Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-25
A ERICAN HOLLAN 10
bikes in Skagit County, Washington, to
Protect the Land.
The Horses Wear Mud Shoes When
Flowing and the Soil is
Tremendously Rich.
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

From the Seattle POst-Intel1igencer.
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 ploughman's share or the keen edge of
the woodman's ak, it does not seem that it
would be necessary to reclaim land from
the sea to obtain acres for cultivation. But
that has been done, and in Skagit county,
almost in the very northwestern corner of
the state, can be found scores of the finest
ranches in the world. lying behind bikes
built to keep out the sea and the overf1ows
OF the Skagit river, the largest stream that
empties into the sound.
This is the veritable Holland Of Wash
ington. In Skagit county are situated the
famous Swinomish flats, the Beaver marsh,
the Olympic marsh and the Samish flats,
all surrounded by bikes ranging in height
from 2 to 10 feet. There ale tide gates
along the sea shore which act automati-
cally, and which drain the land so per-
fectly 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 sediment,
and there is really no bottom to the soil.
II farmer in the east ploughs a little too
deep he turns UP clay or rocks; if the
Beaver marsh rancher holds his pillow han
dies too high he simply digs up more Of
the rich loan that raises every year with
out fail such crops that the old ranchers
OF other sections cannot believe the stories.
one hundred and twenty-five bushels of
oats to the acre, a ton and half of hops,
or five tons of hay, are common yields,
while all sorts of root crops give equally,
large results
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 districts
In the county, and nearly every ranch of
any size Is in one or another of these dis
tricts. Fully 100 miles of bikes are in use
IN the county, and many of them are used
also as roads. Very picturesque 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 dikes, and by repairing them, save
their lands from inundation. Sometimes a
very high tide will go over a dixie and cover
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
be until the river is SO improved that it
has a reasonably straight channel to the
sea. Five or six forks mouths discharge
the water into the sound, and the delta
thus formed Is excellent farming land, If
the water should be confined to one chan
mel thousands of acres of land would be
reclaimed. and the danger of overflow re-
duced to a minimum. By this Improvement
magnificent navgable river, teeming with
fish and flowing through a wealth Of tim
Der and mineral land, would be opened UP
and would provide employment for count
less numbers of people.
If any resident of Washington has never
seen the verdent fields of the Skagit flats,
let him go up and take look at them. 1t
will pay him If he wants to know all about
the resources Of his state. If 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