Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1893-11-17
CLEIRUITER TIMBER.
UhGt II .HchiD0H Lumber Man
JHiHIs OT II.

JH'Hhs ~ IT.
Marquette Michigan, Exchange.
The Marquette party which has
Just returned from two months
visit to the Pacific states was UNI
der promise to so many friends and
acquaintance to tell them what
the west j. doing. that as the east
est way Of discharging the obliga
ton. they have requested me to
publish a brief account of their cX-
perience.
The party had. for some months
been aware Of the the existence of
a fine body of white pine in Idaho,
and for nearly as long a time had
man on the ground examining
into the extent and quality Of the
timber. 1t was TO secure claims in
this. about the only belt Of good
timber in the state, that the party
undertook the journey.
Altho' Idaho was the objective
point, explorations were made as
far west az Portland. but the gigan-
tic fir of the coast could not lure
Michigan men from white pine
limits and they returned to Idaho.
idaho, one of the youngest chill
dren of Uncle sam, is certainly one
of the faircst and richest. More
fertile soil the sun never shonc ON,
while the climate is so mild as to
adapt it to everything from fruit
to winter wheat. The average
yield of wheat is 80 bushels to the
acre, which pays well despite the
low prices.
The trip from Spokane to Kend-
rick is one never to be forgotten.
The great rolling hillsides splashed
with hundreds of acres of golden
grain is a picture that one might
hope to see only in dreams. 1t is
a land where farmers pillow in Jan
uary and the horses and cattle feed
in the valleys all winter. Apple,
pear, apricot, prunc and peach
trees bloom in FEBRUARY, while not
n dozen miles away the mountains
CLEAN with their white mantles of
snow.
The critical eastern farmer, after
his first burst Of establishment and
admiration, begins to criticise the
mode of farming prevailing there.
He cannot bear to see the thous-
ands of bushels of wheat stacked
without cover in the fields, the ex-
pensive farm implements left where
they were last used, straw piles
burned to be rid of them, stock
feeding in fields of wheat and many
other evidences of careless farming.
Occasionally careful, thrifty
rancher can be picked out by the
general air of neatness and pros
perity, but as rule the average
Idaho farmer leaves his profits go
waste.
They raise principally cattle and
horses and wheat. Cattle are worth
II cents per pound, horses SO
each and wheat 80 bushel. Live
hogs are worth D cents per pound,
butter % cents. potatoes 50 cents
per bushel, but all these things
they buy instead of raising them to
sell. 1t is nothing for rancher to
buy his butter when he has 80 or 40
calves absorbing the milk from as
many new milch COWS.
In saying these things of the
Idaho raneher the only object is to
do justice to the rich soil he tills.
or pretends to till. AS class. they
are honest, sOciable people and
good citizens. but the soil is so rich
they have only to tickle it with
pillow and gather in the crop, and
they make littlc study of what to
raise or how to raise it to get the
most money out of it.
So much for the rancher: now for
the miner, the prospector-who
makes up the other half of Idaho's
population. He comes from every
state and he is an ideal Bohemian.
Idaho is full of gold, silver. copper.
lead, iron, mica, rubics. opals and
other gems and minerals, and he is
looking not particularly for good
laed, but a big one that will make
him rich quick Nearly every lit
tie stream has pay dirt from which
gold can be washed in pan. Gold
bearing rock is found everywhere
but this kind Of mining requires
money and so it still remains un-
developed. Placer mining is going
on everywhere and it is a nice bust
ness, for every night the miner
cleans up his dust and pays him
self for his days work, be it much
or little. Nearly every mountain
stream has gold in it and some day
that gold will be traced to the lode
from which it comes and great
mines will make the world wild
with excitement. Mining in Idaho
is yet in its infancy, but it is safe
TO predict that some Of the largest
gold mines in the world will yet be
uncovered in its gulches.
The timber supply Of Idaho is
very limited. South of the Clear
water river there is no timber
worth mentioning. The great belt
of the state is on the swift waters