The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1871-06-17
kAIN vs.. IRRIGATION.
Testimony for the Defence.
From the Christ!sn Unon, Nay 81.

!E,:se;.tsd GRATED from note: ::ses y " y, Samuel @ WI:
Of the Northern Pacific Rjlroad. n 186al
I rode northwxrd out of Wslla Walla on
the afternoon of the 2Oth OF July, the heat
30 great as to peel me to tie shirt, and the
dust so light from the pulerizcd soil of the
trail as to hang in theair. No rain or snow
had fallen for thirteen months. got out
of the saddle before dark and with q knife
dug up tuft of bunch grass below its roots.
The seemingly burnt stalks were green two
inches above the ground. The roots were
wet. Wagh! that was ''bg medicine" I
got upon my horsc, chaste,ed and medita.
tive had unlearncd an srror. Arid soil,
eh! What business have tn. coarse and clum.
| sy mechanisms of SciencetO gabble in the
presence of one of Gods hygrometcrs 20
sensitive % the lips Of tic mouths of the
roots Of His growing gnssl Three miles
south Of ths Tuchet rivsI dismounted 20
pluck heads of whest from field partly
harvested. ! never saw better on the docks
in Buffalo, snd rarely have seen any as good.
Three miles beyond, at Waitesburg, was a
grist. t.lnill where this wheat and the wheat
Of the neishborhOod was ground into -four
to be packed in bags to Tire KOotenai mines.
The mill.owner told nc that the wheat
grown on all this volcanic soil, even in this
unprecedented drodth. averaged him fifty
bushels to the acre, weighing sixty-three
pounds to the bushel. ! know good wheat
soil when see it. know it, among other
flax grows perpct.ally in and beyond the
Rocky Mountains of the Northwest Wild
indigo is also plant of general diffusion
through this region. From Walla Walla
near the Columbia to Helena near the Mis-
souri, rode through or in sight of both of
these weeds. They are the infallible wits
nesses of good wheat lands. So are the pig.
weed, the bush willow and the milk weed
Our trail ran through them for days and
weeks. At every rancho. Jesuit mission,
and Indian agency at which we stopped,
saw harvested wheat. and saw that it was
extraordinarily heavy and bright. The -four
of Walla Wslla Is famous. It goes down
the Columbia and up the coast, and down
the coast and to Asia. The wheat from
which 1t Is made Is grown on this volcanic
soil.
To wish that there was greater rain. fall
and snowfall in this district would that he
wisel Its climate now is perfect. Men
key or the revolver, and generally both.
The ripening of its wheat taking place in q
dry and constantly>movln air cxempts the
grain from rust and after harvest injury.
No am against rain as an element Of, or
hand maiden to, Agriculture. I don't be.
lieve in rain which man does not make and
cannot control. Therefore it is without re-
luctance that confess that the Great Plain
of the Columbia is like the Valley of the
Nile in its dependence on irrigation. The
very worst land on the Plain is far superior
to that which borders the Egyptian Valley.
The banks Of the Columbia Irrigated would
support q population as large, rich and -four
isl!ing and powerful as that of Egypt in her
palmicst days. Given . head Of water, q
hoe in boys hand is the sufficient agency
%nien ss u u af ahd a
stops falling when he wants it to stop.