, 1875-08-19

4
quence of tie distrust created thereby.
Persons making onlya cussory examina-
ton see apparent evidences of the fall
! sity of those claims and at once come to
the conclusion that false in part is false
in all. Nevertheless, the agricultural
advantages of this section have general
ly been greatly underestimate. Prair-
les there a-e few. of any, in Western
Washington. The few bare patches OF
land called prairie have the appearance
of being recently drained portions OF
the ocean bed, composed of little or no
element of vitality for vegetable produc-
ton. The country is in the main rug
ged and uneven in its formation; the
uplands being covered with giant for
ests, thickly studded with an under-
growth of Towering and fruit bearing
shrrbbery, indicating an uncommon
capacity for reproduction. though the
soil is apparently coarse and sterile.
Wherever this timberedland has been
cleared and reduced to cultivation, it
has proved vastly better than it seemed,
especially in the production of fruit trees
and grasses. We have before us at this
writing stalks Of blue grass 81 feet in
length. grown upon hill land, lately COW
cred with immense forest trees. The
cost of fitting this land to tho plow is
about what is above stated, and thus far
has been rarely undertaken, except in
the immediate neigh5orhood of towns.
Yet the timber upon any of this land,
convenient to ter, would well pay for
clearing. 1t will produce an average of
10O, 600 feet of lumber per acre. pay
one dollar a thousand for stumpage and
afford the logger largely remunerative
prices for his logs in addition. If these
lands were used exclusively for the lum-
Der they produce, they would be intrin-
sically worth more to their owners than
the same number of cultivated ones
upon the prairies of Wisconsin, Iowa or
Minnesota. In Eastern Washington
there are millions of acres Of as fine
prairie lands for the production of ce-
reals as can be found upon the conti-
nent. In few years at most these will
have railroad connection with the
Sound, from which they will draw their
supplies of lumber and coal, for build
ing. fencing and fuel. and find al ready
market for their farming products.
The agricultural lands proper border
ing supon Puget Sound are of much
greater extent and of much better quail
ty than has generally been supposed.
There are numerous rivers emptying
into the Sound, all fanked by wide bot
toms no more subject to overflow than
the rivers of the Eastern and Southern
States. There are not less than 3,O00.-
900 acres of lands of that kind in Wes-
tern Washington. covered by q dense
growth of underbrush and ssft wood, as
easily cleared as any of the timbsred
lands in Ohio, Indiana. or Michigan;
and when cleared and planted their pro-
duchon is simply marvellous. No such
crops are produced in any other part of
the world in temperate climate; and
this in immediate proximity to tide wa
ter connecting with the markets of the
world. I'd. I
OF the climate the writer says:
''The climlte is the only thing there
is at Puget Sound to boast of. Com
pared with ours it is delightful but de-
bilitating. The mercury in winter sell
dom falls below fifteen above, while in
sun mer the nights are almost always so
cool that fire in early morning is COM
Portable But it must be understood
that for six months in the year fair
weather is the exception, a feature of
the climate that on reflection will strike
the mind as but little less disagreable
than our intensely cold weather. How
ever, there is something charming about
the atmosphere. I can hardly describe
it. 1t seemed to me SO soothing. 1
felt as if were just In the slightest de-
gree under ths influence of an anaes-
thetic."
That is pretty fair. bat the conclu-
sions are not founded in reason. What
there is debilitating.in pure air in an
even and bracing temperature, where
the exhaustion caused by the heat of the
day is restored by the cool and invigor-
ating nights. is net SO easy to compre-
bend, and is certainly not exhibited in
the vigorous frames and ruddy counte-
nances which we see around rs. If
there is any thing debilitating in our
surroundings, it must be attributed to
some other cause than that Of climate.
No mole healthy children are produced
anywhere. The climate is identically
that of Ireland, which If generally sup
posed to be healthful and invigora-
ting. During the six months which in
clude the winter months, there are as
many bright and pleasant days here as
in any other section in the same latitude.
The cause of complaint to stranger is
its uniformity, which becomes monoto-
nous. There isno such variety as storm
and tempest, snow, hail and sleet and
nipping cold which makes activity
necessity to existence; nothing but
rain. which falls as gently as a May
shower in the Eastern States. When we
have gently exuding rain for days to-
gether, perhaps for weeks. in about the
same degree that the SHOWS falls in
Northern Wisconsin, the intervening
days and weeks of sunshine count for
nothing. Last winter was the coolest
ever experienced here by our Oldest
settlers, aud yet flowers were in bloom
in our gardens at Christmas land the
sun shining brightly upon us.