The west shore., July 01, 1889, Page 391, Image 42

THE WEST SHORE.
391
The merely negative virtues of the Grande Ronde
are not its only recommendations, It is not subject
to drouths nor insect pests nor great extremes of cli
mate. It does produoe forty or fifty bushels of wheat
to the acre, and as high as sixty in some instances,
and oats, rye and barley in the same proportion.
Forty or fifty bushels are more than the average
yield but the farmer who does not get thirty bush
els or more from an aore of ground on which or
dinary cultivation has been bestowed is very much
disappointed. Corn is a suooessf ul crop in the val.
ley. Root crops and vegetables of all kinds yield
well and of excellent quality. The fruit lands of the
valley are suitable for the production of apples,
pears, plums, prunes, peaches, cherries and berries,
but the frnit industry has not been developed suffioi
ently to show any great results. All the more oom
mon varieties of fruit are grown and it is clearly de
monstrated that orcharding can be made a profitable
business with a reasonable amount of attention. The
Wallowa country, just below the Grande Ronde val.
ley, is a great peach growing seotion, and there ap
pears to be no reason why the Grande Ronde can not
also be made an important fruit oountry. Perhaps
more than any other crop fruit is sensitive to the in
fluence of altitude, and by choosing locations about
the edges of the valley any of the fruits mentioned
above, and a great many others, would flourish. The
surrounding mountains serve as a protection from
harmful winds and the temperature is sufficiently
equable to render orcharding reasonably certain.
Hops are being grown to quite a considerable ex
tent and are found to be so successful a crop that
many are going into the business quite extensively.
The soil and climate seem favorable and an excellent
quality of hops is produced. Some of the wet lands
could be easily drained and rendered cultivable, but
the hay crop is so important that they are left in
their natural state and three or four tons of hay are
harvested from an aore.
The topography of the Grande Ronde valley does
not present a very great variety of features. The
purs of the Blue mountains bound the valley on
every side exoept the northeast where it morges with
the Indian valley, which, in turn, joins the Wallowa.
The Grande Ronde river takes its rise in the Blue
mountains more than fifty miles to the westward of
UGrande and pursues a devious course through can
yons until it reaches the Grande Ronde valley.
Throughout its entire length it is a rapid stream but
the best water power privileges are near where it
emerges from the mountains, for there it can be util
ized and below the power is less. The Grande Rondo
the largest stream in Northeastern Oregon flowing
into the Bnake river. It is about one hundred miles
from LaGrande to the mouth of the river. The val
ley of the Grande Ronde is somewhat elliptical in
oontour with the northeast end open. The lowest
portion of the surface is along the river. From the
base of the mountains to the stream the descent is
gentle. The land has good drainage. The soil is of
an alluvial nature and has great strength and dura
bility. There is not a foot of arid land in the valley.
It is a most beautiful tract from any point of view.
Before it was invaded by civilisation, three or four
dooades ago, the Indians of Eaatein Oregon, Waah.
ington and Idaho used to oongregate there in great
numbers in the summer time to enjoy the hunting
and fishing and racing while thoir animals grew fat
on the suoculent pasturage, It is no wonder they
made a dosperate struggle to retain so fair a oountry
as that. Sinoe civilisation spread over the valley its
sppearanoe has changed considerably, but it Is still
an attractive plaoe for sportsmen.
Nearly all the Grande Ronds valley was state
land and it has all boon taken up, but in large tracts
of from throe hundred and twonty to one thousand
acres. The present population, however, is unable to
cultivate muoh more than half the farming area, and
eligible farms can be purohaaod for from S 00 to
$15.00 an aore for the unimproved and from f 15.00
up for the improved. Thoae who are engaged in
farming do not want to sell unless they have more
than they can cultivate, which is frequently the oaac.
The prioos mentioned are for good land in the valley.
If one chooses to go a little diaUnoe into the foot
hills, land, quite a large per cent of which is cultiva
ble, may be obtained as low as 1.00 an acre. The
Grande Ronde wants a few thousand people to im
prove its natural advantage. Ths facts of the ooun
try noed no gilding to attract the intelligent husband
man. It is a muoh of a paradise as is often found.
LaGrande is the chief city of that region, but there
are several towns down the valley and in Indian val
ley and the Wallowa oountry that are centers of a
flourishing trade, thongh they muit all go to La
Grande to roach the railroad. The patronage of the
interior makes LaGrande a very important trade
oenter, and the volume of buslnoas is steadily and
rapidly increasing. The efforts) now being direoted
to securing manufacturing enterprises will still fur
ther intrench the city in its proajwrity. The city has
a bank with a capital of l'X),000.00, carrying deposits
averaging 175,000 00. Its busineaa bouse art all of
table character. It la with pardonable prida that
ths people of LaGrande state there has never been a
buxineas failure in their community. Ths city sup.
ports two good local newspapers. Ths receipts of
the post oflloe are increaalng at the rate of about ten
per oent a quarter. One of the five government land