The record-union., 1897-03-23

the fifteen to eighteen bushels yielded
by the best acres of the prairie country
and California as the standard of pro-
duction. From twenty-five to forty
bushels of wheat to the acre is talr
crop, and as high as sixty bushels is
claimed in exceptional instances. One
farmer asserts that he raised fifty
bushels an acre on a tract of 700 acres
in 1890.
The grain weighs we'll, averaging
from sixty-two to sixty eight pounds to
the measured bushel. 1t is of fine quail
ity, as the Columbian medal for the
best -four milled from Willamette wheat
viii testify. 1t grows rank, with long,
clear straw, and with the exception OF
grain from South Australia Oregon
wheat commands the highest price in
Liverpool. An advantage of D and .
cents is claimed for Oregon in the
competitive markets of the world, and
this superiority, added to the fact that
shippers convey their cargoes by water,
gives the Willamette farmer a conSid-
cradle profit over the grower Of Illinois
and Dakota who has to ship long dis
tances by rail before he can get the
profit of an ocean rate. 1t is claimed that
this profit will be still further increaS-
ed when the Nicaragua canal is COM
pleted. English law compels the sack
ing of all wheat that crosses the equa-
tor, and this expense will be saved
when the Willamette cargo does not
have to go around the Horn. This in
crease, it is asserted, will secure to the
fo Of hn aI
more than the grower of the Mississip
pi Valley gets.
There are few, if any, places where
grain can be produced for less expense
than in the Pacific Northwest. D. P.
Thumpson, a substantial citizen of
Portland, who raises wheat east of the
Cascades, estimates that it costs from
20 to % cents in the Willamette Val
ley. This is due, in large measure, to
the rich soil and the favorable eli
mate. Another circumstance that oper-
ates to the advantage of the Villa
mette farmer is an abundance of early
rains and a dry harvest season.
The oat crop is heavy and the quality
superior. The bulk of this crop is
milled for table use. The grain weighs
from thirty-eight to forty-five pounds
to the bushel and sells for a very high
price. The local markets frequently
quote Oregon oats at 40 cents while
Chicago prices are ranging from Is to
20 cents. The plant is always healthy,
the roots striking down through the
soft, rich soil and sending up materials
to make sixty and seventy bushels to
the acre, or even 100 and sometimes
more.
CROPS THAT NEVER FAIL.
Barley and rye grow well and the
grain is of good quality but these
products have not commanded the at
tention that has been bestowed on
wheat and oats.
Indian corn does not thrive well, but
table corn of the finest quality can be
raised anywhere. The summers are
not long enough nor hot enough to
ripen the grain as the best Indian corn
requires.
Considerable quantities of hops were
raised in Northwestern Oregon during
the prevalence of high prices for that
product, but falling market discour-
aged the growers and they ceased to
cultivate it as a source of profit.
Vegetables of all kinds grow in the
Willamette Valley and a family can
live as comfortably and cheaply there
on "a little farm we'll titled" as is pos
sible anywhere in the world. All that
is good to eat will grow with a mini
mum of labor, and what may be re-
quired from the outside can be bought
with a fraction of the surplus, provided
always that the farmer exercises the
ordinary discretion necessary to sue
ceed anywhere.
Fowls do we'll in this valley, and al
most everyone has a few sheep. The
dairying industry should succeed ad-
mirably, as the moist air and rich land
both contribute to make this one of the
best forage sections in the United
States. AS soon as the timber is re-
moved the soil terminates white clover
as readily as the fields of Kentucky
produce blue grass. The butter pro-
duced in this valley is of the finest fla
vor, and Oregon cheese has long been
one OF the luxuries of those who can
afford the best of everything. Water
is plentiful in springs, brooks and
wells, and there is a variety of food for
cattle in unstinted quantities. Alsike,
red clover, timothy, redtop, vetch, or
chard grass. wild oats and white clover
are lush grasses wherever the Will
annette dairyman scatters the seed, and
the narrowest margin of land is only
necessary to supply every stall and
nanger. It is estimated that the cost
of cattle feed in the richest variety will
rot exceed ten cents day in the Yam
hill country as against eighteen and
twenty cents in similar sections Of
older States
BEEF, PORK AND MUTTON.
Thomas Shaw. Professor of Animal
Industry in the Agricultural Depart
ment of the University of Minnesota,
exploiting the resources of this country
for beef production, says the farmers
can easily grow steers that will weigh
] POO to 400 pounds at two years old.
These steers can be raised on skim
milk and adjuncts in the milk season,
and on oats that grow at the rate of
100 bushels an acre. They can be kept
growing on succulent foods with some
oats and the four months they can be
fattened on peas and oats, and they
Will then bring $50 each. Professor
Shaw is OF the opinion that mutton
as good as the best produced in Eng
land can he raised in Northern Oregon,
ard he asserts that Denmark itself