To
WEST SHORE.
1 ' l "r
rm
rt.V I'SW
MM T.MI.I ft
7, 7, .'
l-fiTJi ii. -H ' -
mmm
Neil III pro
gress in tin
vallevsof Cul
ifornia, Ore
gon, Washington
vft!Kivl I Ml"1 ,iri,iHh t'1-
IfW rvnl past, and the fields
WhiW7T JvvW' l have nrcscntcd
i
MVIIC (if bllstlillg
industry from cur
ly dawn till twi
light. F(ir several
week yet the work
w ill continue in mum1 phiecs, ami then
the field will In deserted until the rains
Hllil mill itf mini In. r vi.nr nitutii .k.i... 4 1...
mi i 'a . ...i u.iiii nun w
fl J H' with a luxuriant growth of vims
ami npn the luyriml of clinging blot-
Solll.
Hops arc picked in Califiiriiiu cliictly by ('liiniuncn.
In On-gmi tliinciM luhor it used in mhiic places, hut
w bite ro.le of all age go into the fw nlll j,.
cr the crop. Many of the pupil of the Indian training
m liool at Chemawa aUi cam much money in thin wav
every season. Chinese labor i not no desirable aw that
of white -o.e or Indian in the hop fields, ami grow.
cm only employ U an a matter of ncv-eity to nave
their crop. Such a sudden demand f.,r labor for mi
brief a pcrUI exhaust all ordinary supplies, ami hun
drrU go Into the hop fichla to work who do not ,Tt
employment at other Man of the year. In Wash
iniCton and tritih Columbia Indian laW in nli.-d
uh.ii, and the native make the Ut Kt ,U(t j,n,fit.
aide pi.krra. The hop fi.ld of Yakima valley are
filial w ilh picker from the adjacent reservation, where
livti M.ineof the m.wt induitrW and progn-uive In
diana to I found ill the went, while thocc of tl. p.(
aoiiiul valley and tlie delta of rWr river depud
tip.n tho native that live aUit the shore ,,f I'ugrt
Miuml and on the mainland and island that kirt the
eo.t from Washington to Alaoka. It in a field of thin
rlM of pukerw that i m truthfully repented in the
krtch on the first In the "luxuriant growth ,f
tlw nutted and tangled vim, in the mM.i of dinging
h,.. and In thr unl.juf apj- aranc of the pukrra, old
and young, mule and fenutle, with their long hair and
hrightly colored giirmcnts, tho skek'h is mont true to
life.
ruyiillup valley ia the moat extensively cultivated
to hop of any Rcction of tho Pacific coast. No less
than 2,(XH) acres of vincB, in fields varying in size from
five to M) acres, are being picked, and probably 3,000
hands, chictly Indians, aro engaged in the work. This
far-famed valley possesses a deep, alluvial soil of great
fertility, and the yield of hops is marvelous. In an
ordinary season an average of 2,(XK) pounds to the acre
is looked for, while 3,.r)(X) pounds have ofk'n leen pro
duced under favorable conditions. This has been a
season of unprecedented dryness, and tho yield has
Inch ImIow tht average everywhere; yet from 1 .500 to
2,(Xi() xmnds pr acre is the report thnt conies from the
most careful growers. A field of six and one-half acres
in White river valley, near Puyallup valley, yielded
IH.ISO pounds, or almost 3,(MM pounds to the acre.
When such results can k obtained in a season like the
present, it spaks well for the quality of soil and cli
mate and the good cultivation and care of tho grower.
Hut it is not so much of the hopB as the interesting and
pictureMiie pickers, of which our engravings treat, that
it is intended here to sp'ak.
As the Kcasoii draws near for tho nickimr to bein.
the Indians gradually assemble from far and near, and
most motley crew they are. Those from over the
mountains come on horses, w ith their worldly effects
' pack animals, the wjuawg with their pappooses
strapjied to their backs, and the bucks with their ritlcs
in their hands. With them they bring the simple con
stituents of their domestic life, consisting of a few
blankets, some skins trom which to construct a lodne,
"d a meagre supply f utotiHiln for culinary purposes.
Those that come fro,,, the shores of the sound or the
more distant cast to the north make tho journey in
their large canoes, huge Uts of their own handiwork
''""'"J fr ,,,' trunk of the giant cedars of the north,
with figures carved ,m the projecting prows that would
l't to shame the images of lWtsy Ann and maids of
the sea that adorn our merchant marine. Twenty -I'le
can find scats in one of these cedar craR, and whole
tnl.es make this annual M.uthern pilgrimage in a ll-t
'f raiuw, much in the same way as in earlier years
wr parti usej to invade the sound country, camping
Hong the beach w hcrvver night overtakes them. The
n