Washington is particularly blessed in having a diversity of soils,
all admirably adapted to some department of agriculture and giving
the state the opportunity of great diversity in the occupations
of its people. The central plateau of eastern Washington, made
up of level stretches and undulating hills, is all covered with a
soil composed of volcanic ash and the disintegration of basaltic
rocks which, together with some humus from decayed vegetation,
has made a field of surpassing fertility for the production of
the cereals with scant water supply; but under the magic touch of
irrigation it doubles its output and makes of it not only a grain
field but an orchard and garden as well. Underneath the forests
of eastern Washington, along the northern border of the state and
in its southeastern corner there is added a large proportion of
clay, a necessary element for perpetual pasturage, and widening
the field for fruit growing.
In western Washington, upon the bench lands and on the hills and
foothills the forests are supported upon a gravelly soil, intermixed
with a peculiar shot clay which disintegrates with successive tillage
so that when the forests are removed the soil becomes ready for
all the grasses and grains and fruits. In the valleys more silt
and humus make up the soil, and when the cottonwoods, alders and
maples are gone there is left a soil deep and strong for the truck
gardener and general farmer, which will endure successive tillings
for ages. At the deltas of the rivers are large reaches of level
lands, some of which have to be diked to prevent the overflow of
the tides, which have had added the fertility of the salts of the
ocean and are probably the richest lands in the state fit for cereals
and root crops, not omitting the bulbs which have made the deltas
of Holland famous. There are also extensive peat beds which,
scientifically
[Page 14]
fertilized, will produce abundant returns to the intelligent farmer.