Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1872-01-13
THE FARMERS CLUB.

'he"' Va i"e'o IeiatIuS W lrult culture
My experience in fruit culture in Washington
Territory has extended over u period of about
nineteen years. Commencing with a nursery
and orchard on piece Of wet land, sprinvv.
with rich black soil from four to ten inches
ueep, underlnid with heavy tenacious sub
soil Of clay, the result was, Of course. a yioor.
Gus growth while the trees xere Young. sue.
cecdcd by blight that ruined both nursery and
orchard; teaching me that fruit trees were
not adapted 10 wet land, although our sum-
incrs were dry and the ground tUlerably well
drained. Our upland grnvclly prairics are not
much better, most orchards proving a failure !:
while our high sandy pr,iries are much worse.
AS general thing, orchards on such soils run
out as soon amer coming into bearing, notwith-
standing the most thorough culture. CLAW
soil, or one more or less mixed with clay. is
essential to success in fruit culture in this eli.
mate. Some kinds, however, as the Red June
and Sptzenbrrg, do succeed well on heavy
clay, but for most kinds of Fruit our W bite clav
lands around the Sound seem well adapted to
fruit, if well MANFRED and cultivated. have
raised an orchard of 200 trees on high BLUFF
land, adjoining the Sound; has been In bear.
ing 10 years; soil, clay and gravel, some
spots tolernbly sandy. This orchard while
mnnured and cultivated, was rcmmn erative,
The past five years it has been neglected. and
OF course but little fruit, except where clay
predOminatcS in the soil, is realized, few
trees that were set ont adjoining wet, cold,
sprnGy ground, and which failed to make any
return for numborof years, now, in their neg
lectcd state, yield tolerabe crops of fair fruit.
10 sum up my experience and observation I
should say that our best soils 70. fruit growing
west of the Cascades are the brown clav lands
back from the Sonn. Being farther back,
their extent is not generally comprehended.
They have been estimated to cover half the
area west Of the Cascades.
Our river bottoms composed mainly of this
brown clay sediment, ore admirably adapted to
fruit. Having resided on them for several
years, can speak from observation. While
the quality of the fruit may he somewhat in
ferior, the rapid growth of the trees, exemp-
ton from disease, and pro,luctiveness, even
without manurng or cultivation, much exceeds
the product of orchards near the Sound. There
are orchards in the Dwamish Bottoms, Is
years old, healthy and productive, though long
since seeded down TO grass.
G. a. Huntington opened the talk of
the session in very interesting and highly
eulogistic account OF the tidc-hat lands in
Whatcom county, about the mouth of the
Snohomish and the Skagit rivers aud that
vicinity. His attention was called to tho
marvellous productivencss Of these tidc.hat
llnds on recent visit TO the tide laud
farm Of Il. Il. Dodge Esq, who was pio.
ncer in the culture Of these lands, having
settled there some three years ago. Mr..
Dodge's farm was under water every high
tide from foot to eighteen inches. The
dkes are usually from two to four feet,
seldom more. The land is mostly covered
by claimants most of whom can be bought
out at fair prices, not being held by farui-
ing men. Mr.. d. has 100 acres under
cultivation and his productions are truly
1858 measured bushels bar.
ley, ia of oats, 20 tons carrots-skort
horn variety-l5 tons ruta bagas, II tons
potatoes, ton parsnips, 2 tons onions,
l 800 Id butter, 45 hogs and 7 horses.
Fruit has not had time to mature, and
could give no information about it. This
region will be the garden spot of our
Territory. In ten years it will be covered
by some Of the best aud most profitable
and productive farms on earth Mr.. II.
had experience on this subject-was we'll
acquainted with some of the richest bottom
land in LIMOS and the west had farmed
there aud he never saw lands that could
equal them in fertility and productiveuess.
Mr.. Huntington's remarks were listened
to with marked attention, and much valua.
bic information was brought out in tho
discussion that followed.
In answer to call for information about
Mr.. S. Hines said;
81 find drained land to stand the drouth
much better, and it is much moro produc.
tive and reliable for crop. put my
drains down four feet deep, using cedar
boards one inch thick, one sawed six and
the other five inches wide, mailing in A
shape, and fastening the joints with cedar
Such drums we'll made last
long time. l took up ono that had lain
twelve years and it was as sound Is ever.
My drain has two inches fall to the rod,
and has been Of great benefit to me. l
will give the Club q full account Of costs,
ETC., etc., ut next meeting"
Cow FEED.-Mr. Hines had fed cows
on all kinds Of feed. Carrots arc best for
butter. Sixty ID carrots he considered as
good as 24O ID turnips. Mangcl Wirtzel
Was best to fatten stock, Nineteen ID Of
milk makes one ID of butter-it used to
take twcnty-threc ID in New York.
Mr.. r. II. Woodland exhibited his usual in
dustry in the interest Of the Club. 1t is u Ia
Dor of love with him. His usual bouquet of
flowers put in an appearance, but We will not
brag of them at this time, rs we do Of his sam
pies of green fodder, just fresh and growing
from the fields. But clover was very fine
good for horses in particular. Ills report of
the season is carefully drawn and can be con-
sidered reliable in every respect.
Our rain storms commenced Nov. 18th. The
whole depth of rain fall to jan. LIST, 1872, has
been lid inches. The portion falling in tho
day time is % inches. The balance of 8
inches fell through the nights. The full depth
of snow from Nov. 27th to Jan. LIST, 1872, was
30 inches-l2 of which had fallen in the day
time. The full depth of it melted to water
was Sale inches. The deepest snow was on
the morning OF Jan. LIST, measuring ID inches.
From the 18th to the jlst of December We
u had I,,t .1U., Al. ,x.tn