_Dear Sir_: In response to your request, I make the following
memoranda. Our Hop Farm consists of 1,500 acres of rich alluvial
soil; 300 acres in hops, which produce from 1,800 to 2,000 pounds
per acre. We also raise 150 acres of oats, producing sixty to
seventy-five bushels per acre. From 100 to 150 acres in hay,
producing about three tons to the acre. Also large quantities of
vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, turnips and onions. All
kinds of root vegetables are prolific except sweet potatoes.
Fruits, such as apples, pears, prunes, plums, and berries of all
kinds, are in abundance. Last year we had over 5,000 bushels of
apples.
[Illustration: HAY-MAKING IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY ALONG LINE OF SEATTLE,
LAKE SHORE AND EASTERN RAILWAY.]
At present we ship in about 500 tons per year of merchandise and
supplies, and ship out, in the way of hops and other things, from
400 to 500 tons per year. This we could double if we had
railroad facilities for shipping. We employ during the winter--that
is, in November, December and January--about forty men; the rest of
the year, from 75 to 1,200 men and women. The keeping up of this
supply of labor, which all comes from Seattle, would be quite an
item to the traffic of a railroad. I presume you know that where
there are a large number of people employed, they are continually
coming and going. In speaking with a railroad contractor the other
day, he told me that in order to keep 500 men at work, he had to
keep 1,500 on the road. This will also be an important item when
the mines are working above here. There are a great many items of
interest to which I might call your attention, but I will confine
myself to the above at present.
Yours, very respectfully,
T. G. WILSON,
SECRETARY AND MANAGER OF THE
HOP GROWERS' ASSOCIATION.
[Sidenote: Farming, fruit and grazing lands.]
Besides the bottom lands, there are large areas of what might be called
table-lands, north and northeast of the lakes, which are top-dressed
with glacial drift, but which will be well adapted to the crops of the
country, and especially to fruits. And besides the table-lands, the
smaller mountains are generally adapted to agriculture, and especially
to grazing. My impression, as heretofore stated, is that, ultimately,
West Washington will become a great grazing region, though it is
generally supposed that East Washington is to be the chief cattle
country. But the mild and equable climate, and the abundance of rain,
ensures abundant forage summer and winter in West Washington. This will
be important for the feeding of cities farther south, as well as for
sending canned and refrigerator beef far and wide over the Pacific
Ocean. The growth of vegetables, especially of root crops, is something
phenomenal on both sides of the Cascade Mountains, and will furnish a
large item of commerce, as is shown already by the large shipments of
potatoes from Seattle, and the multiplication of canneries.
[Sidenote: Hops, barley and beer.]
The hop interest is a large one, but the low prices of the last year or
two have checked the progress of this industry. Breweries have already
been established at Seattle, and elsewhere on Puget Sound, and, as the
chief materials for beer (barley and hops) are produced here so cheaply
and abundantly, we may expect Puget Sound beer to become quite a large
item of commerce.
The Snoqualmie and Squak valleys have as yet but a scattered
agricultural population, but ultimately farms will be opened along all
the streams, and even high up on the Cascade Mountains.
[Sidenote: The two great railroads.]
On the east side of the Cascade Mountains the Seattle, Lake Shore and
Eastern Railway will closely parallel the Northern Pacific Railroad for
a short distance in the Yakima River valley, but will probably leave it
soon after entering the most productive part. The route, however, may be
varied to suit circumstances, and as to this point no doubt would be if
the talk of making Ellensburg the State capital should become serious.
The remark may here be thrown in that this meeting of the two railroads
in the Yakima valley will be no disadvantage to the Seattle road, as the
distance to Puget Sound is about the same, and the incidental advantages
are in favor of Seattle.
[Sidenote: The Great Bend country.]
[Sidenote: Douglas County.]
Crossing the Columbia River, the railway will enter the great plateau
which has been so fully described, and if the passage should be made at
Rock Island Rapids, it will cross the plateau at its widest part.
Nothing more need be said as to the great agricultural capabilities of
the plateau country. The Great Bend, or northern limb of the plateau, is
more extensive than the southern division, but it is a much less
settled country, owing partly to want of transportation, and partly to
want of water. This scarcity of water in Douglas County was formerly
thought to be incurable without a resort to artesian wells; but
experiment has shown that wells of good water can be obtained at
moderate depths, as I was informed by Mr. Smith, a resident of the
county, and by Mr. Nash, the lawyer, who owns property there. The
population and, consequently, the business of this large county is
limited at present, but it has a large body of good land in it, which
will attract settlers before long. Its soil is of the same character as
that of other parts of the plateau; but the general impression seemed to
be that it was not quite equal to the land of the Snake River Basin, or
to the adjoining county of Lincoln, owing in part to a larger proportion
of rough land. I do not, however, consider this question by any means as
settled. The best area for wheat is supposed to be that which borders on
Lincoln County. If the route for the Seattle railway which is preferred
by Mr. Mohr, should be adopted, it would pass across the northern part
of the county, by many persons considered the best part, and leave the
great body of the county out of reach to the southward.
[Sidenote: Lincoln County.]
Lincoln County, through the length of which the road must pass, is
universally admitted to be among the best agricultural counties on the
plateau. It is also settling up rapidly, and has become a large producer
of wheat, even at the disadvantage of a long haul in wagons. Mr. Curtis,
who buys much of the Lincoln County wheat for his mill at Spokane Falls,
says that the average yield of wheat is twenty-five bushels per acre,
though in 1886 (the year of failure) it fell to sixteen and one-half
bushels. Captain McGowan, of Lincoln County, also gave twenty-five
bushels as the average crop, and said this would hold good for the whole
period since the settlement of the county, including the bad year 1886.
[Sidenote: Spokane County.]
[Sidenote: Price of farming lands.]
By reference of the official map showing the wheat areas, it will be
seen that the Seattle railway passes through the middle of these areas
in both Lincoln and Spokane counties. The testimony was entirely
favorable in regard to horticultural and pomological products, as well
as to the agricultural, in the strict sense. The population of the three
counties, Douglas, Lincoln and Spokane, was put by Governor Semple at
nearly 18,000; about 17,000 of which was in Lincoln and Spokane. Much
land has been bought with a view to settlement as well as speculation,
and this would be occupied and cultivated _pari passu_ with the progress
of the railroad, and there yet remains much good land which can be
bought at low prices, say from one dollar to five dollars an acre, and
will attract settlers. Farming lands here will have market at the mines
north of the Columbia River, at Spokane Falls, where there will be a
large city, as well as large mills, and at Seattle, where there will be
a large demand not only for the city, but for shipping.
[Sidenote: Tonnage.]
No reliable estimates can now be made as to what business this Great
Bend country will furnish ten to twenty years hence. We have only this
to guide us, namely, that the part of the plateau which lies south of
the Northern Pacific Railroad now furnishes 400,000 tons of wheat for
transportation annually, besides other freight and passengers; and it
has not reached one-half of its producing capacity. Mr. Mohr estimates
the income from mail and express as one-fifth the income from freight,
and passenger fares as one-quarter of the whole amount from tonnage.
Though the country lying north of the Northern Pacific Railroad is much
larger in area than that which lies south of it, it may not average as
well, and cannot all be controlled by one railroad; but it will
certainly furnish large tonnage; much more than is common in
agricultural regions.
At present the product of wheat in this region is estimated at 100,000
bushels, but this amount would probably be doubled the first year after
the railroad comes, and rapidly increased afterward. Much of the mining
business already crosses this territory, and will, no doubt, greatly
increase.