, 1889-09-26

acre. More eligible locations can DC had I,
at from $3 to "a an acre. Prices advance |
according to location and desirability. |
] can furnish any one who wishes to 20 |
into whcat.raislng on an extended scale
n iarm of 1000 acres, with improve.
mcnts and nh orchard, at 40 an ncrc."
"How much higher do prices go?"
"Therc Is land near Wala Walla for |
which 5000 $500 and $500 an acre would
he considered a moderate price. Back of
twenty long which Is held ut from 500 |
to $50 aii acre. Tho highest. priced |
land Is tina. in fruit and II nets the !
owner 5000 nn acre annually. We de-
vote the valleys along the streams to
fruit, and .irrHatc to some. extent But
teaus, and Is not irrigated. Contrary to
what might seem to DO the case this up
land is far richer than the soil along the
streams. What makes this such q
wheat growing region Is the fact that we
get rain usually just at the time needed
In June to ill out the grain. We attrib-
ute this exceptional rainfall In South.
which blow almost steadily eastward
through the gaps In the mountains
where the Columbia cuts through on its
way to the occan. This current of mir
comes over the river absorbing moist
ure all tho way to be prccip-
ltuttu vi DOutuVUStcTn Nusuillp-
ton; sh;o, We have a. &c condition
south .ou '0,f''s Of us. n0r'" Our ''Ss Rainfall
t.. as I said, exceptional. But some
times we miss 1t, Ms we did last year.
And then we have to rely on the moist.
urc IN the soil. have seen twenty-five
bushels of wheat to the acre on which
not Ole drop of rain fell from the time
of seeding to the day of harvesting.
remember one instance whore GAO acres
under these circumstances produced
10000 bushels of wheat"
| ~.
The biggest wheat crop story told In
| Washington relates an experience of
governor IL Is so well authenticated
that. 1t will have TO bc accepted. But
the facts arc marvellous. Mr.. Moore IL Il
very wealthy man. He had GAO acres of
wheat which was frozen out q year ago
lnat winter His neighbors, on the
| twenty -four miles north OF Walla
Walla, suffered similarly. 1t oc-
Cured to several OF them to
try M experiment rather than lose the
usc OF the ground for q year When
spring opcted they put on the drills,
and without any previous preparation,
seeded again the fields which had been
bb.N'i Wv WuS ~ Nv
with the usual custom of fall sowing
that only the vcntuTcsomc farmers went
into IT, ono OF these farmers met MIR.
Moore told lum what they were doing
and advised him to join In the expert.
ment. lie refused Mt first, saying he hud
mqdo up his mind to ,plow the dead
fields and let them lie till fal A week
or so afterwards Mr.. Moore changed his
mind and concluded to risk tho cost of
the drilling and the seed Just to SEQ
what would happen. lie was latcr
than his ncislbors by several days. But
whom accounts were balanced on the
crop Mr.. Moores $40 acres ncttcd him
$1,000. This was after deducting all OF
the cost OF both Groupings and of the
harvest. The yield was forty-thrce
bushels to the acre, and the wheat sold
for Il cents,
In surprising the stranger with the
accounts of wheat raising in this region
the Walla Walla man sometimes forgets
to tell one important fact. These big
yields of wheat are not annual. That
Is to say, the Washington wheat grower
OF tile Walln Walla country doesn't crop
the whole Of his wheat land every year.
He divides II. and one half IL always
resting. crop is harvested every
other year. Tie plan Is interesting.
Chinooks make quick work of trosts and
snow In February. Before March the
plows are running in the wheat land.
After the blowing the soil rests. 'Sum.
mer iallowiuB' this Is called AS soon
ns the fall rains are over the harrow ~
run over the surface to kill the starting
weeds. but the farmer is 10th to dis
turb the sol more than he Gun help.
Then the drill puts In the wheat In time
for good stand before winter. July
brings the harvest. Seventeen months
from tho TINA the urpiiu1 xyaG nlnwnd
the reaper enters the field of ripencd
grain. That is the way the wheat
farmer of Southeastern Washington OBJ
tains his surprising crop. There
are mon who, in their haste or
in their devotion to the customs OF other
sections, Try annual cropping, but they
are not the men who get thirty 1.-Two or
itty bushels to the acre. Forty bushels
every other year, the Walla Wallu farmer
argues, is better than twenty bushels
every year. And SO 1t IL, for Il requires
but one seeding and harvesting.
The Wula Walla farmer grows an aero
lire cost. In Dakota's famous Rod
River valley, where they think there is
little to bc told them about whcat-rais-
ing, the cost of an acre of wheat is 81.
The Dakota grower stores his wheat in
elevators and ships it in bulk. The
Washington farmer must sack every
uHSltl oI MS urDuucc tnWt Is TO 20 ~
the ocean route. Tacoma is building Il
great elevator this year, and the ship
ping points in the wheat country are
T erecting elevators There will bc shin.
ments in bulk hereafter for oil but that
portion which must 10 by ocean tonnage,
The ships which receive the grain at tho
Sound insist upon the sacks, and the
grower adds o cents bushel to his OK.
! penscs to furnish them.
-
What makes such lazy farming posi-
bic Is the control which nature exercises
over weeds. In the Walla Wallu coun.
try there are rains In the early spring
Ton days or two weeks of drcnchinp
showers arc looked for in June, and
, then there is no more moisture until
, fall. This yeur was exceptional. Nc
+ rain fell In June, That. with some hot
, winds, shortened the wheat crop to one.
, half 1t Is not difficult to understand
how with these long dry seasons the
farmer may sit on the fence and laugh al
the weeds after he has given his crop the
/ start of them. The plow In the spring
, the cullivator utter the June showers
and the harrow In the fall, one applica
tion of cacl implement. will pnnihilate
the Waila Walla weed crop without fail
, even on the ground where there Is nc
, grain crop. This soil il peculiar. The
weeds start but three times In season.
I following the rains. But tho moisture
/ works upward to the roots of the grain
/ and tho vegetables and fruit steadily the
summer through. Il Is porous soil. II
Is very deep, 1t takes in grcnt quant
{ ties OF water IN winter, and the watcl