The Democratic sentinel and Harrison County farmer. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1851-1852, 1851-07-02

.Iy, OhlO. lie emSfated from his native
place, first to Missouri, and from that to Or
'egon. Yours, &c,
S. r. WATSON.
Salem, Marion co., 0. TJa2y18, 1850.
Cousin WATSON, S1R:-I now commence
a letter to answer letter of yours, which /
received with pleasure, dated March A, 1851.
We are all as well as common, so far as |
know. Two of my sons, and one son-in-law
are in California, and are doing WE'LL
Now am going to answer you the ques-
tions you proposed in your letter, orendeav-
orso to do. You can easily see that my
education is very limited, and that you can
not expect any thing very stylish or in high
flowing words. And further, | will tell you
with respect to any country, } what will suit
one will not suit another; or in other words,
it has different appearance, and in every
thing, is not as it was represented. Now I
do intend that ifev you do come to this
country, that you shall cast any blame on
me.
Inow stop and reflect on the subject be-
fore me, well knowing that you have seen
statement after statement in public print,
with regard to Oregon, and after all you
apply to me for my candid opinion, Now if
my candid opinion should differ from yours,
] am afraid that you will cast blame on me,
Your first question is, what proportion OF
the land is prairie, and could man get tim
Der land lying along side convenient? Now,
sir, this is a going to be a hard question fol
metoanswer. When you say our country
do suppose you mean our territory.
cannot answer it as regards the territory, fol
this reason, that have not seen one-fourtl
part of it, only at distance from some high
mountain, and cannotgiye description from
such distant locality. But from my pres
ent knowledge of it would not suppose thai
ever more than The onethird of the laud in
Oregon will be cultivated There are the
Cascade mountains, they run North and
South through the territory; and the Coast
range of mountains; and these mountains oc-
cupy a great part of the territory These
mountains are mostly timbered with beauti.
full timber-mostly fir and cedar.
Twill now give you a description of tho
Willamette valley, as far as l have seen it
1t is called the best valley in Oregon. Tho
distance across the valley from the Coas
mountains to the Cascade range, would no
exceed folty miles. Part of this valley is
beautiful and level, with pure streams DIVA
ter flowing from the mountains; and timber
generally convenient; thennearcr to the noun.
tains il becomes rolling, and more rocky and
rough. The water is generally soft and
washes well-thc rocks are hard, and well
burntwith the sun.
Your second question. Is the country
level or hilly? I would say in the valleys i
IS level--on the mountains you or any othel
man would cali it hilly or mountainous.
! Your third question. Is the soil as pre-
ductive as it is represented to be? Icanno
tell what is the present repolS in the States
as to the productivencss of the soil Of Oregon
but ! will say, as to the raising of wheat,
do think it is the best country | have evel
seen. Oats do well. Field peas do well
Corn is very Improbable crop; it does moi
grow well, the nights are too cool, and the
season too dry. Potatoes do well. Vege.
tables in'general do not do as well here as
in the States, unless they are watered in the
dry season, or planted in some moist place.
Your fourth question. Is it well watered
and healthy? It is well watered; and I dc
call Oregon healthy, although we have sick
ness and death here also.
Fifth question Is itwell adopted to rails
ing stock and grain, and do you think the
market for stock and produce will continue
to be good? tbs well adapted to raising
stock at present, but I cannot tell how long
it may continue; it will be owing to how
thick it is settled, and the quantity Of stock
kept. Stock has done wellsince | have been
here, altho we have had two hard winters
that is we call them hard in CHS country; but
they are not Ike the winters in the States. |
have had to feed some cows that had calves
in the winter, Sometimes the grass keeps
green and grows all winter Every farmer
that has stock ought to provide some feed
and hayeitready ifthere should come a hard
spell or snow storm. brought good
start Of stock with me from Missouri; and
have been selling off: last winter 1 sold about
$500 worth. Ihave yet about $4,000 worth
on hand, and have not bought any since