Mexico weekly ledger., 1894-10-18
FRUIT PLENTIFUL IN OREGON.
There is No Market for n, Hence It
Goes to Naste-Letter Prom
B. II. CaHthOrn.
]. ID. Morris, ESQ.,, Mexico, Mo.

SUvER, Or, Oct. 11.-DEAR JOE:
| am here at brother Fisk's, who
has a store at this little town. Su-
yer is On the west side of the railroad
about II miles from Corvallis.
Was QUITO Matte Evans yesterday.
Matte is brother Wills second
daughter; they live IA miles from
here at the foothills. Ate nice
blackberries there yesterday from
the bush; they were large and fine;
they grow to such perfection here
and in such abundance; there is no
market for them bushels dry up on
the vine. Thousands and thousands
of pears and apples are now rotting
on the ground. As you pass
along the road you see the ground
under the orchard trees literally COW
cred with delicious fruit; no market
for it and not worth picking up.
The great drawback to this country
is the want of amarket for what they
raise. What does it matter if they
raise enough to feed the world ii
they can't get it to the market? One
of the great Industries of this state
now is hop raising. | visited a hop
house yesterday. 1t is very inter
esting 10 see how they dry and bale
them. On the drying floor, say
30x40 feet square, the hops, | sup
pose, are two to three feet thick on
Stats and heated from below by a
furnace. Like everything else in
Oregon hops are now low, selling
for about 7 cents per pound; have
been known sell as high as 81 per
pound. | understand they plant
them 7 to s feet apart and one vine
has produced a dollars worth of
hops. Tell those doubling Thorn
asses, who wrote ME those vile letters
about the cherries years ago, to
make the calculation and see at
that rate how long it would take 40
acres of Missouri land to pay off the
national debt and do other things
suggested by them concerning the
cherries. The rainy season has not
set in yet but they are looking for
it any time and preparing for it.
the steam saw mills are now going
around saving up the wood and
putting it in wood houses; they all
do this the same as preparing feed
for stock in Missouri in winter. In
winter here it rains all the time; it
rains 40 days and 40 nights. AS one
of our old citizens used to say ''it
rains with a continued cease" The
house tops, the fences and the
branches of trees are covered with
moss caused by continued wet
weather.
Wheat, the principal product of
this country, is 80 cents per bushel.
Times are extremely hard here; no
money, no market, and people much
discouraged. Lands have depreci'
ated in value very much in the last
few years. The air is still clear here
in the valley. In winter it will be
foggy, and one has now a fine view
of the mountains all round; the
scenery is grand. The other day
from our position | could e the
snow-capped mountains of Rainier,
Hord, Adams and HELENE, lifting
their giant peaks to the skies and
above the flimsy clouds that hung
about their sides. AS l could not
pair with some good Republican be-
fore leaving | expect to get home in
time to vote. Political matters are
wonderfully mixed out here. They
have tree coinage and free trade Re-
publicans, Democrats who want
tariff on wool, etc., and Populists
who want everything and nothing,
and fighting right and lett, abusing
everybody and everything. Mr..
Duncan's story of Geo. Armstrong;
speech years ago fifty illustrates the
condition of politics here. Get him
to tell it to you. Kindest regards
to all. Your friend,
b. k. CAUTHoRN.
WHAT IN YOUR INCOME?