The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-12-07
Written Tor The Tribune.


of its resources before proceeding far
ther on our journey. may not be aniss
Washington has wonderful natural re-
sources and is destined to be the rich
est state in material wealth in the
Union. 1t is called the "Pennsylvania
of the Pacific Coast" 1t possesses, like
Pennsylvania. large agricultural areas.
great stores Of coal and iron, vast for
ests. and an open highway to the sea
for commerce. The Cascade range of
the Sierra Nevada mountains divides
the state into two distinct sections as
to climate and soil-known as the coast
region and the inland region-which
are dissimilar In aspect and tempera-
ture. ,.-... ...
The Eastern valleys along the fertile
plain of the Spokane river North and
South, including Walla- -Walla, Spo-
kane. and Yakima counties, produce all
the fruits. vegetables. and cereals Of
the temperate zone in superabundance.
Irrigation Is necessary to the cultiva-
tion Of much of the lands in the South
ern and Southeastern section of the
state. In the central and Western Sec
tions are the rich coal fields and heavily
timbered mountains. The country
around Puget Sound, that most beauti-
full inland sea. which extends hun
dred miles into the state and two hum
Gred and fifty miles on its western bor-
der, contains the source of much OF the
future prosperity of this great state.
Between the Cascades and the Pacific
Ocean are dense and almost virgin for
ests, which the Northern Pacific has
just recently penetrated. Here are
millions of acres of the finest timber
on this continent. 1t would scarcely
be possible to exaggerate. the extent
and value of these forests; their sup
ply Of timber seems inexhaustible.
The Great Columbia Basin.
i The, area East of the Cascade noun
tatns, extending to the Blue and Bitter
Root ranges, embraces the immense
plains and undulating prairies, ESQ
miles and nearly 500 miles long, which
constitute the great basin of the Co
lumbia river Within the limits of this
basin are numerous valleys which arc
we'll watered and clothed with nutri-
tious grasses. Much of these 25,000,000
acres embraced in Eastern Washington
is drained by the Columbia river and
its tributaries,gth the Spokane and Snake
rivers The soil Is made UP Of so-called
decomp0sed lava, Is very fertile and Is
precisely of the same nature twenty
feet below the surface as at the top.
Unlike the dark mould of the Puget
Sound district, or even the Mississippi
basin the soils of the Columbia basin
are whittier and more heavily charged
with alkalies and acids. Eastern tour
lists who travelled with us were aston
ished that these whitish lands can pro-
duce' such cereals as We found here.
The soil Is rich in the potashes, phos-
pilates, and ssilicates essential to the
highest development of cereal produc-
tion. In Western Washington, especi-
ally, in, the valleys tributary to Puget
Sound; the gsoil is generally a dark
loan. with clay subsoil, and in the bot.
tom lands. near the water courses, are
rich deposits Of -aliuyium. This rich.
rblack; and often bott6mless much Is a
deposit that the eastern farmer would
be exceedingly glad to buy as ferti-
lixer. f...5
In Eastern Washington.
In the Eastern section of the state
temperature is higher In Summer
lid lower in Winter than in the West
errf section. The rainfall is one-half
less east of the Cascades. From June
to September there Is no rain, but per-
feet weather for harvesting. The win
ters- are short Snow seldom falls be-
fore Christmas, and suddenly disap-
pears under the so-called Chinook"
warm wind that comes through the
mountain passes from the Southwest
across the great thermal stream known
as the Japan Current, This warm,
moist air melts the deepest snow in
1. few hours.
. Agriculture is the leading industry at
present and wheat is the principal pro-
duct of the eastern section, while hops,
fruit and vegetables of every-yariety are.
grown to d remarkable size and yield
Immense crops in the Puyallup and
White River, valleys on. Puget Sound
!, and in.YakiHa. Valley. The important
Industry among the Blue Mountain
ranges is the raising Of cattle. sheep.
and horses, only second to agriculture.
The mineral wealth Of Washington is
large and diversified, coal taking the
foremost rank.
- - An Empire in Itself
The traveller who desires to form any
thing like an adequate conception of
the agricultural wealth of the state of.
Washington should not fail to leave,
the main line at Marshall Junction,
eight miles from Spokane, and make
journey. If no more than hundred
miles,; through the wonderful fertile
Palouse country which stretches at the
fdot OF fsthe Bitter Root mountains, in
a belt about fifty miles wide as far
South as the Snake river in Idaho.
H.. ~, - AI,4 ,lx-I,A ~,
lumbia; and IL time permitted, west
ward for another hundred miles to the
foot of Blpe Mountains in the Walla-
Walla country a region of like fertility.
This whole country in its natural state
is covered with a llxuriant growth Of
bunch grass on which cattle and horses
pasture the year round, the winters
there being mild and the snowfall light.
This .'Palouse country" is rolling with
grassy hills and rounded tops. and
every acre is highly fertile, the sum-
mits Of the hills being fully az valuable
for grain fields as the slopes in the val
leys which lie between them. The
yields OF wheat, rye. oats, barley. etc.
are simply enormous, often reaching
nfty, sixty and more bushels per acre.
The wheat shipments from here amount
TO hundreds Of thousands Of bushels
annually. Each succeeding year adds
tens OF thousands Of acres to the wheat
area and the time is not far distant
when the great sase-bush plains will
be one vast field Of waving grain and
Eastern Washington the great wheat
granary of the Pacific Coast,
The Town Of Cheney. -
Returning to the main line q again. n
sixteen miles run westward brings us
to Cheney, an important shipping point
for the products of this rich farming