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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1887)
722 THE WEST SHORE. is known as the " Home Farm' six miles from Yakima, there are a postoffice, store, blacksmith shops and necessary farm buildings. A free library is maintained for the use of the men, of whom there are thirty, and some form of entertain ment and refreshments are provided for them on Sundays. Religious services are held there every two weeks. The farm, which is illustrated on page 711, embraces one hundred and sixty acres, and is used chiefly for eiperimental pur poses. Theso experiments cover a wide range, and are designed to test the adapt ability of the soil and climate to the pro duction of crops not ordinarily raised in this latitude, such as tobacco, cotton, sorghum, broom corn, sugar beets, etc The result of all experiments is made public for the good of all, and every farmer in this region is as much bene fited by them as if he had gone to the trouble and expense of making them himself; even more so, since the compa ny conducts them in a more thorough and intelligent manner thn nine-tenths of the farmers would do under ordinary circumstances. The products are men tioned elsewhere in this article. The Moxeo Company has three hundred and fifty acres under cultivation, the remain der being used as a cattle range at pres ent The company has a ditch, fourteen miles long, from Yakima river, which covers tho entire arable area. It pro poses to divide tho land into small farms of about fifty acres, and supply water at a low, jormanent price to purchasers. It will sell fifty acres for $750.00, and chargo $75.00 per year for water, or $1.50 per acre. Uy cultivating hops, to bacco, fruit, berries and vegetables, a fanner on one of these tracts can make moro money in a year than he could on threo hundred acres of the best grain land in tho West Tho ditch, when com pletod for irrigation of theso tracts, will cost $30,000.00. The company has done nothing prematurely, but has set about the proper development of its property, and, to this end, has invested $200,000.00 in the past eighteen months. The far. mer who purchases one of these tracts will find himself in an enviable situa tion, possessing a constant and ample supply of water for irrigation, and being in a position to benefit by all the costly experiments made by the company, and all the conveniences and market advan tages it creates. The company has a home cattle ranch of eight hundred acres, where it conducts a large dairy business, the butter finding its chief market on Fuget sound. It also has an auxiliary ranch of eleven hundred acres in Selah valley. The company has a large number of thoroughbred black Foiled Angus and Hereford cattle. Set tlers will b j in position to benefit by these importations of blooded stock, as well as the valuable experiments men tioned above. The result of this com pany's efforts will bo more apparent in a few years, as the contrast between the farms in this district and those in other localities will yearly become more mar ked and significant Parker bottom, or Piety flat, is on the main river, and is about one by six miles in area. It is well settled and cultivat ed. From this point the valley land continues down the river thirty miles, narrow in places, and in others widen ing out to fully eight miles. It is sus ceptible of irrigation from the river, by the outlay of capital. The soil is very deep and rich, and when some company takes hold of the matter and brings the land under ditch, thousands will find homes where now the sago brush holds undisputed sway. The finest body of land is the Simcoo valley, known as the Y'akima Indian reservation. The river runs along one side for forty miles, back from which, for twenty miles, stretches a beautiful body of land. Tho Setas, To-