Morning Oregonian., January 01, 1907, Page 12, Image 12

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EXTREMELY fertllo nd u!tefl to
bewildering diversity of product.
Oregon's farm lands are a never-falling
gource of wealth. Climate and soil are
unsurpassed anywhere In the TJntted
States, and the productive capacity of the
tate has not yet begun to he taxed.
There are millions of acres within the
boundaries of the state covered with for
ests, but which will never be valuable
for agriculture, but there Is also an enor
mous area of tillable soil which merely
awaits settlement to bring about Its full
development. The irreater part of this
fertile but now unproductive area Is that
which Is susceptible to Irrigation, and
the purnope of this article Is to deal
rather with the land which requires no
artificial aid to make It valuable. .
Oregon In Itself Is an empire, contain
ing a total of 61,9,:00 acres. Of this
rut area, perhaps one-third Is now un
4r cultivation, this portion Including all
land used -for horticultural and agricul
tural purposes, both Irrigated and non
lrrlgated. The great bulk of the tilled
land, probably t. 798.000. Is worked with
out Irrigation. f
The most highly productive portions of
Oregon are the many fertile valleys, tha
largest and best-known of whloh Is that
of the Willamette River, In the western
part of the state, containing more than
oregox's wrttit cnor, um.
' Ftrat IMstrlet MnltnemaJa,
Clackamas, Tamhlll, Co
lumbia, Washington, Til
lamook and Clatsop
CountiM ue, tee
Second Plstrlet Marlon,
Folk, Benton, Lincoln,
T.lnn and Lane Counties .
Third TM.trlct Douglas,
Jackson, Klamath, Jo
sephine, Coos. Carry and
Iake Counties
Jnurth District VTswo,
Bhernian, Morrow, Gil
liam and Crook Counties. M4.M -
Tilth District Vmatllla,
' Union, Wallowa, Baker,
Malbeur, llnrner and
Grant Counties lse.ee
1.000,000 seres. With the exception of
about 1.000.000 acres, all this land is
tillable and Is not excelled anywhere in
the world. The mild Winters and the
never-falling rainfall assures . to those
who till the valley lands a continuous
profit. There Is no such thing as a fall
tire of crops In Oregon. The total pro
duction varies from year to year but the
tate never suffers from extremes of cold
or heat, and while always blessed by a
generous rainfall, the farms are never
wept by floods.
The agricultural resources of Oregon
how much variety. With the exception
er the few products which are confined
to the South, such as cotton, rice and the
citrus fruits, nearly everything raised in
the Vnited Slates thrives In Oregon and
there are many which bear more abun
dantly here than elsewhere. Wheat, oats,
hops and hay are among the more im
portant cVops.' Dairying is attaining Im
mense proportions, stockralslng and wool
growing bring In fortunes annually, and
diversified farming is nowhere mora prof
itable.
The 4.000.000 acres under cultivation
In the Willamette Valley represent an
area which Is one of the world' garden
pots. The never-falling harvests bring
Is lu thousands of farmers each year a
, ! - A A! ; ..... v- $. .: ...... . ' . ... ... . . , rf VII
revenue which supports many small cities
and towns, and adds to the wealth of
Portland, which Is the market place for
this section, as well as for the remain
der of the state, and of Idaho, Montana
and a large part of Washington. Grains
of all kinds thrive in the' Valley, while
thousands of acres are given up to the
production of hops, and additional land
Is each year being utilized for this pur
pose. Fruits and vegetables also are
raised in abundance. Especially adapted
to gardening are tracts of rich soil
known as beaver-dam land, upon which
the crops of onions, celery and other veg
etables grown tax one's credulity when
the yield per acre Is given.
In discussing farm lands, an Important
THE MORNIITG OREGOKIAIT, TUESDAY, JANUARY 1 190T.
. NEAR COTIAfiE GROVE i
point to all who are thinking of locating
in this state is the prevailing schedule
of prices. In this connection may be
quoted a table of land prices compiled by
Wallls Nash and published in a recent is
sue of the Chamber of Commerce Bulle
taln. It applies to land within the Wil
lamette Valley, which- produces crops
equal to. those of Iowa. Illinois and In
diana, and is based upon the average
sale prices this Spring. It follows:
Clackamas County J49 per acre.
. Columbia County Small farms, 141.4
per acre.
Washington County Small farms,
$53.82 per acre; large farms, J3S.62 per
acre.
Tamhiti County Small farms (.embrao-
ing considerable areas of orchards and
hops), 1119.68 per acre: large farms.
$21.50 per acre.
Marlon County Small farms. $46.11 per
acre: large farms. 535.76 per acre.
Folk County Large farms, J22.T0 per
acre.
Linn County Small farms, $52. 15 per
acre; largo farms, $23.28 per acre.
Benton County Small farms, $32.10 per
acre; large farms. $21 per acre.
Lane County Small farms', $32.!S per
acre; large farms, $26.44 per acre.
In these counties. Polk excepted, tt is
estimated that there is an average of
S1! per eent under cultivation in farms
of lees than 160 acres. In the same list.
Columbia excepted. It Is estimated that
of farms of more than ISO acres, 43.7 per
-ANGORA GOAT JRANICH IBAR GLeNTE.
cent of the area Is under cultivation.
But the Willamette Valley does not by
any means contain all of Oregon's choice
farming land, even of the non-irrigated
class. There are a number of other
equally fertile valleys in the state, not
ably that of the Rogue River, In South
western Oregon, and the Umpqiia Valley,
between the Rogue and the Willamette.
In the eastern part of the state, the most
Important valleys are. the Harney. Des
chutes, Hood, John Day and Grand
Ronde. All of these are extremely fer
tile, although the two first-named need
Irrigation.
The largest wheat farms in the state
are in Eastern Oregon, where there are
vast grain fields, only equaled by . those
of the ' Western States. In harvesting
these fields, large "combines" are used,
drawn by 20 horses, or In some cases by
trsctlon engines. These machines cut
end thresh the grain at one operation.
The product of this grain land is stored In
mm:
immense elevators and ultimately finds
its way to Portland and is shipped by
water to all parts of the world.
Some of the richest dairying land of
the state is included in the counties bor
dering on the Pacific Ocean. Tillamook
County, especially, is noted for the qual
ity and quantity of its dairy products.
The tldelands afford rich pasturage the
year around, and dairying Is thus mad
cheaper, as the expense of storing feed
for tlie Winter season is eliminated.