The west shore., July 01, 1889, Page 378, Image 29

THE WEST SHORE.
it gives thorn awuranoe, which they have never be
fore bad, that their products will reach e good mar
keL Already the iulluonco of tbii road ii won in the
increased acreage of land growing farm crops whore
last year stock reveled in the choicest bunch grasB.
Oils two, three, or half din actions of land are
hld by individual who can never cultivate such vast
holdings hey made their iuvestmouts profitable by
railing stock, but now that the laud is made so much
mora valuable for general farming, the large laud
holders art willing to soli to settlers in Bmallir tracts.
lVople with a little capital are going iuto the country
aud sowing homes, and it in to such that this coun
try offers the strongest inducements.
An iuiMrtntit crop that comparatively few lections
of thn wrat rau grow successfully is corn, an I this is
produced in abundance throughout the region trav
ersed by the Hunt railway system. Thousands of
acres of this cereal are now growr, and the acreage
is increasing anuuatly. With the transformation now
U'ing wrought in the country between the Blue nioun
tains and the Buako aud Columbia rivers, corn, hops
vegetable and general fruiti will be important pro
(tactions, as well as thn stock, wheat aud poaches
which have heretofore almost monopolized the atten
tiou of producers.
Farmers iu general have, a deeply rooted prejudice
against undertaking to cultivate the soil where irriga
tion is uwMary to make it productive. Thero is a
widespread impression, gained from unreliable sourc
es, 'that this portion of the Columbia river basin ia an
arid tract, which ia very wide, of the fact No rain to
sak of falls during the summer season, but the
ground Mains the tuoiilure aud gives it off to grow
lug vegeUttou throughout the dry summer. Irriga
lion is not employed iu farming there, aud surely
enough in that line has lxou done to demonstrate
the feasibility of farming without it People passing
over Ilia country N-fore it was cultivated umned at
the conclusion that ordinary crops would not thrive
there, because the climate it dry and the laud, in a
wild stale, is covered with a growth of bunch gran.
Kven mauy of those ho have lives! in that aection
fir years only recently dared to leave the creek Kit
Ums to attempt to till the soil f the rolling hill.
Many old timers were amus to o a new-cmer iu.
nocrolly set his stake on the lull, ami ,tart his plow,
they Wing so sure that the rff.irts of the tenderfoot
would result in failure, Hut whoii the hand came
and the farmer on the hill gathr.s a, uuuh or more
r aore as Lis neighbor in the canyon, th,. ; 0I11.
wer surprised, and uKl scare ! v Wuu, the M
until su.ves.ive years proved U-y rvlv.'i ture
that the hills are susceptible of the onlturA
Bo now the whols country is c.jually ilmuiv
A trip over the lines of the Hunt system in June
affords a revelation for those unacquainted with the
country or imbued with the old idea of it. Of course,
there are long stretches ot land as yet unimproved,
br it has only been accessible to settlers a few
months. But there are many places, too, where the
growing crops extend as far as the eye can see on
either hand. Wheat is king. In the latter part of
June it iB ready for the harvest, and the fields present
a busy spectaole. In many of them the wheat is ai
all as Bit feet and the heads are long and well filled.
The evenness of the growth is somewhat remarkable.
The fields are not spotted, nor is the grain lodged or
killed by ioBect pests that cause such wide devasta
tion in the cropB of eastern farmers. One may ride
along the edge of grain fields for miles, or through
the middle of them, and find the growth everywhere
the same. At intervals the broad expanse of ripening
grain is broken by fields of thrifty corn, Borne of
which contain hundreds of acres. Its dark color and
luxuriant growth buow that it is in the midst of favor
ing circumstances, aud the yield, when the harvest
time for that cereal comes, is all that oould be desired.
Peach orchards are coming to be quite numerous in
that country, and, now that there are facilities for
getting the fruit to market in proper time, orchard
ing will be one of the chief occupations of the people.
The quality of the fruit produot, as well as of the
grain, ia most excellent, and is making a reputation
wherever it is known. The country is still bo net
that it is not well known what the range of products
it can accommodate is. Almost everything which has
been tried, whether of fruits, grains or vegetables,
has proved successful.
Besides the lines of the Hunt system now in op
eration as noted above, work is now being prosecuted
on extensions that will greatly increase its inflaenoe
and patronage in the Inland Empire. The extensions
to be completed this season are:
First-From Walla Walla to Waitsburg by way
of Dixie, thence to Dayton and on to Whetstone hoi
low, a total distance of about forty-five miles. A
largo force of men is now at work on this line, whioh
will be ready to carry this eeason'i crop to market
Second - From the present terminus of the Eureka
flat branch to l.iparia, on the Bnake river, a distance
of fifteen miles.
Third -From Walla Walla Boutherly through Mil
tou aud up the (j-ande Ibnde valley to Union, a dis
tance of about ninety miles. This still rests upon the
contingency of raising a subsidy of $180,000.00, for
hioh a proposition has been submitted to tho citi
' -y of Vnion and the other towns of the valley that
mil be affected by the construction of the road.
Kmrth-From Fulton, near Pendleton, in an east-