Cereals.
The largest and most important industry in the state is without
doubt the cultivation of the soil. The great variety of the soils
and climatic conditions has made the state, in different parts,
admirably adapted to a large variety of farm products. Vast fields of
wheat cover a large proportion of the uplands of eastern Washington,
the average yield of which is greater than that of any other state
in the Union.
The diked lands of western Washington produce oats at the rate
of 100 to 125 bushels per acre. In some counties in southeastern
Washington barley is more profitable than any other cereal, on
account of the large yield and superior quality.
Corn is successfully raised in some of the irrigated lands, but is
not as profitable as some other crops and hence is not an important
factor in Washington's grain supply. Rye, buckwheat, and flax, are
successfully grown in many localities. In western Washington,
particularly, peas form an important ration for stock food and
are extensively raised for seed, excelling in quality the peas of
most other states.
[Page 23]
Hops.
Hops are a large staple product in many counties of the state.
They are of excellent quality, and the yield is large and their
cultivation generally profitable. The chief drawback is in the
fluctuations of the market price.
Grass and Hay.
Grass here, as elsewhere, is very little talked about, although it
is one of the large elements that make the profits of agriculture.
Saying nothing of the vast amount of grass consumed green, the
state probably produces a million tons of hay annually, averaging
$10 per ton in value. Western Washington is evergreen in pasturage
as well as forests and no spot in the Union can excel it for annual
grass production.
East of the mountains a very large acreage is in alfalfa, with a
yield exceeding six tons per acre.
Potatoes.
On the alluvial soils of western Washington and the irrigated lands
of the eastern valleys, potatoes yield exceedingly heavy crops of
fine tubers, often from 400 to 600 bushels per acre. All other
root crops are produced in abundance.
Beets.
Extensive experiments have proved that the sugar beet can be raised
profitably in many counties and sugar is now on the markets of
the state, made within its borders from home-grown beets.
Truck Gardening.
Garden stuff is supplied to all the large cities chiefly from
surrounding lands in proper seasons, but much is imported from
southern localities to supply the market out of season. The soils
utilized for this purpose are the low alluvial valley lands and
irrigated volcanic ash lands. The yield from both is astonishing
to people from the eastern prairie states, and even in western
Washington, with its humid atmosphere and cool nights, tomatoes,
squashes and sweet corn are being generously furnished the city
markets. The warm irrigated lands of eastern
[Page 24]
Washington produce abundant crops of melons, cucumbers, squashes
and all other vegetables.