, 1889-09-26
GREAT WASHINGTON.
How Things Are Done in the
Wonderful Wheat Grow
ing Region.
Governor Miles Moores Banner
Crop-The OF Year-Speci-
mon Facts.

Walter b. Stevens wrote to the 81.
Louis Globe Democrat from Wnlla Walla
Scptembcr4.
Southeastern Washington is divided
into four parts. Thereby II sees ''all'
Gaup of Cmsnrs timo and goes 1t onc
bettor. First, there Is the part where
sand prcdominatcs and only grcasewood
grows. IL Is worthless. The Wulla
| Walla whoat.grower wouldn't give
dollar for thousand acres of It, Then
there is the part on which greasewood
and bunch grass grow together. That Is
pJonounccd common wheat land,
grade hi ghor Is tile soil on which bunch
grass grows alone. That the old.timer
calls good land, and emphasizes the
good. But wait until you see n quarter
section of the plateau with u few sun
flowers growing in the bunch grass or
occasional clusters of lupinc. stop right
there and cry "Eurcla!" Thnr Is the
place to stake out your homestead. You
have got tho soil which has made the
WNlIa Walla country famous. You may
count upon measuring your wheat from
a minimum oftwcnty Bushels to maxi.
mum of iitty bushels to the acre, accord
ing to tire season.
At tho territorial fair held In Walla
!, Walla IL year ago wheat was
shown which would 70 siNty.two bush
els TO tho acre. But IL was like the
picked ore from II mine. 1t had its
place to be sure. And that place was
with the hop vines sixty feet long, and
the tomato vines trained ten feet on the
wall and hanging full of ripe tomo,ocs.
Companion pieces 10 the grain and the
vines at the fur were potatoes which
weighed seven pounds, squashes ut 2i5
pounds, six-pound punches of grapes,
watcrmcons, bects and parsnips which
ranged from fOrty-iiye to iilty pounds,
and other products built on that prodi-
/ gal plan.
For wheat, Southeastern Washington
claims recognition with the Red River
valley OF DAKOTA, and for fruits aokncwl'
edges no rival All of the communities
from Helena, in Montana, to Seattle, on
the Sound, eat the Walla Walla berries,
pears, peaches, plums and grapes. Two
carloads Il day have left here this season.
-
Greascwood, 1t should he explained is
, dimnutive sugcbush. Sheep will eat
, greusewood when very hard pressed. So
will Il mule gnaw rails. Grcasewood
, grows not higher than the knee Uses
have been found for the sagebrush. The
fruit.growcr of Eastern Washington
CRAFTS peach buds upon the sngebrush
and raises Il red, nice-looRing, but rnthor
coarse-iicshcd peach from the stock.
; Salt goes with this story of peach and
the sugcbrush. hut the grcasewood IL
as useless as the waste of sand in which
it struggles for existence When the
tondcrlOot sees the greascwood and the
sand lac promptly agrees with the native
! hat all OF the indications pOin. TO Utter
| ly worthless land. There is enough OF
, the CrUascw0od land to confer apon this
: region its greatest drawback IL cquips
: every stiff breeze with cloud Of dust.
: A Whit of the zephyr strikes the plain,
forth with there arises u cloud. 1t floats
| along as airily us so intich smoke, borne
for miles on the wind. To the stranger
+ one day of dust in Washington is enough
TO make life burden. The native swat
lows his four Tonths of II without IA
murmur.
; Riding for nearly half a day from Spo-
I kane, soutlwcstwhrd ON the Northern
PucihC, the traveller secs the most for
4 biddCn stretch of country between st.
l Paul and Portland. After leaving the
I pine woods and the mountains the route
!. is by dry watercuurses and barren wastes
? to thc Columbia river. The impression
ofthl- frat afternoon i'll the new state Oi
!, . Washington Is bad without quulihca-
tiun. And yet IL * not just. Almost
everybody hns heard of Walla Wnlln
; wheat and of Walla Wnlla fruit and OF
the Wallu Wallis country in general,
straight toward what lac has always sup
: posed was the garden spot of Eastern
y Washington. He sees only desert
i and t.c mcncst kind of desert at that
e one after another the passengers turn
y away nom the dreary spectacle, pull
= down the blinds and kill timo by nap.
: ping. i; is II part of the journey which
!. leaves no pleasant memory.
I "Whcrc IL your famous wheat llnds OF
Z Southeastern Wushingtuu2" was asked
7, of Mr.. upt0u OF Walia Wallu, who was
4 met on the train. Mr.. Upton is II son ol
I Comptroller Upton, who was in the
> treasury department for years before the
= Cleveland administration. The son grew
u up in Portland, moved to Walla WallO
. from choice, OWNS several thousand acres
y OF land, farms for recreation on u lnrgc
y scale and practices law for his profession
: He smiled, aid said: "Giye me yoii
railroad map"
Taking pencil lie drew triangle
: The uIieX was ut Nalla Walln. The up
= per side extended n0rthwesterly; the
other ran c0stOrly 100 miles. The base
u was beyond the eastern boundary O
; Washington in Idaho. The upper side
run parallel with the Northern Pacific
) about twenty niles south of II.
. "You have seen nothing from the curs
;, :, because there is nothing where the roat
u Is built" lc said. Olir agriculture
II lands are not on the platcaus. You huvt
Travelled along Gunyons and by dry wa
ter courses where nothing grows. lot
saw The very worst of Washington
" Twenty miles rom the road, either nortl
!, or south, YOU would have seen Il very
u different condition.
50 wo have been told,' intorjccte,
. one of two turner's who had come ou
u TO look for new homes and who hat
y been listening. ~
e "Vcs," Mr.. Upton continued, $50,
Is have ridden for loo miles alongside o
IT Of .ho coantry which produces million
of bushels pf wheat every ycnr, and yc
YOU have sceH not I'm acre OF IT,"
"Wil IL raise anything but wheat 2
g asked the other farmer In Il half skep
g tical tome. .iG
Is 'sWell," MIR. Upton replied, ~ will tel
u YOU OF Just two things Ihnve seen tric,
,r over and over In Southern Washington
~ We plow land for POTATOES. Livery fUurll
IS furrow tho boy goes along and drops tn
IN potatoes. The next round OF tho ploy