Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1895-03-22
NEE PIERCE RESERVE
Products Of Two Zones Grown
IN Its Fertile Valleys.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
: Ill which Is Never Exhausted. Climate
Uusurpas-ed and he Gra"dsst
of Opportunities

Genesee. Idaho, March 1o.-The Neg
Perez reservation will soon be opened.
with 542.074 acres of land for actual
settlers. The United States govern
mert 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 in actual cash during the spring
of 1895, the remaining $l.000,00O to be
paid to the Nez Perez Indians In INSTALL
ments Of $3.50, 900 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 a
short distance of Genesee zone and one
half miles), the nearest railroad point
to 1t, and 1t 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 So to 40 bushels per acre, while 10 to
so bushels of oats have been raised.
and so to 75 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, consideraing 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
| 1t will be the headquarters for the stage
and freight lines running in all direc-
tons and viii become the wholesale
| point for one of the finest agricultural
reservations in the United States. All
l hat To-, H., nj
Idaho will apply to the Nez Perez In
| dian reservation.
| GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Herbert c. Gregg, in a recent article.
| says:
| The Palouse country, which has so
| recently become famous at home and
abroad for its excellent cereals raised
and its wonderful productveness. 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 As
| 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 So 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 1t appears
| IN INN oil m
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 1t is that these hills are not
impoverished as they are elsewhere.
He fights stubbornly the idea that the
hills are more productive than the val
leys and will only concede the fact
when unmistakable proofs confront
him. He forgets that the soil is not
loan, but basaltic. Were he to grasp
this idea to begin with, and bring TO
bear his knowledge of ancient history,
he would not compare the resources of
, the Palouse with those of the Missis-
sippi, Ohio or like valleys. 1t is true
, any quantity of affidavits corroborating
, this statement may be had, that the
more the soil is titled 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 it becomes. Rotation of crops is
not necessary, as in other states, and In
a majority of instances it is not expert
mented in.
Wheat, oats and barley are the sta
pies, in the order named. Foremost Is
Y | wheat. 1t Is to this district what corr
is to Nebraska and Kansas. 1t Is king
: / Sown with any degree of care 1t will
yield as high as 100 bushels per acre
and will average over the entire area
about 10 bushels for winter wheat ant
, rs bushels for spring wheat. There /:
no denying that this average is thu;
lowered because of the shftlessness o
men who pretnd to cultivate the soil
Were all equally guarded as to the seet
. used and the method of planting tn
same. 1t would be no difficult task t.
bring the average up to at least 8
!. | bushels per acre. The writer has know
OF fields of 200 acres yielding so bushels
to the acre. He has also known of on
measured acre to have yield
= ed SIN bushels, which wa
the 18th consecutive crop. There Deei
be no question about the fertility of tn
soil nor of it's lasting qualities withou
the aid of fertilizers. commonly and en-
tensively used east OF the Rockies.
. Oats rank next in order. and the yiel
Il averages not less than so bushels. Tn
market for oats as feed is ever good
the price and demand being highly sat
;sfactory. Barley comes third on tn
list, and is raised but occasionally.
yields wonderfully well, but II need
J, only small quantity to glut the mar
ket, there being es yet few brewerie
to create a demand for the cereal. Fla
is raised quite extensively and yield
about 20 bushels to the acre. The pric
does not exceed 81 per bushel. In grasse
there has been but little experiment
- but IL IL believed that red clover. alfalf
and timothy will at least do moderated
well. All the harder fruits do partic,
larry well, especially the apple. tn
u writer has no recollection of ever mott,
ing a single wormy apple which Wa
raised in the Palouse country. Prune
- peaches. piums, apricots and pears
er the most delicious kind are grown viii
ease and find "A ready market, la ssa
fruits there IL nothing that Is not raise
with ease. excepting the blackberry.