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About Willamette farmer. (Salem, Or.) 1869-1887 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 1883)
wT -w eJ- - &ftS P VOL. XIV. THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. be Wonderful Material weann 01 uregon and Washington Conformation of the Coun tryThe Fertile Willamette Valley The Foreit Growth of Washington Territory, Etc, Etc. Correspondent Springfield Republican. Walla Walla, W. T Nov. 8, 1882. The two great natural sources of wealth upon which the civilization and prosperous development of the Pacific aVor'hwest are to be based aro it) rich agricultural lands and its vaat forests, fall of valuable timber. The opon country that lies between the mountain ranges, and naturally first attracts settlers, varies widely in decree of fertility. The best , 'uf-it is believed to equal in productiveness any agricultural land on the continent, and the great body of it is susceptible of profit able cultivation. It is peculiarly adapted, from the nature of its constituent'), to wheat growing, anil that is now ami will Do lor 'years to come, if rot always, the leading in dustry of the country. Thu forests eoier the ty mountains and in part? of the country, par f ticuhrly in Western and Central Washington, sweep duwn on to and over the lower lands iu , dense masses. The Cascado mouut i'is, a i prolongation of the Sierra Nevada chain of California, extend noith through Orego i ami Washington at an average distance of 110 A miles frcm the octan, cutting the country llnto iwo grand divisions, which are, in most 4 respects, totally unlike. The Columbia nvtr, Sowing south by a winding course into East ern Washington from i;s first sources into British Columbia, turns sharply to the west, 200 miles below the boundary line, and rolls on its way in majestic power toward the Pa cific, cleaving the Cascade range iu twain and forming the boundaiy between Washington and Oregon. There are thus two great na'. v ural divisional lines through the country, orossing each other at right angles. On the western side of the Cascade moun- ' taint, the valley of the Willamette river, in Oregon, is the most inviting agricultural sec tion, and was tho first part of the country to be populated. It is somct'mes called the Eden of Oregon, so generously does it yield increase to the husbandman and so beautiful aro its natural resources. It is about 125 miles in l.ngtli, Portland lying at lti northern end and Eugene City at its southern, and has an average width of 40 miles. The Coast range of mountains separates it from tha sea, bnt its climate is influenced by the tolt, damp west winds that blow from the ocean and the warm currents of the Pacific that sweep up against this northwest coast. The winter is a prolonged rainy season, during which the average and pretty even temperature is i.bout 38 degrees. The summer is comparatively dry, but cool. The nights, even in midsum mer, would be called' cold in Massachusetts and the average summer temperature does not exceed 67 decrees. The valley is well watered by a great number of tributary teams, which flow into the Willamette from the Cascade mountains on the east and tho Coast range on the west. Tho character of the country is remarkable. Much of the land, especially on tho lower levels, is prairie, but iho prairies are Intersect ed or separated one irom another, by wide timber belts and the foothills of both mountain ranges are generally wooded. The prairies make the most beautiful and fc tile farms imaginable and the timber lands wherever stripp-d of their treeB and planted aro found almost equally productive. The soil is a dark, deep loam containing a large amount of vegetable mold and resting on a olsy subsoil. In the bottom lauds near the streams there are rich deposits of alluvium. All the cereals are raised iu the valley with the exception ot Indian corn, for which the aummmer nights are too cold. Wheat devel ops to perfection, and the berry of the Wil lamette valley wheat is widely famous for its foil, plump form, and produces flour of ex ceeding whiteness which ii highly rated in the Liverpool market. The seeJ is commonly planted in the fall and the yield per acre ranges from 20 to 30 bushels, with an occa sional harvest running up to 40. There are farina in the valley where wheat has betn raised on the same land for 40 ears continu ously without the least bit of fertilization, which are still producing 20 bushels to tho acre. Hop-growing is an important inter tt and has been very profitable this scascn. Most of the fruits and vegetables are ra-.sul with marked success, though the more deli cate varittioi do letter east of the mountains. Apples, prunes, plums and chttnes attain a rare degree of perfection, but graces and peaches are raised onlj with careful attention. A t" e Willamette vail -y ba now ben set tled for over 40 years, and, so far as popula tioL wv concern. d, has constituted about all there was of Oregon until rtcutly, the prairie Isnds are practically all taken up, and the arms are held at from $20 up to 3100 per acre. There are still, however, considerable tracts of timber laud, the property of the Ore gon and California Railroad Company, which are offered at low rates, and will make excel lent farms when cleared. The consumption of wood in the country is now so large that it would seem as if the trees must of themselves mora than pay the cost .of dealing. The busi ness of farming is so comparatively easy in the alley that the farmers drift into careless and w asteful methods anil lose a large p oportion of tho revenue that they might otherwise save. Indeed, they exhibit a surprising lack of that va'uable New England virtue, thrift. Scittered along tha river between Portland and Eugene are frequent roipeious towns and Mil iges, of which the most important aro Ore gon City and Silem. The Utter is the capital of the btite and is a place of 4,000 or 5,000 population, slow and st ady, but rich as an agricu'tural center should bo and well fur u.shcd with good public buildings, including a handsome State House. Oiegon City is lo lated by a fall in the Willamette river, enjoys an excellent natural water power, and is tru chief manufacturing center of thu Statv, be sides being thu ohiest town in the country Its interests are mainly Hour and wooltn goods. South of the Willamette valley and west of the mountains are' two other principd vallejs, the Umiqua and tho Rogue, whose rivers, fed by numberless tributaries, flow weetwaul through tho coast mountains into the Pacific. Although not so remarkably fertile as tlu Willamette valley, they contain much excel lent agricultural land, and are j et but sparsely settled. It is thought by those familiar with the couutry that thess southern valleys are t become largely devoted to tho culture of thu grape, to which their climate is better adapt ed than tha' of tho northern counties of thu slate. . Wett of tho mountains in Washington Ter ritory, and stretching from them to tho oceui is the heaviest belt of timber to be found any wherein the United (States, and the finest body of couiferuus trees in the woild. Tli wholo surface of the cou'itry, w itli the excep tion of two or three valleys of limited area, fiom ho mountains to the Pacific and Pujit Sound, is densely covered with a strong, lig oriui growth of fir pine, cedar, snrucc, larch anl he-nil ck, with soinealderand cottmwood inteispeiBed mis belt is 'uu nines long, ir. in the Columbia liver to British Columbia, and 100 inil"s wide, except in its northern pait, wheic Puget S-und enters into it, reducing tho width to 30 or 40 miles. The forests als) extend over the Cascade mountains and some what down their eistern slope, as well as south along the range into Oregon, but in much diminished density. In Oregon there is consider ible good ash and maple. A large proportion of the belt in western Washington will ield over 50,000 feet of lumber to the acre, and more of it will produca 25,000. The fir-trees which constitute about seven-eighths of she whole growth, attain a remarkable height, and are inarvclously straight and sym metrical of form. It is not at all uncommon to find the ii fully 250 feet high, and indeed all thevaiious trees that grow in this section appiar iu the perfection of form and size. They generally stand amid a thick under growth of bruh, ferns at d mosses of wonder ful beauty aud variety, so that a ride through the forest by rail, is full of charming iiiterist. The value of a vast tract of timber such as this and thu immense quantity o' lumber that it will jield, are simply iuculc lable. I' is a mil e of wealth to the Pacific coast, which if wisely husbanded, will lie practicably luex hauatiblj. There are now some 15 or 20 aw mi Is scattered ar. und the shores of Paget Sound, the product of which is shipped toCal iforoia, the Sandw ich Iland s, Australia and South America, and even to England, France, China an 1 Japan. Wncrever tho timber lauds are cleared crops can be raised successfully, and there is already a large expoit of lion from the country adjacent to the southern part of the sound, some of the growers having netted as high as $100 per acre this year, cf course an exceptional season. East of the Cascado mountains is thu great bisin of the Columbia river, a region 160 miles broad by 500 long, e nbracing the valleys of the parent liver aud its tribu aries, wheh is yet only beginning to lie opened to civilization. It was penetrated first by tho sold hunt, r, but did not proio rich enough in tho preci us metal to satisfy their impatient expec tatioi s, an I few of them are left to mark the places where the digging anl washing for the flittering prize w re once so actively con ducted. Kut of this regon in the Idaho mountain! the mining inter. '. has bten more prorita.ile and rcrmsnent. Following the min ers osuibthn rattlc-heiders, hor.e-bieedersai d sheep n.en.who have been far more succestfu', 'andwhoieintereitsbivenowbecouielargeai.d PORTLAND, OREGON, important. The country iu its natural state affords abundant pasturage of such excellent quality that the Oregon cattle and horses aro noted for their large size and supofior strength. But only w ithiu recent years has it been discovered that the Columbia basin con tains thousands upon thousands of acres of tho best agricultural lands, and is ml) ftantially all arable if tho soil is properly treated. Tho eeneral character of the country docs not at once impress the traveler a offering special attractions to tho farmer. It is very unlike tho Red River valley of Dakota, for instance, and far less propitious to the eye either of the tourist or tho prospecting settler. There are broad expanses of the desolate sagebrush land running through it, particularly along the bed of the larger rivers, land that can only be tilled successfully with irrigation. On the eastern side of tho range are the Cceur d'Al no and 111 no mountains, the latter on extended range whoso numerous spurs pro project themschis in various directions through Eastern Oregon and into Washington Territory. Hut for tho most part the basin it, an open country traersed ly numberless tt tains, from winch tha lintl rises into roll ing plains, spnukled over sometimes with a thin growth of iue. Itisasingularfactth.it tho best lands for farms aro found on the higher levels away fraiu.the gicat rivers. Tim most fertile region that has yet been opened by the railroads lies in tho southeastern or. uer of Washington, but spreading cast into Idaho and south into Oregon. It embraces what if known as the Walla Walla country and the Palouse district, named from the river tha1-, waters it, and it now produces large crops of wheat for export. Further north, on the rppositc side of the Northern Pacific Rail road line, is another body of very promising agricultural land called tho Spokan country, and there are other at piescnt less known but perhaps equdly fertile districts, scattered ibout through the great basin. Tho soil of the best lauds in thi i Upper Country is a daik loam, composed of alluvial deposits and decomposed lava, resting ou a clay subsoil, underneath which, at considera ble depth, lies a basaltic formation. The bunch grass which growj on it is Btiong and exceedingly nutritious, and wheat planted nfter the surface has been onco tinned to a slight depth and lain fallow for a few mouths, thrives wonderfully fcven heavier crops aro harvestel here than iu the Willamette Valley, and thu average productisn per acre is safelv placed at twenty two I ushels. This year there has been a pirtia' IV .n of crop? owing to the pr 1 bged iliuutu, and pirtly also, no doubt, to a lack of knowledge among the farmers of tho safest methods to be followed in p'ant.tig. Farming is, in fact, still in an experimental stage in this part of the country, and it seems to bo an open qurstion whether wheat should be sown in the fall or spring. The other cere its, except corn, grow almost or uuito as well as wheat, and fruits and vegetables of mammoth size and excellent flavor are raised iu great abundance. The orchards develop rap idly and produce astonishing results. Tho climate on tho eastern side of tho mountains is characti rized by a long, dry summer and a short, rather sharp winter. The total annual rain-fall does not aiernga over 20 in lies and comes maiuly in the spring which opens as early as February. Ftom Juno to Scp'cmber there is no rain and tho summer weather is warm, tho temperature 80 (leg. to 00 drg. Hut the nights are cool a id tho suit winds from tho ocean surcharged with vapir, which sweep up through the val ley of the Columbia, temper the seventy of the drouth and protects vegetation from its injuiious effects. The sama wind, called the Chinook, mitigates the cold of winter and melts the suows rapidly. It penetrates as far east as tho mountains of Montana, and is a welcome friend to the cattle end their own ers. T o autumn is a delightful season of moderate temperature and generally cleartkies. Winter hardly begin I efore Christinas and is over in two months, the mercury sometime dripping below mo, but oidiusrily not under 30 deg. Thu country is an inviting one to settlers; they are already coinuu to it iu great num bcis, notwithstanding the expensive and hard jou ney nnolved in getting h le, and they will flock in still more rapidly when the Noithein Pa'-ific railroad ib open. Ttio rail road is ft putlung its way through thu rich districts, new towns aro springing up along its lines, aid there- is a univtrtal spint and growth taking ponesuon of the couutry. The railroad and improvement cnupauies are seek ing to gtt Irom SS to 812 per acre for their first-class land, lut, of course, tell the lei desirable at lower prices, 43, or $5 an acre, ' In Eastern mil Southern Oregon and North- uiit-Ti Washington, there li a great deal of i FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1883. good farming land scattered oer the country still wholly unpopulatod, or utilized only for grazing, that the Villard railroads will gradu ally open to cultivation and settlement. Hut there aro also immense tracts of land of poorer grade in tho Columbia basin, grown over with thin but nutritious grasses or sage brush, that will long remain unoccupied, except for the cattle ranges, simply becauso there is much superior land to be taken up first. In the more protected valleys of Oregon sheep thrive remarkably, and the wool interest is already a heavy and profitable one, as appears from the large exports during the past year, amount ing to 7,500 000 pounds. Of the five leading exports of tho State, wool is the thiul. The others iu their order aro wheat and flour, sal mon, oats and lumber. OUR EOOK TABLE Harper's Monthly for January roinnirncos with an article about Holland giving a chatty, rolicioi.ic sort of talo of a stroll through that hind of Dikes and cleanliness. No nation on tho earth can boast of women who clean and scrub to faithfully and continuously as do these Holland frows. Tho Redwood logging camp lies in the for ests of our own Pacific slope and ie wonder fully true in picture anil details, even to tnu representation of "our cook," tho inevitable Chit eo b.iy in blouse and sandals. " Laving I. amps is a charming nit ot nat ural history put into words that read like n fairy tale. The nrticlo treats of all animals that give a phosphorescent light, of whom our own littlo glow wrrm is t. notable repre sentation. I'iiero aro stories, and n Christmas tale, too, while "Shandon Bells" continues on in its own piquant style, peculiar to William Black, w ho is one of tha few great writers who aro coming up to take tho place of Dick ens, Thackery and other story writers. Harper' Young People is the very best inagHzino that comes to our table for young people. Tho four publications of Harper should always go toether,and if all aro taken at oiice, the reduction of such club rates make it easy to pay for them. Tho Harper' Monthly, Weekly Razor and Youmj People givo all tha variety of reading that is needed in largo family. Tho ISazar is the nioit reliable of any fashion sheet, while tne styles and designs are such as would como under the means of people in medium circum stances. Tho Young People always has somo good story reading, while the rest of tho matter is all calculated to elevato and educate theyoiuiL' mind. Tho nictuns arj most exquisitely done, showing that no painb aro snared to malta it a first-class ioilnul, as is all that is issued from "Harper'." Tho Centura commences the new year, if nossiblc. with izreater attractions than usual. No other m igazine can claim a class of con tributors of urcater strength and riputation as niado tho olil name ot "henuncr. Ihis magazine won fur itself a wonderful circula tion ; won it bv hard work and laithtul liter ary lubor. Thiough ono Administration is worth tho whole subscription. Then tho cuts and illustratioi sale tho lust and finest known in art. Tho library table fhould not bo without the Ventun, and tho fit Sicholas for the youug portion of the family. No other magiine has attained greater popularity in thu Units il States than the old Scrilmtr aud the new Century. Tho Young SrientUt is a good-sizod maga zine, of some forty panes, devoted to a sort of exposition of home arts. Tha first article shows, by picture, the appearance of blood corpsicles of animals, and explains, in a read able manner, the formation of blood and its way of circulating. The handling of tools come next; working of metals is talked of. Then there is a girl's department, with its accompanying domestic hints. Alto gether it is a very useful, interesting and nee-i-nsary book, published at 4'J Maidun Lane. New York. Fo Valllv, Or., Nov. 30th, 1882. Editor Willamette Farmer: There are as much as thirty families in this neighborhood, and about one-third of which take no reading matter whatever they say they aro too poor, but they spend more money for tobacco and whiskey than would furnish them all the reading matter necessary. The brutal appetite must be fed while thu mental faculties must perish. Mr. Editor Since the game law came in force, tho hunters up here think the law ii all bosh; that they camut enforce it. Tho man that would report them would place himself in jeopardy. Hunting and shooting deer lit still going on. A. I), (iahhslk. NtwiiKii.1, Or., Dec. 25th, 1852. Editor Willamette Farmer. Is our common laundry starch niado from potatoes ! It is my understanding that it i, but jomo people tell mo it is made from corn. If it is ma lo fr-nn potatoes, people gcu-rally should know it and boll out inducements for some one to put up a starch factory. Potatoes could and would bo raised in large ijuantitii in this country, if fanners could bo insured Ihey would get a remunerative price lor tneni I J. . J. Wonii. Not. Friend I'ct'rson, of Eiit Portland, makes beautiful starch from his potatoes, whieli is excellent for irfanv purpurs. t.Mako your o'd things look like mwby using thu Diamond Dts, and you will ba happy. Any of tho fashionable colors for 10c, BOP GROWING VS. PROFIT. Bottkvillk, Or., Dec. 27th, 18S2. Editor Willamette Farmer: Mr. Wells thinks that ono pole to tho hill would not do on tho richest bottom lands. List fall R. O. Gcer tested a piece of his rich est land, one polo to the hill, seven feet apart, and tho yield was at tho rate of 4,500 pounds per acre., Iu planting a hop yard, it is advis able to look to the supply of poles. Already hero somo are having tittle trouble to find poles. A troublo that will increase with every year's picking begins after the seeds have turned to a dark color. Some pick in what we call hoppers, being a frame about right feet long, two feet wide and two feet high, Let the side poles ot Jie frame tun over sixteen ,nchcs for handles, and tack Cadot A. muslin ou, so as to mako a kind of basket tho wholo length. Two or f'ren pickers to a hopper. Measure in boxes and take to the dty house iu boxes, or empty in sack. Mako thr-o sacks out of two wool sacks, and they will hold ono box apiece, which mnkns it in'ier handling thrin. I'ho boxes used hero are mostly msdo iu Portland of spiuoei, planed intidc and out. cost one dollar apitco iu Portland, niu single boxes of tho following dimensions : Eightce by flirty sit inches and thirty inclns deep, holding aliout twelve pounds ol dried It pa Some pick in tho lioxes. iiieywiu settio to bold ab uit one pound more by so doing. Tho average price for picking hero in 40 em's per box. Tho picking season will last in a year, that is not too dry about threo weeks. A dry fall, lik the present one, ripens tho Imps very fist. Threo boxes is an ait'iMgn day's work. For n cheap dry house, cut logs, so a to mako tho houso 20 by 24 feet on tho inside. Set it in a hillside if m ran. Mako it 10 feet from ground to eaves and 12 feet from ground to floor. Let a set of plates run out, so as to mako a stoio room, on ouo end out of plank, about 24 feet long. To get the room stored in an encomical manner, carry ) our hopi on an elevated walk that should run the full length of store loom Mako a light scpop for tho purpo'o out of crdir, if you have it, that will hold about f.vo bushels. Make a walk to car ry gteen hops up to a door in tha end of dry house. Put in joiit two fret apart tip and for dry floor strips, about one inch by one and one-fourth, edge up to make them strong, and sew up house lining, and stretch tight, and tack on outside. Make ftore room about tov en feet from ground to floor. Two common box stoves, about 38 inches long, with pipe ninning direct through tho rcom, or a 45-inch stove with pipe running around the room, will mako tho heat. For safety, build flues of brick in tho end of building, lotting tlioni go up through drying room. Mako plenty of Mutilation belli'", nnd a Mutilator on top of dry house to nllow steam to escape. I have cen the whole door left open for ventilations below. It is a good idea if it can br vontilatrd f i run both ends ol tho IjuiHIIIil.'. us It will oei- ter rquaho tho heat Heat up to about 170 degrees. Hang the therun meter near the top of the room as it is hottest near the top. If the room getB too lint, inako more ventilation, sb (with tno required heat) tho moru air that enters the fast, r it will dry, or in ither words, tho more hot air you can s nd through the hops tho faster you can dry. Of course, tho Iioubo must bo chinked and daubed from ground to roof. Daub it from tho ins do below thu drying floor. A house of tho samo siu may bo mado of plank, one inch thick, and doubled, Uso plank no wider than eight inches. A houso of that siz, w ith tw stoves anil good wood, will dry about 1,200 pounds a day. Hops are here often put on two feet deep und dried in about 18 hours, only aiming to dry onu flooring a day, but ulways put on thu entire day's picking. 1 uso a wooden hay rako to smooth on underside; someone iue to scoop and somo dry without stiinng Somo uu about a half mund ol sulphur by burning on tho stove when tho lions get hot, Thu b st brin nreiis. 1 know, is li.udu iu Wnterville. N V , and cis's about S80 in I'uitUud. It is called tho McCabo pros, and makes a I n'o about tliii samo sia as thr llarrisbiiig prrss. I In not know anything shout thu latter, (liub bing can he donu nnv timu when the ground is dry enough, after tho fr st has killed the Mnis, till tho hops coriio up III the spring. I havu soon them grubbed, after the Imp) am four inches high, without uny dam ige to thu liills. In picking I cut tho vines about five feet from the ground. Somo do not cut tha vines at all, preferring to cut or break down tho poles, for fear of injuring tho hills I think that will be stopped when tlm polo gets mora scarce. I have lost few lulls by my plan. Where poles aro scarce they may tie cut quite large, as hi go as three and a half or four inches at tho bu t end, and may often bo K"t oirof a larger treu by taking the pole oHof thu top of the tn-r. If a pole is very largo it may bo somo i-horlcr, No hop sets can bo obtained around here. They uuy bo had at the Sound. I hi aril to-day that the party that had con-tmct-d f ra few huudrid thousands from tho sound was a littlu "oil in his arriuiguiicntn. He was to get them for ?3 50 per M, but ru- ci Ivcd a letter thst he would have to i p yu per .M. Ab no ii vi net-n contracting rigm aim .. . , . .. . .. .!.., lit am lift for 85 ner M. it would leivn him behind, I hear that ho had gone to tlm Sound to lee about it. I suppose that t'io Well hop iiuhl be obtained of Mr. Wells, r of ritlum, in bis M'c-nity. Ibe Sin Franc boo ItalUtut sa'S that gioweis claim thiy will h II nil i lata sc(ii tht tan obtain this yuir, uu I even tho Iiul ons hue the feirrand aro lining into the business. To Chinamen have yans lure. I cannot givu plan for a press as I have been rtqun tud to do. It wou d Iu tin round c ited a j .la, Ihttrr see s.j.nu pri-ss 'or your-!', i'(' sows nun that can make iuu 1 h ivn urideaM led to answer the iU"ttioiiS ol all cuiiis.Xjii loirs in the last two aril hs (u tlunj iii'ire: i' jou go into tho In p liusiinnk you snnulil take tho WlM.sMKTTK rAHJtrii, ul I) the Wato Mile 'limrt, published iu Watervillc, NJ V., NO. 47 at $1 50 per year. The Time is tho best hop paper in tho United States. Everybody wants a hop yard. In tw o or thrrn yi-ars w hen hops are selling at six cents in in rrmcisco, they will wonder what they went into hop raising, for vour rcmaiks, Mr Editor, on the subject nro to tho point; and some, probably, will find to thur cost that it is no' all profit in that branch of farming as well as some others. Jon. P. Okiik. Farm Prospects In tho Willamette Valley. Polk County, Or., Dee. 22d, 1882. Editor Willametto Farmer: As this is a time of rest and recreation for tho farmers of Oregon, permit us to writo a few lines on the prospects gi iirinlly. Tho fall srasnu for seeding has bc?n icry favorable, and tho fanners generally have til.cn advan tage of tho opportunity to put nil tho grain in they could. But strango to siy there has been but littlu ploughing done for summer-fallow. The farmers sccui to differ greatly, as to tho beBt timo for ploughing, ninst of tlioni appear to biliuvo that spring ploughing is thu best time, .lias much ns they liao tho uo of tlte stubb'o for pastille', whilo others think that summer-fallowing is being d-.iie only for tho purpo-r ot dinning tho ground, and theietor cailier tnu ground is piowcci tno neitcr, lier thu groi mine wilil o, round is plnwi because mine wild oata and wuo swill come up on fnll plawcd ground than after spring ploughing. Wo wish that somo experienced and judicious farmer would fivo us Ins views in regard to this matter in tho Farmhi. Another question: wo would liko to see an swered in tho Faumku, namely, what is tho o iiisa that grain auwn in thu valley, or on low lands, grows much more rapid or rank in the winter, than that sow u at tho same timo on uplands or hi IsT While at harvest the grain ita and wu on thu hills isoltcn tho rankest, will some ouo answer that? dram at this tune looks fine, and is very inuk, caused by tho warm rain we had lately, and will bo fino for sheep and se cure a good crop of wool by spring. This warm, open weather which makes tho grass oven to grow is a great reliof to many farmers, as they Beomcd to be short of rough feed. We understand thcru is a c6uib9 of hctures to be delivered at Oak Grove for the benefit of the M. E. Church, lately built. At that place, we seo that Hon, M. 1'. Deady is to speak on "Trial by Jury," on Jan. 12th, at 0:30 r u. We think ha is sure to liavo tho house full. A good smith would find a splendid location at Oik Urovo lor plenty of work and go nl, able peop'a to pay. Wu understand thu post otfiuu nt Crowley s Station js to bo discontin ued; cause, no postmaster. (I. II. EiLriw. HOW IT PAYS TO TAKE THE FARMER. " PoitTi.Awn, Oreg'in, I) -c. ' 2'J'b, ISS2. Editor Willametto l'armir: I feel greatly interested in the bucccss of your paper, for nt least two icasons: 1st Ou account of thu honebt ellorts of its udi'or und man igers to nniku it u roilly good farmer's paper, I should liko to bcu such ef fort lewaided. 2d llccausa Oregon aud thu Northwest need, and mn( have, a good agricultural pa per, and thu aooner thu better, ami how nooh cr or butter than by sustaining one already in tho field under n good management. Now, Mr. Editor, I am not a farmer, ami I am only a new-comer to thu Northwest, and J do not know that I ought to speak nt all, but I like tliii country. It ia laud of great prom iso for the future, and 1 mean to make it my home; nay, more, I mean to ba u fanner here, and I want to indicate the fact that 1 am in torett d if I can do nothing more. Mr. Knnpp is right when he says it pay to take and read thu Kaumku; hut 1 think he fails to impress this truth fully that it pays belter to take thu f-AliMru than it possibly cm piy to take t'io b st ngricul'ural papers in the End even if t ny hid thu Eistern pipers free What if it docs look a great deal of what they have, for 1 1 j pirt I am glad of it in somo ru'pectB. "All is not gold that glitter," and I've liniiid that hftritunu has washed nut thu "pay dirt, "if tlnr is any "gold" in what llie-e I'.tst' in pipers turn up, o.ir Fakmkk ns pretty buiu to bIioa- It up. But thu I'akmkk is our pioneer and guide out in this nuw coun try; and what good is all their flue haired theories and delightful mbtilitius of Brientilie husbandly, if we have havu no guide to assist us to a knowledge of the ground principles of our adiptability Wo should take the Fau mhi, not bemuse it may pay bttUr by and by if wo nuppoit it now, but becauso it will pay and docs pay to take it now. ). A. S. The friendly writer of the above puts tho question exactly us wo have ofto'i felt it, and wo thank him for his kind word, co-pled as it is with good Bound sense. Aa to tho valuo of our paper, it reflects the timo in which we hvc, and thu circumstances that surround us. Its editor looks over, and, our shrewd corrd epondeut sit) n culls thu belt matter found in tha great agricultural j luruals of thu East, most of which wu rocviw. Thteo contain veiy lit Iu of practical utc to an Oiegon far mer. 'Ibe r litor meets and coimrtes with a great niaii practical faun rs, and gathers in formation of thur tiieiessful imthods This ho tow s to hi readers. Thu I'AUMUt is open to, an I glidly icceivis 1'riinmuuicatious from all (-.rums in thu Paciliu Nnithatst, and n-f fouls a uiiuus of ciuiiitutiieitinii betwien far mers line In this luiiiutr we prin tnully cover nil tho ground ilu irahloforu farm a per As on i friend intimitis. Tho c,r at Kistein jjunuils are nut adapted t" ti.n re gion. I In y I o'er to cncuinstanues a id i ui . nous wv du not have, aud tlnrefor-j tin v " useless fir pna ti'il rami's. Tne Fmimkh -trivts to Much 'lit Iioiiib situation, ami it ilo"B s j with rcrasouabtu slice . M I