, 1877-03-10

N't bN' N'lH Npp'HlN''' ~ Wv ''""' ,
and everything seems to indicate rs
You 90 north, fever marks OF the
grounding iceberg and more OF natures
plow. lUc glacier; in other words, that
the submcrgonce OF the land was not as
great in Whatcom and SnohomiSh Coun.
ties, us south Ol Seattle, that the gla.
ciers from the mountains, did Their
grinding. polishing work adown our
river valleys like the Snohomsh, SkNgit,
etc, and leaving their terminal mOraines
| like those found near the SkNgit jam, or
Just forth of Snoh0mish City, grinding
and pulycli2ing the soil, furnishing the
material tor the great tide flats OF What.
com county, rs well as pulverizing the
soil of the high land, so that in the
greater part OF that county the soil is
nearly if not quite as good tor cultiva-
tion on the nigh lands. wheu the timber
is removed, AS upon the botlems. South
OF Seattle. with the exception of II few
bCave" marshes, there is very little up.
land in the Sound basin, valuable for
anything besides pasturagc; while north
of Seattle, on the eastern side Of the
Sound, the soil improves in quality, so
that a short distance back from the
edges of the bluffs that skirt the bottom
lands. Ne "i n' III upland along the
Snoqualmie valley, in King county, and
almost all the high land in SnOhomsh
and Whatcom counties, west Of the foot.
hills OF the mountains, are equal in fer
tility to any of the prairies Of the States,
and as well adapted to all the purposes
of cultivation, when the timbe, is re-
moved, as. the bottom land. Many of
the settlers in the vicinity ofSemiabmoo,
in Whatcom county, prefer the upland
to the bottoms for all purposes Of cult
vation. After making all due allowance
for ountainous and gravelly tracts,
there probably is three times as much
fertile upland in Whatcom county alone
as there is of bottom land, in other words
it would he safe to estimate the fertile
bottom land of Whatcom county at
100000 sores of land, and the upland at
100000 more. In the Snohomish val
ley, including the Snoqualmie, there are
some 100000 acres of fertile bottom
land, while in the rest of Snohomish
county there is probably not far from
so, 900 acres more. When we take into
consideration the number Of excellent
upland marshes, as well as the general
fertility of the soil of much of the up
lands, after person is some little dis.
tance back from the bluffs at the edge of
the bottom lands, it is not too great an
estimate to say, that there is full 100000
acres ofupland and bottom land in Sno-
homish county, well fitted for agricul-
tural purposes, when the timber is once
removed. In San Juan county, nearly
all of the islands are suited for agricul-
tural purposes, over most of their sur
face; there is also considerable natural
prairie there. The settlements are usu.-
ally ON the beach, while the best land is
back. Lopez Island at present attracts
most attention.
The fertile soil of Island county, com.
posed Of WILDLY and Camano islands,
is chiefly found on natural prairies that
are occupied although there is much
good land that can be obtained by clear.
ing off the timber.
Men who have frequently been across
the Cascade mountains, represent that as
you approach the foot hills, in the cast
ern part of Snohomish, King and Pierce
counties, you find belt of land with a
small amount OF timber, that produces q
very heavy growth of grass, there being
many fine small fertile prairies. This
being the case, this region will all be set
tied before many years, az soon perhaps
as the settlements are a little more dense
in front, along the river lotions and
among the timber, so that settlers going
there will not feel so far out of the
world as at present.
Thus the lower portion Of the White
river valley in King county is pretty
thoroughly settled, while as you get
some 80 orE40 miles back from Seattle,
you see really better country, more
open ground, but at present it seems to
be too far off to attract settlers, yet be-
fore many years will be as eagerly sought
e.. NJ, .n,, lonl a., .l,o