New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-10-15
WHAT SHALLTHE HARVEST BET
WHEAT FIELDS IN THE PACIFIC NORTH
WEST.

MESl'
OBSERVATIONS OF A WEEKS RIDE THROUGH THE
INLAND EMPIRE"
typou A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT THE TRIBUNE
WALIA WALIA w. T., Sept. 22.-" What shall
the harvest be % is question which the fall move-
ment of the wheat crop, now about beginning IN
the Pacific Northwest promises soon to answer
smaller yield to the acre than usual is the general
verdict, but in this region an increased acreage. In
the Willamette Valley, Oregons garden spot
much of the crop winter-killed the first occur
renee of the kind am told butIt was resown In the
sprlpC. and has given yield of twenty bushels an
acre an extraordinary vlndication Of soil and eli
mate The inland eRpire." as Northeastern Ore
gon and Southeastern Washington are called has
snfered from a persistent drOuth In the past year
the capabilities Of these regions have been severely
tested and 1t has been shown that even in singu-
larly unfavorabe season they can be relied upon TO
produce what would elsewhere be regarded as tull
crop
Mountaineering was later than usual this year,
and the movement of the crop is further delayed by
the dull and unsettled condition of the market In
Liverpool. which renders Portland shippers slow IN
bringing forward their purchases But l gather
from farmers and dealers that there is wheat enough
now m readiness TO overtax all the facilities Tor
TRANSFORMATION to Portland In this little town Oh
6,OOO OF 50 people, there are now lying Zouooo
bushels awaiting shipment. From the Wala "aild
Valley, which is some thirty-six miles IN lehglA'
it is estimated that there VIII DC sent
this year. principally through this town. 4OOOO
tons of wheat Villages not onesquarter the SIZE OF
this Blue Mountain and Dayton, Will sehd out
respectively 1000 and 10000 tons. North OF
Davten is the Snake River, and north of that the
famous Palouse country, an area OF remarkably
fertile farming land stretching east TO Pennington
and Moscow in Idaho. Along this portion OF the
untry drained by the Snake am Informed there
are 40 600 tons of wheat vainly begging to be
takez to market The farmers usual method OF
shipment is peculiar. Steamboats, ru:. up the Snake
TO Lewiston although the river flows through deep
canoRs. To the SUBMITS Of these cahons walls the
farmers drive their wagons, and dump their gram
down through pipes and shutes to the STEAMBOATS,
below, where it is accounted for as at elevators,
and sacked. But there is promise OF railroad
soon along the Snake to Lewiston, and the promise
is likely TO be realized, fer the south PendletoD,
Wala Walla Blue Mountain and Dayton are
already reached by rail the north OF the Snake
q branch line is in progress from PalOuse Junction
east 10 Farmingten and Moscow, and the rails Will
probably be laid through the wheat fields Of the
Intervening country. This years exports from
these regions will bear smaller comparative reIa-
ton to the entire crop than usual ON account OF the
increased demand for home consumption. The
neUly arrived settlers are making their presence
and their numbers felt, especially in the Yakima
country to the west, the Columbia and IN the
Great Bend of the Columbia to the northwest
Those who have come in this year need wheat for
food and as seed, and it is often more profit
able for the farmers sell them their gram
than to sell it 10 the agents of Portland
shippers. Nevertheless, have heard a trustworthy
estimate that hen the wheat crop Is fairly IN mo-
tion $50 carloads will 60 down the Columbia
River daily and that the total output OF the " In
land empire will amount to 100000 tons
THE WHEAT FIELDS OF TIE FINLAND EMPIRE"
Let me explain more accurately what this INLAND
empire Is 1t vast stretch OF country In hast'
ern Oregon and Washington, some 400 or more
miles from north TO south and from 80 to 100 miles
in width lying just west of the range known as the
Blue Mountains up to Snake River and the CUuf
dAlones above You enter this Kingdom OF wheat
in a somewhat critical spirit, The ride up the
Columbia RIVER for its natural glories Of frownng
cliffs and castellated crags, of leaping waterfalls,
roaring cascades and fantastic sandhiis, docs not
suggest an agricultural country. Nor Is this I'M
YressIop at first corrected by the rail ride from Una
tllTq. On the Columbia. east to Pendleton, and the
Journey thence by stage to Blue Mountain and
north TO Walla Walla. You are conscious OF con-
Trajectory state of affairs. The country doesn't
look like the rich farming lands in the East but
You are confronted with miles upon miles OF yellow
stubbe-felds, with farm-houses telling an evident
tale of prosperity. and with small mountains oil
wheat piled in sacks at every railroad station
Well the farmers themselves are the best judges
for they speak from experience and 50 have taken
various drives out among the farms around Walla
Wala There had been no rain fer 40 days mp to
last Tuesday, and the roads have been dusty as
Southern California in the dry season. The coun-
try through which l have driven is O high
abruptly rolling prairie or rather series OF
sharply undulating up!ands. l drew rein the other
day on the brow of a little elevation beyond the
town and looking ahead the ground rose and fell
like broken rollers of the sea, stretching on to the
HORIZON. Toward the east TIE uplands took steep
Use TO the blue foothills Of the mountains. Parched
md dry as the plains were, frequently crossed
little streams of water running between the slopes
Wheat, or rather stubble-felds, were everywhere,
their glory departed with the garnering Of the bar
vest and only suggested by the great number Of
straw.r,cks The air was clear and bright as that
ofNew-Mexico, and the sky like sapphire. Riding
further entered reach of uncutiyated land now
Welding only the succulcnt buncb-grass Further
still were stretches resembling alkah plains, which
Won might think could produce nothing better than
sage brush Indeed some of the Government sur
yeyors were very strongly OF this opinion lew
years since, and they soemnly pronounced Iands
now yielding thirty ana forty pushels vi "uo"O "
the acre unit for cultivation" The farmers tell
q different story. Here is a neat white house sur
rounded with Lombardy poplars, which nearly hide
alittle weather-beaten old cabin standing modestly
in the background. That is the original dwelling OF
the farmer built when pre-empted OF homesteaded
his 100 acres of land, and backed his judgment
against that of the Government surveyors. There
are many OF these still standing. preserved altsr
Increasing means and ambition prompted q hIier
fpgideuce account,
tions connected with the home Of " the early days."
for even a hinty-faced old farmer may
have rich pay-streak of sentiment hidden some
where within. In the town there Is one or THESE
cabins still standing ons If the principal streets