The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1883-11-15
THE FAR WEST.
An Interesting Letter from Vashing-
ton Territory.

Through the kindness of Jerry Gehon
Of this county we are enabled to produce
this week an article from the pen Of Phil.
J. Ebersold, an old writer on the Western
Farm Journal Mr.. Gehon had written
Mr.. Eberso]d some weeks since in regard
to that far off country, and received the
following in reply:
:sssss Ss.:sssEs DAYTON, W. T., Oct. p, 1888.
q Mr. J. Gehon: Yours received on the
22d inst. and contents noted. [ was busy
helping my sonin law getting up hay and
straw and coulG not spare time for an i'm
mediate answer. First | must say that [
have been in this territory fifteen months,
in ten of which I made my headquarters
at Seattle on Puget Sound, and whilst
there made various excursions along the
Sound country and the interior of West
Washington for the purpose Of posting
myself on the resources and possibilities
OF that section. On the Sd of July Icame
to eastern Washington to look over the
country, and Of course (being afarmer and
stock raiser, and regular correspondent
Of three newspapers in Iowa, two of them
exclusively devoted to agricultural mat
ters,) | have not lost sight of my favorite
calling. | am not a permanent resident
Of this territory, my home, my family.
and farm are in Butler county, Iowa, and
b,,a r.
or four weeks. came to this coast on
visit to my son who is in the printing
business in Seattle. a daughter and SON
in-law came here this summer with a view
to settle should they like the country I
have daughter in California who has
followed teaching there for ten years, and
have other relations there offering motives
enough for me to visit the Pacific coast
twice during the past five years. l have
tried to gather as much information as
possible in all the phases of practical farm
life, and to do this most etfectually have
done some manual labor on various ranch
es both here and in California, and you
may be sure that whatever I may have to
say in reply to your questions is of what |
know, not mere hearsay
| shall answer your questions as they oc-
cur in your letter.
"Will stock raising pay here?' Yes, it
will anywhere, even in northern Iowa
where the stock has to be fed seven months
in the year; especially here where stock
can forage around during nearly the whole
winter, where the native bunch grass was
not pasturcd to death. The dry grass will
.tatten stock. We have two or three light
rains-enough to wet the soil one ana
half inches, and the bunch grass is showing
little greenncss now; in the course of two
or three weeks it will afford sufficient pas
ture for stock to live well. There is an
occasional snow and sometimes the ground
will freeze, but when the ''chinook' wind
comes around the snow rapidly disappears
and the soil thaws again. On this account
plowing and seeding proceeds during the
entire winter, many farms owned by
residents of this and other towns who hire
a man to look after them for small con-
sideration. I could give much more in
formation on this if the limits of letter
would permit-but l can safely say this,
that ton of hay is amply sufficient to
bridge over any unusual contingency that
arises. For stock raising purposes there is
yet vacant land to be had in the adjoining
county, Garfield, especially on the north |
side of the Snake river OF course the |
higher the elevation, the more ri gofous
will be the climate, and it is safety to pro-
vide feed. This county is nearly all taken
up, except near and on the Blue noun
tains, where there is plenty Of good timber, |
much Of it yet unsurveyed; the land near
the mountains is better adapted to timo-
thy and clover, and therefore better adapt
ed for horses, sheep and cattle in such To-
cation There is yet money made on sheep; |
within a radius of ten miles of this town
the land is nearly all under plow, but up
large focks Of sheep, and woolen mill
here works about twenty-five hands on
wool of these focks.
DAIRY products?' Butter is now
worth eighty cents per roll two pounds) |
and on the raise; never lover than sixty
cents; cheese is mostly brought from Cali
fornia; there is cheese factory on White
river, fourteen miles from Seattle, which
sells for twenty-five cents per pound, but
as it is the only factory that know of in
the territory, it don't begin to supply the
market. made a special trip to it to
post myself on that industry, and became
satisfied as to that branch of dairying I
have sold the cream of thirty COWS on my
farm this season and have done so for the
past three years, and presume to be some
what of a judge in the money aspect of
the dairy business
"Fruit?" This is called good fruit
country. Apples, pears and peaches were
abundant until this season, but last winter
nearlyiall were killed, as the thermometer
fell at one time to POP below zero, but last
winter was an exceptional season all over
the entire United States, and this misfor-
tune only occurred on the low lands. On
the high lands, orchards are uninjured.
My daughter bought her winters supply
of apples yesterday of farmer four miles
from this city, Of course at high price five
cents per pound.) Grapes were also kill
ed to some extent, but currants, gooseber
ries and raspbcrries uninjured.
"Grasses?' Timothy is raised on near
ly all river bottoms and in many of the
smaller valleys, also near the blue noun.
tains Timothy hay is worth on the
ranch SO, delivered $40; wheat hay IS; this
last is mostly 'volunteer,
"Water?" The water is abundant and
all soft, the best that | have ever drank.
There are abundant springs in all the ra
vines, or "hollows" as they are called here.
The topography of this part of the terrific
ry is so peculiar that you may not fully
understand why springs are so abundant
in such an apparently dry climate, and had
T L. l.. Il.