to the ponds arranged for their farm. The fish were not then over three inches in length Tn-dav thev will measure twenty, twentv-one and twenty-two inches. And from this lot some 5000 carps have been raised which are now occupying his ponds at Troutdale, and 4000 more, which lot, unfortunately was lost last year through a break happening to his ponds. Orders for carp have been re ceived by Capt. Harlow from all parts of the northwest : but he is not vet 1 d ready to enter upon the sale of this fish. It is his intention, I am informed, to go east this summer, upon which occasion he will visit the many piscatorial estab lishments. narticularlv that of Seth Green, where he will remain some four weeks eettinc a further knowledge of the business of artificial propagation of food hshes. The object of artificial pisciculture is to make use of the spawn which nature provides in such rich prolusion and to protect it against all deleterious infiu ences in nature, as well as to provide the fish in a Rplendul manner with the food and protection they require for their complete development, r ish am other marine products form not only a palatable dish, but a pleasant and easily digestible food which, it is maintained is also calculated to stimulate the mciita activitv. And to show with what gigantity pisciculture and food-fish traffic is carried on in the largest city in the world, I cite what is said of the wholesale fish-markets of Ilillingsgate ,ondon, where a large fleet of vessels carrying a greater supply of fish in one day than Germany draws from the inexhaustible harvest-fields of her sea, akes arid rivers during a whole j ear, supplying every night the daily de mand for food-fish of a city wh-ibited by three million people. 1 he attention now being bestowed upon pisciculture indicates that it will soon rank as one of the important industries of the . ... . 1 country.' And to supply tne uemami for knowledge upon the subject many works upon the science of fish breeding and culture have been published to which the. reader is referred for such details as the want of time and space forbids being presented in this article. OREGON AND WASHINGTON. Henry Villard is given as authority for a recent statement that Oregon am Washington Territory will this year produce a wheat surplus of 250,000 tons nr 8 t.l bushels, and that the ur nlu in iSSi and 1884 will reach 750,. r . v . , 000 tons, or an average 01 37 5 for each year. If this be true, we may reckon on a surplus for the Pacific coast next year and the year after: t Bushel. Cftlifornin. ! JS.".000 Oregon and Washington 12,500,000 Total 47.5",ooo We are of opinion that the surplus of Oregon and Washington is rather under than overrated. There is no doubt that they have land in abundance to produce much more than this esti mate. The only question is Have they the means of transportation to the scaboid? If they have not now they will have by the en J of the harvest ycHr of 1883. The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company nave now 300 mil of railwav in oneration, and ex pect to have 450 miles by the clone of inisycar. iiuruuu,ui iub,iui .. v are many branches, will drain the wheat producing sections of Eastern Oregon and Washington, irom tne cascades 01 the Columbia to a point well up on SnnUe river, and tun the Grand Konde valley in the .Hltie mountains, by way of Menchanr pass. 1 he main trunn 01 this system is being extended from the Cascades to Portland; and there it will connect with the Kalamn road, which is to be speedily extended to l'ugct Sound by the iNortnern wane, i no survey of this road has been made and the work is promised to be completed this year. The Willamette valley is already well provided with railways, ' both on the east and west sides, as far n Koui-buror. south of the Calapooia mountains, in Umiiqim valley. And it is given out that the wrcgon ami Cali fornia and the California mid Oregon companies have come to an agreement by which they arc to meet on me nnc of the two States. The Oregon com- pany intends to extend its rml from Roseburg fifty miles south into Rogue river valley this year, and has a work ing force now engaged in grauing.ior that purpose. Rogue river valley is a large and productive region, ami wuch afforded railway facilities, will possibly be able to produce us much wheat as the Willrtmitte. Hut the main depend ence is, after all, the country cant or the -1 1 . ....1 ik.i wascaue range i inouuuiiuit mi m will not be fully developed till the Northern i'acilic umi n connections shall be completed to some point on I UgCl OUUI1U. TV I Iv II I'll HVV'MM- plished, and the connection made with the Calilornia ami uregon roao. on inc northern line of tlis State, Oregon and Washington together will have nearly as many miles ol railway as i.annirni has now. and thev will drain the pro duce of not less than si million acres of the best wheat land on the continent. Villard and his Northern Pacific Com pany now control all the railways north of California, and recent rctwrt credits them with unlimited cash means for the prosecution to completion of the entire system thev have in contemplation. S. F. Chronidt.