Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-06-30
WASHINGTON TERRITORY.
UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE. }
ANNA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
NAV Z. lSSI.

YAKIMA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY,
May 7, 1851.
EDITORS CENTRE DEMocRAr:
Nearly every mail brings me letters
from all parts of Pennsylvania contain.
ing inquiries concerning this country
the climate, soil, &c. | find il impossi.
BILE to answer each letter separately, and
yet wishing that all may know what
kind of a country we have in this north.
west corner OF the United States, | ad.
dress myself to you in the hope that
my letter may possess sufficient interest
to warrant its publication IN the DEMo.
Graf. | may tell some things that may
seem fabulous, but am willing to youch
for their correctness.
glance at map Of the United States
will show you that Yakima pronounced
Eack, NAV is situated at the mouth Of
the Ahtsnum, on the Yakima river. and
with the exception of Ellensburg. a very
small village, is the farthest town on
the north western frontier, east OF the
Cascade mountains. II has populA.
ton of five hundred and is located
precisely as Milesburg is in the Bald
Eagle Valley. Rattlesnake mountain
lies Immediately south OF the town, and
where the Ahtanum empties into the
Yakima there Is a gap in the mountain
through which the Yakima runs, pre-.
cisely as does Spring creek between
Belleionte and Mtlesburg, while north
OF us Is the Yakima mountain and Cas-.
cade range, which in the picture fills
the place of the Bridges" and Alleehe.
ny mountain. This valley, known as
the Ahtanum west and Moxsee on the
east side OF the Yakima river, Is about
forty miles in length by twelve in width.
Ten years ago it was nothing but bar.
rem sage brush plain, supPssd to be
worthless because 1t produced nothing
but sage brush, bunch grass, jack rab.
bits and prairie chickens-Of the latter
two there are hundreds-and was only
occupied by horses and cattle and their
herders. But q settler came in whose
necessities required him to cultivate the
soil in order to- maintain his family. and
the result was that he discovered the
land heretofore considered worthless
for agricultural purposes, was more pro.
ductIve than any he had ever seen or
heard of before. To-day the valley IA
covered with fine farms, that will pro.
duce four times a. much to the acre as
the best farms in Nittany or Penns val.
lies. There are many other vallies in
this district. which extends from the
Columbia on the south to the British
line on the north, and from a point
forty miles east of Columbia river to the
summit Of the Cascade mountains. but
this one is fair sample OF all Of them.
The average crop of wheat Is 30 bush.
-. . l.. L L Il
to the acre have been raised; of barley
the crop is from sixty to ninety bushels,
and all other cereals in like proportion.
Corn does well. better in fact than any
where else on this coast, hut as our
nights are always cool the yield is not
so large as east of the Rocky Noun.
tains, where the nights are warm and
the country is refreshed by frequent
showers OF rain. The soil is especially
adapted to the raising of root crops.
and will readily yield from six 10 eight
hundred bushels of potatoes, beets, tur.
nips, carrots or mangelwurzel to the
acre, and old settlers, whose word is en-.
tiTely reliable, have told me that il
would produce still larger crops. Last
summer, which was an unusually dry
one, Timothy Lynch, who lives eight
miles up the valley, raised, 760 bushels
of potatoes on one acre. and Mr.. Briggs.
who lives in Kittitss valley, forty miles
north of us, raised $40 bushels OF man.
gelwuTzel on one acre. When came
here in October last to open this Office.
! found on exhibition at the place of
business OF Mr.. Adkins two squashes.
some times called sweet pumpkins,
weighing GO and so pounds respectively.
beets from 20 to 20 pounds, potatoes
PEERLESS TO pounds, turnips l6 to
70 pounds, tomatoes l to about same
as at home, cucumbers to | feet in
length and thick in proportion. red
pepper pods to 10 inches in length,
onions grown from the seed in one
season (never use 'sets" herel "a large
round as an ordinary saucer, very sweet
and free from the strong, biting taste OF
those raised in the eastern States and
in my opinion finer favored than those
raised in the Bermuda Islands, and they
are celebrated. sorghum stalks IL feet
high, and sun flower stalk 20 feet high
with q flower on 1t Is inches in diane.
ter, an apple limb with apples hanging
on 1t like cluster of grapes, and other