The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-11-21
THE HOLLAND OF WASHINGTON.

In this great Western country, where
there is so much wild land. where millions
OF acres OF soil have never felt the touch
Of the plowman's share or the keen edge
OF the woodsman's ak, it does not seem
that il would be necessary 10 reclaim land
from the sea to obtain acres for culriva-
ton. But that has been done. and In Ska
git county, almost in the very northwest
ern corner OF the state, can be found scores
OF the finest ranches in the world, lying
behind dikes built 10 keep out the sea and
the overfiows of the Skagit river. the larg-
est stream that empties into the Sound.
This is the veritable Holland of Wash
ington. In Skagit county are situated the
famous Swinomish fats. the Beaver
marsh, the Olympic marsh and the Sanisa
Oats. all surrounded by dikes, ranging IN
height from two 20 fifteen feet. There are
tide gates along the sea shore which act
automatically. and which drain the land
so perfectly that crops are raised on land
below the sea level with safety. And
such crops!
For ages the big river has been bringing
down from the hills the richest of sediment
and there is really no bottom to the soil.
II a farmer in the East plows little too
deeep he turns up clay or rocks: IL the
Beaver marsh rancher holds his pillow
handles too high he simply digs up more
OF the rich loan that raises every year
without fail such crops that the old ranch
ers Of other sections cannot believe the
stories. One hundred and twenty-five btu
shels Of oats to the acre. q ton and q half
OF hops. or five tons Of hay, are common
yields. while all sorts Of root crops give
equally large results.
In order to pillow his land. which, OF
course. Is soft and spongy, the ranchers
often put 'tuley'' shoes on their horses.
the shoes consisting of wide wooden blocks
to prevent the animals from sinking into
the loan.
There are at present eight diking dis
tricts in the county and nearly every ranch
OF any size is in one or another Of these
districts. Fully 100 miles of dikes are In
use in the county and many Of them are
used also as roads. Very picturesque are
these entertainments In many places. as
they wind around through the trees. When
the Skagit is having a freshet, as has been
the case this week, the people turn out to
watch their bikes, and by repairing them,
save their lands from inundation. Some
times a very high tide will so over a dixie
and cover a number of ranches with salt
water. If the water does not stand too
long, this does no particular damage.
AS there is nothing but sand and black
loan TO construct the bikes of, no perma-
nent work has ever been done and cannot
De until the river is so improved that it
mas reasonably straight channel TO the
sea- Five or six forks or mouths discharge
the water into the Sound, and the delta
thus formed is excellent farming land. II
the water should be confined to one cham
mel thousands OF acres OF land would be
reclaimed and the danger of overflow re-
duced to minimum. BY this Improvement
magnificent navigable river. teeming
with fish and flowing through a wealth Of
timber and mineral land. would be opened
up and would provide employment for
countless numbers OF people.
II any resident of Washington has never
seen the verdant fields Of the Skagit flats,
let him go up and take a look at them. 1t
will pay him II he wants to know all about
the resources of his state. Ii he cannot
AFFORD to take that trip and wants to see
some of the products Of those diked fields
let him go down among the commission
houses in Seattle and look at the hay and
oats which are brought from that favored
region In steamboat loads
The only failure Of crops ever known
there Is when the bikes break and the
growing grains are ruined with water.
ELDEN w. POLLOCK.