The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-08-12
MAJOR Fred R. Scott Tells His Experience
During His Recent Trip.
he RETURNED TO RICHMOND MONDAY.
The Prairies OF Dakota and tho Fruit indus
tries of Caiifornia-yirEinia the Best
of Ali--The Lake Tahoe.

cluded a very detailed recital. but the follow
ing. which was given as rapidly as it could be
| written, will be Of great interest TO those
who have never visited the great West and
Northwest.
In reply to the reporters question as 10
where he went and what he saw. Major Scott
| said:
II went West by Chicago st. Paul. Duluth,
! tho Northern Pacific railroad TO Tacoma,
| thence down Puget Sound to Portland up
! Columbia river, south through the shasta
route 90 Sacramento. | was much impressed
! by the appearance of the praries he GOV
eminent allows land TO settlers who will plant
trees. but TO no purpose. The trees can he
! made to grow for few years
/ by ploughing and watering. but they
| soon die they cannot be kept growing. nor
can the ranchmen tell why or what tree VIII
| do best All their experiments with tree
claims have failed, except of course on the
margin of the water courses. was told that
the valley on the Red river of the north run
ming north from Dakota 10 Winnipeg was
| garden, splendid land, plenty Of trees every
! thing that was wanting elsewhere crossed
this valley at Fargo at night, but did not
so through it.
The sheep shearing was going on and the
wool was coming into the depots very freely.
Our ranch shipped GO, 900 pounds worth sixteen
cents pound. | was delayed a week in Mon
tana by an accident TO my train, and amused
myself in investigating the ranching business:
The cowboys are II quiet, Weil-behaved
class Of men. | talked 10 thsm often; did not
see any of them dunk The people seem
cOntented, but would rather live on ten
acres of fairly good land in Virginia than own
the best sheep ranch III Montana. 1 also
talked 10 some miners and mine owners they
talked free silver but when we came 70 go
into details, they admitted that tho cry OF
free silver was more a political call than
real demand of the people.
SILVER QUESTION.
Zone man who seemed TO understand
the question told me that the silver men re-
garded the present law Of four and half
millions of silver month as all that was
wanted. Washington IL very promising
State. The production Of hops in the east OF
the State is an increasing and very prohtaDls
industry The Indians are employed TO some
extent az hop pickers and here as well rs IN
Montana and Dakota the Indians are en-
pl0yed 10 O greater extent as laborers, ana /
was told they make fairly good tractable labor
ers when cOddled little and not offended.
The red wood of Washington and Oregon IS "A !
treasure of lumber. 1t is pine, rather coarse |
in grain but darker than cherry; grows very
large. eight and ten feet in diameter.
The extent of the lumber interest of Puget
Sound il enormous. Tacoma IS an immense
lumber depot. There is some very good land
in Washington. much that is mountainous
and can never be cultivated, but It's growth OF
heavy timber will always make IL valuable.
The supply seems inexhaustible. | did not
see the coal mines of this State, but am sure
they will prove Of great value. A gentleman
in San Francisco told me he had pad e2I
ton for hard coal in winter. 1t Is not now 80
high. Coal comes to San francisco from
England and Australia. The wheat helds o.
Gn,~ anti, llafy nf fQt
forna are a sight to see.
no RAIN.
II was told that they had no rain on tho Pa
cihc Coast from May until October, but did
not realize il until saw fields Of wheat that
had been ripe for weeks standing uncut.
some fields cut and the straw lying in the
field, and some OF il thrashed and cleaned and
tied up in gunny bags piled up SIX or eight
sacks high on the ground waiting to be hauled
away; and from the appearance Of the fields
could easily believe that some Of them would
yield fifty bushels an acre. But even here the |
trees were nearly all exotic, but they grow |
when planted, ard some very beautiful groves !
have been made. The grove at tho Hotel !
del Monte. at Monterey, 100 miles south OF !
San FrancisoncO. the coast is
notable instance Of what labor can do |
10 counteract the defects of nature. | was |
surprised TO learn that in this country the |
Mexican population Outnumbersthe American |
and the town officers of the village OF Monte
rev are Mexicans. OF course they are Ameri- |
cans but they are the descendants of the Mex !
can population that occupied that country be-
fore the cession in lS4s. The grape and wine |
and fruit industry of California cannot be es-
timated IL is increasing and generally profit
able. The wine IS very good. l am sure good !
Judges would pronounce the average vintage
such as sells wholesale at fifty 10 seyenty-fi |
cents gallon quite equal 90 our |
Charlottesville wine and much su-
periOr 70 what is served as win ordnaire' !
at the frst-class French hotels.
A CELEBRATED LAKE.
Leaving the coast visited the celebrated |
Lake Tahoe in the bosom of the Sierra Noya- |
da. This lake, celebrated by Mark Twain and |
Bret Harte as the most beautiful in the world |
deserves its praise Ii is &, 900 feet above the |
sea; it is surrounded by mountains rising
4 900 TO 5000 feet above IT, J climbed one OF |
these on horseback part of the way. The |
trail took us through banks of snow OF un-
known depth and the view from the top was |
unlimited. There was not cloud in the sky
IL seems there never il at this season of the /
year. We could see seventy-fve miles
In all directions and nothing but |
mountains. | have been on Swiss noun
tains but they are almost always cloudy |
and one is not repaid by the climb, but in tho
Sierras the Wow IL unimpeded and the noun
tains are all scanned and capped with snow
and catch the drippings in hundreds of lakes
large and small. The country east Of the
Sierras is q desert, except where men have !
caught the mountain stream and by immense
labor and cost conducted il in wooden iume
or trench in the earth over gorges and /
through tunnels to some sandy valley. which
it converts into paradise on very limited |
extent The Carson Valley is such an one.
You wonder that men would construct such |
tremendous work as the hume that supplies /
water 10 that valley for such little patch
of paradise. / could not but think
# our Virginia lands. fertile. healthful.
and well watered and cheap compared 10 |
such precarous dependence as water
fume of ten miles in length. Wyoming as
saw il from the train is a wilderness. hope
less alkali sand. place to get away from, irri-
cation only possible in favored spots and
foods of water srthcially conducted needed
10 make little oasis. A few such can DO
found toward the eastern side. Utah seems
10 be no better except that irrigation is moro
possible and the people there have made and
are making all they can out OF 1t. Western
Nebraska is also a desert, but the eastern
half of Nebraska Iowa and Illinois are gardens
of rich land and good cultivation. No irriga-
ton needed there. trees growing naturally /
Such crops OF corn, now looking their
best. but that country is weii-known, and | /
need not mention it, do not compare it To |
Virginia. but | am very sure that there is !
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