Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-09-17

$ truer views Of farming, melting tru
., or emul"tions, promotiong spiri
: of Inquiry and desire for improve
G ment, ii will do grand work. Thi
= is it's scope and purpose, and thi
s will be its result, and I call upor
0 every farmer in the county, and OIL
every farmers wife, boy and girl t.
. join heartily in this work. 1t is {
great work, it is your work. You af'
building deeper and broader than
You now think and the structure yor
rear will endure long after you shal
have passed away. While speaking
of the importance Of farming and the
social and political importance cl
the farming classes, / may say that
over one half of the entire male
adult population of these United
States is engaged in agriculture in
some oft branches; that forty per
cent. of the entire wealth of our ma
ton is in its farms and farm pro-
duce. The true foundation of the
nations greatness, l believe, is in its
agricultural population. This ele-
ment supports it, feeds it, preserves
its social framework 1t is its
great ballast in all political storms.
This l think is the great uncorrupt-
ed and incorruptible element in
which the perpeturity and purity of
the nation is assumed.
RAPID GROWTH OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE.
Agriculture although the oldest
art known, is yet in its infancy. The
present century has witnessed al
most all of its most important dis
coveries and progress. Indeed its
appliances and methods were COM
paratively crude, until within the
memory of most of the farmers now
present. Chemistry has, in that Pc
riod, conferred immeasuable boons
on the farmer. But the chemical
science is, itself, in its infancy, and
it Is probable that the next quarter
OF century will witness even more
progress than the last. One would
almost think investigation had ex-
hausted itself in the production of
farming machinery-no+ably in the
wonderful self-binding reapers. But
farming is chosen field of scientific
discovery and invention and the COM
ing century will witness many stu
pendous advances along the whole
line.
| CLEARING OF LANDS.
Farming in Western Washington
Territory is governed by~eoA-s;ss-..ls
largely different from what we have
almost all of us been accustomed to
in the more settled parts Of the Un-
ion. We have here different coun-
try and climate, different soils calling
for greatly modified system OF
| farming.
The new comor-in L:wis county
! for instance when he beholds our
giant growth of timber, fiji and cedar,
receives with some show of incrudu!-
ity, our assurances that "we have
here one of the richest and best ag-
ricultural countries in the world"
He finds it hard to place confidence
in our " brush lands" even. If he
is here to-day he must admit the
marvellous fertility of our soil. and
its adaptation to almost all import.
ant vegetable products and fruits as
we'll us stock and dairy products.
But he vii! naturally say, your
area of available land is too small.
we can never suOdue these forests
and thickets at any living rate" The
settlers from the prairie States must
| indeed be u man Of indomltable will
or large means, if he attack these fir
lands. Here is one of the problems
OF our farmers. 1t can and will be
settled, ! have no doubt; but it is
unsolved us yet. We can manage
the brush" and " swalo" lands,
though l think the clearing of these
IS far from satisfactory at present.
This Is only part, and smaller part,
of the difficulty. L am not " a pro-
phet," but predict that our heavy
clay lands, now mostly coversd with
heavy growth OF fir and cedar, will
be yet found to bs our best land for
general farming purposes. Lewis
county possesses an immense area of
such lands. The best grasses, grains
and roots have ever seen, were
grown on land of this kind. am
confirmed III my belief by the obser-
vations of many whose experience
ana observations are entitled to
great weight. We want some ade-
uuate mechanical means OF removing
these great growths of fir and cedar
timber. In some of the Eastern
States, l am informed that large
stumps are extracted by means of
different kinds of stump pulling
machines. These answer for the
pine lands of Michigan and MiscoA
sin, and clearing can there be done
at reasonable rates, cheaper by far,
than we can clear our swale lands
here. There are many such ma
chimes now in the market. They
should be thoroughly tested and If
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