The Dalles Times-Mountaineer
ILLUSTRATED EDITION.
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WASCO COUNTY.
The county of Wasco is situated on the northern boun
dary of the state, nearly midway between the western and
eastern lines. Commencing at a point where the Columbia
,. river cuts through the main range of the Cascade moun
tain range, it extends eastward along the center of that
river about 66 miles to the mouth of Deschutes river. Its
, , eastern boundary follows np that river about 30 miles in a
southerly direction; thence southeast and east to John
bay 'river, which marks its eastern boundary to the south
east corner of township 8 south, range 19 east; thence due
west along the dividing line between townships 8 and 9,
to the summit of the Cascade mountains; thence northerly
-" along the summit of said mountains to the place of begin
fj ning. ' . .
Could one be suspended in mid air above this broad ex
4 panse of country, he would view stretched before him a
picture of exquisite beauty and peculiar diversification of
scenery. On the west he would see the heavily timbered
Cascades, with their snow-capped peaks . reaching to the
clouds; on the north the rolling hills and deep canyons,
gradually losing themselyes and terminating at the bank
of the mighty Columbia; to the,, east a broad expanse of
rolling hills. and, level. valleys would present themselves to
view, while to the south he would view an elevated plateau
covered witn a luxuriant growth of bunchgrass, and oc
casionally intersected .by deep canyons and sharp defiles,
marking the course of Deschutes and other water courses.
The picture would be? grand, and would inspire the one
viewing it with awe V
' TIMBER
The western portion of the country, from -the summit of
' the Cascade range to their base, is covered with a heavy
growth of yellow and white fir, hemlock, and pine. This
timber is of fine quality, and will some day- prove a source
of vast wealth. ..At present it is util
ized only to the extent of supplying lo
col markets, perhaps, with one excep
tion, a mill at Hood River which is
engaged in supplying some lumber for
shipment and about-7,000,000 feet of
ties annually for the Oregon Railway
& Navigation Company.
' GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY.
Owing .to its situation on the eastern
it is made up of a plagioclase, augite and olivine. It near
ly always contains more or less magnetic iron ore and other
minerals. Chemically, it contains silica,' lime, potash, soda,
magnesia, oxides of iron and manganese and alumina. The
augite not frequently carries considerable phosphoric .an
nydride, occurring in a crystalline form as apatite. . .
"The chemical composition of the basalt explains the
transformation which a little moisture effects in the appar
ently barren soil of tne eastern portion of the state. In
that section land seemingly worthless becomes very pro
ductive when supplied with the necessary water.
"Analysis of two typical soils of the state will serve to
snow the component physical parts. Soil 1 is from The
Dalles, in Eastern Oregon, and represents a large extent of
territory. Soil 2 is very common in the "Willammette val
ley, in Western Oregon, taken from foothills south of Eu
gene:
Soil. No. 1.
Coarse sand, 30.4
Sana, 24.0
Fine sand, 12.2
Silt or clay, 33.4
"The remainder' of the mineral matter in the soil, not
amounting to more than five pounds in 100 of soil, consists
of chemical compound of lime, potash, soda, magnesia, iron,
aluminum, manganese, chlorine, salicic acid, phosphoric
acid, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and carbonic acid and wa
ter, in varying proportions. It is the compound "of these
substances tnat constitutes the plant food in the soil. The
acids are united with the bases to form the salts, which oc
cur as chlorides and silicates of potassium and sodium,
calcium, magnesia and ammonium, and probably salts of
soda, potash and lime, and certain vegetable acids.
"There are only three of these lime, phosphoric acid and
potash which, as a rule, require attention, so far as de-
v -
No. 2
80.2
2.5
3.0
14.0
"Iron Professor Hilgard puts 1.5 to 4.0 as the ordinary
percentage of ferric oxide in soils but little tinted; ordi
nary loams from 3.5 to 7.0; highly colored red lands, 7 to
12, and sometimes upwards of 20.
-Humus Tnis is the storehouse of nitrogen supply, and
its determination serves as a measure of the nitrogen. In
oak uplands of the cotton states, the range is usually be
tween 0.70 per cent, and 0.80 per cent - in the poorer sandy
soils, from 0.40 per cent, to 0.50 per cent.; in black, calca
reous soils, 1.02 to 2.80 per cent.
"The appearance of the soils in Eastern Oregon is alto
gether different from those of the western portion of the
state. By far the larger part is of a gray, ashy appear
ance, and one coming from the darker soilsof the eastern
states would be unfavorably impressed.- Experience, how
ever, teaches that these soils are abundantly supplied with
plant food, and analysis show that they are probably the
most fertile soils of the state. The wonderful fertility of
these soils is shown in their enormous yield of crops from
year to year. The soil is exceedingly deep in most locali
ties, and of such a texture as to be easily worked.
"The difference in composition between the soil of East
ern and Western Oregon is well shown by the following
table, giving the averages of a considerable number of
analyses:
Willamette
, , , Valley.
Insoluble matter, 65.18
boluble Silica, 502
Potash, 23
??da, !!'..".;!!;.'.!'.' .18
Lime, 3
Magnesia, 79
Manganese, '''.
Iron, ........ 16.' 45
.Aluminum, 1G.45
Sulphuric Acid, 03
Phosphoric Acid,
Water and Organic matter, '. !io!77
Eastern
Oregon.
66.69
13.12
.43
.22
l!22
.75
.10
10.69
10.69
.04
.14
6.21
Total,
99.21
1.44
side of the Cascade range of moun
ts
V
h tains, the surface of the county has" a
-general slope toward the east. The
long ridges, covered with a heavy
growth of. timber, slope gradually,
down from the summit of the moun
tains;4 until they, give place to the high,
" Tolling prairies of Eastern Oregon.
Th northern portion of the county
slopes toward the Columbia, which
supplies its drainage, and is intersect
ed by numerous creeks, along whose
courses are fertile valleys susceptible
of the highest state of cutivation, and
capable of producing any crop adapt
ed to this latitude. The southern and
eastern portions of the county are
drained by the Deschutes and
John Day rivers, and the numer
ous streams tributary to them.
The general topography of this portion
of the -county is high plateaus that
slope toward the water courses and ter
minate in beautiful valleys along the streams. At least 75
per cent, of this section is susceptible of cultivation, and is
a soil capable of producing abundant crops of cereals.
SOIL AND CROPS.
The northwestern portion of the United States, and a
large portion of . British Columbia, was at one time subjec
ted to a tremendous flow of lava, and in consequence the
mountain ranges are composed of basalt, while the prairies
of Eastern Oregon and Washington have the same ma
terial for a foundation. It is the greatest mass of basalt
in the known globe. Following this, the country between
the Rocky mountains and the Cascades, or their continua
tion, the Sierra Nevadas, was covered by a vast inland
sea, and the soil of this region therefore is sedimentary,
consisting largely of decomposed basalt. On . this account
it is exceedingly rich in plant food, and its wearing quali
ties are unexcelled. It will stand recropping ' to cereals
longer than any other, and is in this respect practically in
exhaustibleC It yields generously, . even with the careless
method of cultivation that is pursued, and while not every
season a full crop is harvested, such a thing as a total fail-,
ure is unknown. The soil retains moisture well, and often
good crops have been raised of seasons when not a drop of
rain fell from May to harvest time.
Prof. G. .W . Shaw, of the State Agricultural College, fur
nishes some data of the component parts of the soil of
Oregon, which shows that of the eastern part of the state
to be superior to that west of the Cascade range, and equal
in material required to make it productive and durable, to
the soil of any locality in the United States. Following
is an extract from his writings:
"The soil of Oregon, like all soils of volcanic origin, is
of unsurpassed fertility. The greater portion of it is .de
rived from a basalt, which differs from most rocks in that
it contains the fertilizing ingredients of a combination of
rocks. This basalt is a complex . mineral, very dark-in
color, exceedingly hard, and quite heavy. Mineralogically,
mm &s mm U - f
WASCO COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
ficiency of plant food is concerned, for the other mineral
substances are furnished in abundance by natural agencies.
The soluble portion only of the material being used by the
plant for food. It is these substances that invite attention.
What constitutes a sufficiency of these materials for suc
cessfully growing a crop, will differ with the nature of the
crop and the physical condition of the soil. The minimum
percentage for the growth of general . crops is given by
Professor Hilgard, than whom no one is more competent to
'. judge, as follows:
"Lime 0.10 per cent in the highest sandy soil; 0.25 per
cent, in clay loams; 0.30 per. cent, in heavy clay soil; and
it may rise:with advantage to 1 or 2 per cent. The indica
tion is that 0.80 per cent, is a fair average for soil of the
Willamette valley. - - .
"Phosphoric, acid In sandy loams, ,0,10 per , cent., when
accompanied by a good supply of lime. The maximum
found in the best Mississippi table lands was 0.25 per cent;
in the best- oottom land of the same region, 0.30 per cent
This ingredient is, according to the California experiment
station, report for 1888, more abundant in uie soils of Ore
gon than in the soils of California. In the basaltic soils it
may run as high as 0.30 per cent, or more. '
"PotashThe percentage, of heavy, clay, upland soil and
clay. loams .ranges. irom about; 0.8 to 0.5; lighter loams
from. 0.45 . to 0.30;. sandy .loams, below. 0.30;. and sandy
loams. of great i depth may. fail below 0.10, consistent with
good productiveness ; and . durability. . . Virgin soil with . a
less percentage than 0.6, is deficient and virgin soil . having
0.50 per cent or over will riot Treat but first on that "side, of
the- store of mineral plant food;, and mucnless will suffice
in the presence of iriuch.lime and humus.. ... - ; ..A
' "Sulphuric acia In the best soils, this ingredient is slight;
0.02 pernt is adequate, but it frequently rises to 0.10 per
cent. - - : -
no 77
Humus, 2 (53
"An examination of this table, in the
light of the principles laid down above,
will be of interest. It will be noted
that the soils of Eastern Oregon are
very rich in potash, richer than those
of the Willamette Valley, but poorer
in phosphoric acid. The lime content
of the soil east of the mountains is
nearly three times that of the western
area. In view of the exceptionally
good supply of potash, augmented by
an abundance of lime, itappears that,
these soils will not wear out first on
the side of potash. The humus per
centage seems to be a little lower than
in the humid part of the state, as
would be expected, but, recent investi
gations indicate that the humus of the
arid regions carry nearly three times
as much nitrogen as those of humid
areas. If this be true of the soils in
this state as of other localities of lim
ited rainfall, and it doubtless is, there
is actually more nitrogen present in
the Eastern Oregon soils than in those
of Western Oregon.
The soil of Eastern Oregon is pretty
uniform, and what applies to the en
tire country applies to each section,
hence Prof. Shaw's description of the
)il of. Eastern Oregon applies well to
Wasco county.
Everything that can be grown in the temperate zone
grows well here when proper rules of cultivation are ob
served. Wheat, oats, barley, rye, potatoes, and all kinds of
vegetables yield abundant crops on the high lands with
out irrigation, while the creek bottoms, or valley lands,
are especially adapted to the production of timothy, clover,
and alfalfa. The staple crop of the country, however, is
wheat, and the average yield, one year with another, is
about 15 bushels per acre, though as high as 50 bushels an
acre has been harvested in some localities. The climate
and soil in all the northern part of the county are special
ly adapted to fruit culture, and raising such vegetables as
cabbage, potatoes, melons, celery, eggplant, tomatoes and
similar plants, and large quantities of these are raised for
export, market for the same being found at Portland, Seat
tle, Tacoma, Spokane, and as far distant as Butte, Mon
tana. The fruits that have proven the most profitable in
Wasco county are apples, pears, peaches, prunes, plums,
grapes and cherries, and the majority of the hill land slop
ing toward the north has been found specially adapted to
horticulture, trees grown on such land being exceptionally
healthy, and yielding abundant crops of the choicest fruit.
Strawberry culture has assumed considerable proportions
in some sections of the county, and has proven quite profit
able. The fame of the "Oregon Seedling," which is the fa
vorite berry, in eastern markets, is almost world wide, and
it gained its reputation from the fine berries raised in
Wasco county and put on the markets of New York, Chi
cago and other cities east of the Rocky mountains. The
berries are 'two weeks earlier than those raised in any
other part of the United States, therefore handsome profits
are realized on the early shipments.
THE STOCK INDUSTRY.
In the early settlement of Wasco county stock raising
was the sole industry, and is still an important resource,
nearly all that section south of Deschutes river being de-
e