The Frankfort roundabout. [volume] (Frankfort, Ky.) 1882-1908, 1890-09-27

go there with his eyes open and buy
sand banks and gravel beds when
there are SO many thousand acres of
the richest soil i'm the world adjacent
The next obstacle is the rainy reason,
which lasts, usually, over a period
ranging from October to the middle
of April. But while it is raining in
midwinter it is very mild and never
| freezes to a sleet.
These rains are, by no means, in
cessant, as l was lead to suppose,
nor do they come down with one
third the force and penetration our
ordinary winter and spring rains do
here. have seen twenty-four hours
rain here equal to whole week of
average daily rains there. One of the
oldest citizens told me, however, that
he had seen the time, once only,
when it rained necessarily through
February and March. The most l
saw was one week, then it would hold
up and remain cloudy or sunshiny
several days, and so on all through
the season, but the people kept busy
all the same.
While the rain brings them mud
roads, the ready gravel beds, as the
country settles up, are at hand for
construction of gravel roads. OF
cOuse tenement houses are not to be
found there as in old settled coun-
tries, and emigrants who do not take
this into count make mistake. The
settler in the remote districts would
be as much at a loss without his dog
and Winchester as Daniel Boone
would have been in the primitive for
ests of Kentucky without his faithful
friend and trusty fiintlock. The howl
ing of wolves, lynx and wild cats, the
growl of bruin, cry of panther, roar
of mountain lion and the antlers of
splendid elk and deer suffice to make
man, dog and Winchester constant
companions. So much for the bright
and dark side of the western picture.
After this feeble effort here add,
with the approval of the readers and
license of the editor, what consider
some choice, readable matter. Here
is portion of what the editor of the
Detroit Free Press has to say relative
to the Yakima county, on the east
side, dwelling on the subject of irri-
CATION, viz: "The descent of these
streams is so rapid that it is easy to
lead bitches of water from them
through the soft soil to irrigate as
large tracks as may be desired. The
main bitches are easily dug and when
these are done all the farmer has to
do when he desires to let the water
on his fields is to run burrows from
the main bitches through the fields.
When there is sufficient moisture on
the land few minutes work with the
hon Int Off hn of,snn I'D hn
crops grow on without danger of
damage from either drouth or flood.
1t is better than the rain direct from
the clouds, for the water goes just
where you want it to go, and in such
system the Yakima county is capable
of growing remarkable range of
vegetable products.
All the small grains-wheat, oats,
barley, rye, buckwheat, etc., grow as
Corn and tobacco are grown to per-
CROP. Vegetables and root crops of
all sorts yield abundantly. One of
the most valuable crops is hops, of
All the ordinary fruits flourish, in
pears, grapes and ounces, which can
be grown to complete satisfaction.
In short, it is the paradise of the ag-
riculturist-a region where he can
defy the elements and produce any
crop under the sun. Eastern farmers
will read this and accuse me of exag-
geration, but let them go there and see
foi themselves. l might be able to
exaggerate in writing of this section,
but doubt it. The word Yakima, an
Indian name, is said to mean great
succotash garden. Whether this is the
correct definition or not, that is al
most what the country amounts to
after it has been irrigated and Guilt
waited. / have met many surprises in
Washington. One of these is what 1
have learned Of the climate. l have
met persons from Michigan and other
eastern States who have been cured
of pulmonary diseases by short resi-
dence there. The climate of this par
ticular section seems peculiar to itself.
1t is emphatically dry climate. No
rain falls in summer nor does snow in
any considerable quantity fall in win
ter. The climate is very similar to that
Of the south of France. The mild Chi
nook wind that blows along up the Co
lumbia river from the ocean enters the
Yakima valley and keeps out the
chilly currents of the north that
would otherwise prevail there in win
ter. Spring comes in advance of the
calendar, and not several weeks be-
hind it. In February the ground
thaws and farming operations have
a good start by the end of the month.
There are scarcely a dozen days in
the year the sun does not shine. In
summer the heat is not oppressive.