Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1891-12-03
FARMING ON THE COAST.
An Alert Correspondent Notes
Some Points About This
Occupation.
No Place for General Farming
or Stock Raising-The
Land and Climate.
The Country Covered With TIM
her and BrusllwOOd--NO
Wheat and no Stock.


Wheat and no Stock.
The North Dakota farmer who has
thought of changing his broad acres in
this state for farm or ranch in Wash
ington, Montana or Oregon, would make
grave mistake IN doing 80. Between
the Missouri river and the Cascade
mountains there is an immense area of
country, and, with the exception of few
valleys where irrigation is possible, the
whole region is certainly not field to
attract the farmer. The Bad lands are
strictly stock range. The Rocky
mountains are the mineral regions where
little else than mining is done with profit,
and whore ranching or farming is spe.
cles of life lonely and discouraging be-
yond description. In the larger towns of
Montana one hears Of the occa-
sional rancher who has made
money raising hay and vege-
tables, and who has built house
and moved into town. He is always an
old man. worked out, played out, and his
wife is no better. They have spent their
best days in some mountain valley, SLOW
ly getting competence, and when they
get into good house in town, their
habits of life make them want to live in
the kitchen and keep the rest OF their
residence closed up tight. All around
them Is the lively excitement OF mining;
the stories of sudden wealth fill the con-
versations of men, and the outputs of
mines and discoveries of rich mineral
veins that generally sink more money for
owners than they get out of them, is the
spice of daily verbal intercourse.
A solitary rancher in Montana with his
hay patch and garden spot is not to be
envied by any farmer in this state, and is
not regarded as very fortunate individ-
ual by the miners and prospectors of that
state. In the mountains and on the cac-
tus and sage covered lands of eastern
Washington there is nothing that would
induce North Dakota man, who has
Is bushels of wheat to an acre, to ex-
change one acre of this grass coyered
soil for quarter section Of rocks and
sage brush. There must be few excep-
tions made, as there are to all such
sweeping statements. In eastern Wash
ington and Oregon there are very few
valleys where general grain raising and
other farming is carried on successfully.
Irrigation is, however, necessary in near
ly all that region, and that is an expen-
sive and difficult remedy for any one
man to apply to farm whore sand
storms fill the air constantly and the
heat is almost intolerable. Between
North Dakota and the Cascades there is
no spot that North Dakota farmer
would prefer to his own fertile farm. un.
less it be few valley ranches where land
is held at extremely high figures.
The great rush of immigration for sew
eral years, has, however, carried most Of
the restless movers beyond the Cascades
into the celebrated Puget Sound coun-
try. And how is it there for farmer?
The totally different aspect of the coun-
try would, at first, seem to show that
there is nothing there but for the logger.
The mountain sides and the valleys, as
we'll as the bottom strips, are concealed
by an almost impenetrable growth of fir
and cedar trees and dense underbrush.
It takes years to clear few acres.
Stumps, as big as prairie shanty, are
stuck in the ground that has been
"cleared" as closely as the large roots will
allow. The soil on the bottoms of the
streams is rich, and when man can get
at it, will produce immense crops of fruit,
vegetables, hay, oats, but no wheat. 1t
is sure soil also, for the rains of winter
are constant and the summers are never
dry enough to prevent maturing of what
IS sowed or planted. The winter rains
are of steady aud monotonous kind, not
very hard at any one time, but sure as
death and taxes, and the sky is clouded
for months with hardly day of bright
weather. The ground is soaked and full
OF water as q wet sponge. A person
steps anywhere on the soil and mud or
slosh Is stirred up by each football. Even
the sidewalks IN the towns are constantly
wet and reeking with moisture. Rub
bers, umbrellas, mackintoshes, wet feet,
running noses and colds are attendants
on the Puget sound winter. There is
little cold weather, fuel is abundant and
cheap and only needed to dry the atmos.
phere Of room, or stake the chill of. >
Heavy underwear IS worn the year
around however, and the summer months
are said to be all that could be desired in