Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1882-11-29

Its hops. nile these t40os are ueAIiy
all taken up, they are not by any means
the only locations in this county worth
taking. Squak river and lake, and
Squak slough th,t leads into Lake
Washington. possess wide and Tar
reaching bsttom lands. mostly vacant as
| yet, some of them within dozen miles
Of Seattle, the Queen City Of the sound
| Through all this stretch Of rich valley
soil, thsrs il only now and then q
settler. North again, and In this county,
within easy rsash Of Seattle, u ths Sno-
homish, and its greater tributary, the
seven miles WIDE, and probably twenty
miles long, with few occupants In this
range of bottom lands alone there h
room for hundreds-if MT thoaaands-
of settlers, to plant homes and make
farms az good - thoss Of Puyailup and
White River.
Without going into Q statement Of
details Al TO whore smaller extsnS OF
bottom lands exist, with often the
richest of tide fats. q few steps north
try. There We find wide spread tide
| lands, the Olympia Marsh, supposed 10
contain 5000 acres, and the extensive
uRHOI N6AtGyD OOhostbASo bo0 ~ V1s~os VA
all areas IN the Puget Sound region.
The Skagit, with some aid from man,
can be nAviRated eighty miles. Its delta
reaches from Just beyond Utsalady to
Just beyond Laconner. Whatcom
viii be the grandest agricultural coun-
~ in all Western Washington. Your
own county will not be far behind. /
was lately at Bellingham Bay, which
hua Rnnaxsd M fYnru nj fr xytthtt. a
year, and shows progress Of a stable
sort. During the year two hundred
families have gone into the bottom
lands Of the Nooksack and the old val
Icy back Of the bay, where Fraser river
once tried TO be an American stream.
That part of WhatcOm cOunty-divided
from the Skagit by the Chuckanut
bills, that come down to the Sound
shore-is all superior soil, capable of
sustaining dense population. To the
British line, and beyond, the land is all
excellent, and is attracting more immi
grafton just at present than even the
wonderful Skagit country.
Following the Sound shore north
from Tacoma to British Columbia, We
have passed our valley lands that reach
back thirty 70 fifty miles from the Sound
o&4OA % ~ WAC kOOs-AAb0 Va tAO SdoSd0C
mountains. We SEQ that they are oap-
able of sustaining thousands Of famI-
lies, where now are only hundreds. 1t
Ut bottom land-sOil that cannot b. ex-
celled, but must sometimes DO subdued
by considerable labor, for tbese:b0ttOms
are often grown over with alder and
vine maple that must be cleared of. A
| lr<ak a. efc n<Nv~ t,~ ok l.
we'll 1t repays tho outlay. Let Us take q
look, now, at the uplands that separate
these streams, covered, as they are with
heavy timber, and see If they are oapa-
ble OF producing crops and worth the
cost OF labor To clear them. We will,
also, learn how they can be cleared.
Passing up the road to Newcastle on
the coal and passenger train, Wednes-
day, Nov. I'D, met a gentleman who
knew mo Of old. Mr.. q. w. Tibbetts, to
whom am indebted for much valuable
information. He introduced Us to Mr..
Smithers OF RentOn, whose farm in
cluded the site Of that town. Mr.. lib.
belts lives III Squak valley, five miles
from the Newcastle GOAL mine, and had
rented Mr.. Smithers' farm fOnr years.
The part OF 1t in grass ttimothy) pro-
duced regularly three tons to the acre.
Mr.. Smithers expected to sell fifty tons
yet unsold for go ton, or $50 an acre.
That grass had originally been sown on
charred land that was never grubbed or
piOwed, but was slashsd and burned,
and had stood, without reseeding, for
eighteen years, bearing regularly three
tons OF excellent hay. Il Is claimed
that Col. Squire, whose farm is on
Black river, nearly raised four tons of
timothy TO the acre this year, and lately
sold $50 tons, delivered at the place for
SIG, which was $64 per acre for cutting
and curing the hay. The reader can
figure ut his leisure how that pays inter-
est on land. At regular interest in old
countries the land would DO worth
$1,000 per acre.
Mr.. Tibbetts was my authority con-
corning the land in the SQuak and Sno
qualmi0 river bottoms have before al
luded to. He says he lately went over
the Snoqualmie country and was greatly
astonished at tho revelation made 70
him Of the agricultural wealth Of King
county. He resides in Squak valley, and,
Of course, knew about that section.
Having drawn from these gentlemen
interesting facts concerning the bottom
lands Of this county. ] asserted my be-
lief that the uplands will also provo
valuable, and received the fullest con-
hrmati0n from them that such il the
case. They instancsd the ridge, aver
aging SIX miles wide, between Green
and Cedar rivers, extending thirty
miles back to the mountains, and as
sured me that all of il was
tho best OF land for wheat and grain
OF all kinds, and for vegetables and
fruits. While not 30 luxuriant for grass
as the valleys. this upland is almost as
easily cleared, and is of value equal 70
the bottoms for most purposes. The
soil Is rich, sandy loan, TIVE TO three
feet deep. There are small ponds all
through the timber lands all about the
Sound, and while they instanced this
particular section because they knew it
best, they considered it beyond dispute
that tho great majority Of the timbored
upland IL Of the best quality Of soil.
and watered and capable Of growing ali
sorts OF grain, fruits and vegetables 70
the best advantage. So il appears that
the poor soil that exists close 20 the
sound shores and ON many of the isl-
ands-for il does exists local, and the
great bulk Of county from the noun
sains to the Sound waters 10 Of the best
quality.
Mr.. Miller, your late Senator. told me
year ago that along the coast. south of
Cape Finstery, he had found a beautiful
stretch Of country between the Coast
Range and the ocean. No doubt there
are good spots along tho eastern
shore OF the great peninsula IL 10 be-
yond question that good land remains
unoccupied in some Of tho ,slauds
that throng Sound waters. The rush of
Immigration ID, Of course, for the OMEN.
fertile prairies Of the wide interior: that
part Of Washington must first be pso-
Piled, but three years from today will see
all the best available lands there claim
cd. When il comes to choice between
second and third class locations there
including timber lands in the Blue
Mountains-Or settling upon the most
available lands Of the Coast country
and On Puget Sound. you will zee the
value OF your region appreciated. New
York, Pennsylvania, eli New England.
Ohio and Indiana, show that heavy
timber has been cleared away TO make
farms and homes. Il Is no greaser work
TO clear on this land than 10 vas 70
clear that. and the inducement 10 much
greater; the soil is better. the demand
for products will be certain. You can
safely wait, expecting 70 see the popula-
ton steadily increase a. il has the past