The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1892-05-16

i
is already imperative.
James McMillen followed. He held
that the worst enemy of the farmer is
not the railroad but the wagon road. 1t
cost as much to haul grain 10 miles to
the station as it did to haul it 180 miles
| by rail at average rates. Wheat had
been carried from Duluth to New York
for five cents per bushel, yet we are
compelled to pay LIZ cents per bushel-
for the 1o8 miles between Grants and
Portland. We pay 1880 a ton while the
average rate is 60 cents. He reckoned
that 500 farmers of Sherman county were
practically defrauded out of $40 each int
exorbitant charges.
II. E. Moore spoke of what the Cas-
cade portage had done for the farmers of
Wasco county and declared, if elected to
the legislature, he would do everything
in his power to secure the dalles portage.
This was the signal for the chairman
to call on other legislative candidates
present to express themselves and
Messrs. Smith, Coon and McDaniels re-
| sponded briefly pledging, themselves. in
the same manner.
| A. 8. Roberts gave an incident of his
own experience with the Regulator. He
required to ship a bunch of sheep to
| Portland. The regular rates by rail
would have been $40. He had them
carried by the Regulator and landed in
every way in better shape for $36. He
was told that the~cost of running the
Cascade portage did not exceed $4,000
per annum and the cost of running the
dalles portage need not greatly exceed
this sum.
A reference by Mr.. Brock to the action
of the Portland chamber of commerce
in connection with the Norton survey
brought Hugh Gourlay to his feet who
said that it was evident that Portland
| did not want an open river. When the
Regulator company asked Portland to
| assist in putting a boat on the lower
river, nineteen persons contributed the
munifcent sum of s., 200. This was the
extent of Portland's interest in the OPP
position boats. The merchants treated
the new company with coldness, indiff-
| erence and in one case, at least, with abb
solute rudeness. Allen and Lewis, one
of the largest wholesale houses, a house
that has made thousands of dollars from
the farmers and merchants of Eastern
Oregon practically showed the collectors
the door, and the work of collecting the
10000 promised towards the enterprise
had to be abandoned. If the Regulator
has benefited the people in any way
they owe it to The Dalles' merchants
and capitalists and not to those of Port
land. While Eastern Oregon is unit
for the dalles' portage and no one sus-
poets any candidate now before us for
legislative honors of not being frien dly
to the scheme it would not be the least
surprising if Portland would yet oppose
it unless we make such united demand
for relief as will sweep everything before
it.
After song by Mrs. Frank Pike, A.
@. Huff spoke on EARN Fences,'' tax
ing the ground that the present law was
nuisance and there was probably not
a yard of legal fence in the county.
The last paper was on s'The Educa-
ton of the Farmer by H. Tyree. This
was really excellent paper. The
speaker paid a fine tribute to the value
of our public schools; to the necessity of
education as an indispensable means of
maintaining our free institutions, and to
the Importance of educating every
faculty and power of the human mind
go as to make all round enlightened and
intelligent men and women of the future
fathers and mothers of this great nation.
An instrumental duet followed and the
meeting adjourned for supper.
The night session was opened by a /
song from the choir after which Profess
sor French read a paper on ssGreen
Fall owing and Green Manruing.' The
thirteen elementary substances were
described and the absolute necessity of
retaining in the soil or giving back to it,
the most important, namely, potash,
phosphorus and nitrogen. In the alb
sence of any one of these in the soil
there can be no vegetable life. Green
manuring had been practiced by the
Romans. In Belgium no green thing is
allowed to go to waste. The farm should
be cultivated as if the farmer intended
to live forever and your children will, in
that case, rise up and call you blessed.
The discussion that followed dealt
largely with the value of weeds,
wild mustard and volunteer wheat
turned under in summer fallow.
the professor insisting that they en-
riched and gave back valuable proper
ties to the soil. The question box was
then opened and many questions of in
rerest and importance discussed till the
] clock adnnonished the audience that the