The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1895-03-16
Products Of Two Zones Grown
IN Its Fertile Valleys.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Soil Which Is Never Exhausted. Climate
Unsurpassed and he Grand-st
OF Opportunities.

(eneSee, ldahO, Mdfcn lU.-lne NeZ
Perez reservation will soon be opened,
with 542O74 acres .of land for actual
settlers. The United States govern
ment is to pay the Nez Perez Indians
81, 626 222 for this valuable tract of agri-
cultural land $626, 222 to be paid to the
Indians i'm actual cash during the spring
Of 1895, the remaining ST. 100000 to be
paid to the Nez Perez Indians in INSTALL
ments Of $150,000 each year. 1t will fur
nish homes for $500 families
What the Umatilla reservation is to
eastern Oregon the Nez Perez reserva-
ton is to northern Idaho. The Nez
Perez Indian reservation lies within
short distance of Genesee Zone and one
half miles), the nearest railroad point
to it. and it is known as one Of the rich
est bodies of land in the northwest
The soil is black loan and easily titled.
The average wheat yield in the vicinity
is 30 to 40 bushels per acre. while rs to
so bushels of oats have been raised,
and so to 70 bushels of barley per acre
are an average crop. All kinds of cereals
will grow and do well on these lands
There are thousands of acres of good
land to be secured here at a very low
price, considering the fertility Of the
country. The Nez Perez Indian reser-
walton will be thrown open for settle
ment this summer. When this great
event occurs it will make Genesee the
leading town of the Panhandle of Ida
no, being so close to this great body of
land to be opened by proclamation, for
it will be the headquarters for the stage
and freight lines running in all direc-
tiOns and will become the wholesale
point for one of the finest agricultural
reservations in the United States All
that applies to the Palouse country in
Idaho will apply to the Nez Perez In
dian reservation.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC
Herbert c. Gregg. in a recent article,
says:
The Palouse country, which has so
recently become famous at home and
abroad for it's excellent cereals raised
and its wonderful productiVeness. is a
belt lying adjacent to the Occur d'Alene
mountains, on the east, and has its
northern boundary about 20 miles south
of the city Of Spokane. Its southern
boundary is the Snake river and about
20 miles of the western end of the Clear
water which joins the Snake at Lewis
ton, Idaho. The western boundary is
one of opinion, various minds differing
as to where the territory of assured
crops from rainfall merges into the arid
plains. Some contend that range 43
shall be the extreme western portion
and shall designate the western bound
airy of the Palouse. If this be conceded.
the width of this territory will average
not to exceed 80 miles: its length would
be about 100 miles. This will give an
area equal to the state Of Connecticut.
Its general contour is a succession of
small and large hills with occasional
buttes. To the easterner it appears
next to impossible TO till these small
mountains, as they term them. But the
average farmer soon adapts himself
to the lay of the ground, and sows and
reaps with as great ease as does the
Nebraska or Iowa farmer.
Among the first surprises that await
the newcomers is the fertility of the
soil. He is accustomed to the loans of
the eastern states and naturally won
ders how it is that these hills are not
impoverished as they are elsewhere.
lie fights stubbornly the idea that the
nils are more productive than the val
leys, and will only concede the fact
when unmistalable proofs confront
him. He forgets that the soil is not
this idea to begin with, and bring TO
bear his knowledge Of ancient history
ne would not compare the resources of
the Palouse with those of the Missis-
sippi, Ohio or like valleys 1t is true
any quantity Of aftidavits corroborating
this statement may be had, that the
more the soil is TILED the greater is its
fertility. The only fertilizer that is re-
quired is the action of the sun upon the
soil. The oftener it is stirred the more
fertile 1t becomes Rotation of crops is
not necessary, as in other states, and in
a majority of instances il is not expert
mented in.
Wheat, oats and barley are the sta
pies, in the order named. Foremost is
wheat. 1t is TO this district what corn
is to Nebraska and Kansas. 1t is king.
Sown with any degree of care it will
yield as high as 100 bushels per acre.
and will average over the entire area
about 40 bushels for winter wheat and
rs bushels for spring wheat There is
no denying that this average is thus
lowered because of the shiftlessness of
men who pretnd to cultivate the soil.
Were all equally guarded as to the seed
used and the method of planting the
same. it would be no difficult task to
bring the average up to at least so
bushels per acre. The writer has known
of fields of 200 acres yielding 60 bushels
to the acre. He has also known of one
measured acre TO have yield
ed S71h bushels, which was
the 18th consecutive crop. There need
be no question about the fertility of the
soil nor of its lasting qualities without
the aid of fertilizers, commonly and ex-
tensively used east of the Rockies.