The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1898-01-07
New Crop to Be Tried East of
the Cascades.
PLAN OF THE OR. & N. co.
Will Develop the Resources
of the State.
Portland OregonIan.

Oregon will raise cotton next season
Its cotton crop will probably not bear"
the market the fret year, but there is no
telling what effect Oregon cotton will
have on the industrial conditions Of the
| future. The cotton production of this
| year will be under the fostering care of
the Oregon Railroad q Navigation Com.
pany, which has just opened an indus
trial department that vii. experiment
with various things to develop tue coun.
| try reached by its transportation lines.
This is far sighted scheme of Pfesi lent
Mohler. H y. Judson, who has hs CON
siderable experience in such matters in
the East has been put at the head Of the
department. He will DO guided TO a
great extent in his operations by the az.
ricultural colleges OF Oregon and Wash
, ington.
Cotton is successfully grown in the
panhandle Of Texas, ct attitudes ranging
from 1000 TO 1850 feet above the sea,
where frosls occur from the laPt of Octo-
ber to the middle Of April. In some
parts of Eastern Oregon frost has been
absent through the entire year Portions
of Umatilla county are especially favored
in this respect. Vhe experiments with
cotton will be made In thearid and SAINT
arid sections of Eastern Oregon ami
Eastern Washington--in Wasco, Sher-
man. Morrow and Umatilla counties, If
Oregon, and Whitman and Adams coun-
Ties. of Washington. While the cotton
plant will stand great deal Of moisture,
It can also endure drought 1t sends
roots deep into the ground. In many
places where wheat is not reliable crop,
or cannot be grown at all on account Of
| the lack Of moisture, it is believed cot
| ton will flourish. II so, 1t will solve the
| irrigation problem for those sections. A
thorough test will be made the coming
| season.
| Among the other things in view by the
! Oresop Railroad &Navigation Company's
| industrial department. ia the introduction
| OF tobacco raising. considerable col.
| ony Of Cubans In Florida are negotiating
| to come out to the Pacific Northwest to
/ raise and manufacture TOBACCO, and the
parts Of Oregon and Washington lying
east OF the Cascade mountains arc be
/ liieyed to possess the conditions snited To
/ the business. The destruction II the
trade in Cuba has turned the attention OF
these people to other fields OF operation,
and they have sent agents here to look
the matter up. Martinez. the greatcigar
man Of Key West, examined the country
! east OF the mountains recently, and he
did not doubt that tobacco OF q superior
quality could be produced In the vicinity
of Blalock in Gillian county.
The production of forage plants In the
Inland Empire will also engage the ut.
tention OF this move for industrial devel
opment. Incidental to this will come a
thorough Investigation OF the possibilities
of daiFying and raising livestock under
different conditions than now prevail
conditions that will admit of fuller de-
velopment OF the country. A number Of
new trees will also be experip,ented
with, to see If they will not have the ef.
feet Of precipitating moisture, 30 TO
make arabic areas now arid ~ long
the exotics is tree that is said TO have
redeemed a portion Of France from desert
conditions ages agt "a gum tree that is
native OF Assyria. It is reasonable to
suppose that the tree would bc valuable
in the dry sections OF the Inland Empire,
and 1t will be given ti.sl there.
The mechanical device OF Boise man
for raising water from streams for ifrl,f
eating purpose will also be thoroughly
ssted. Il Itconslsts OF cylinder on lhe
tside Of which are buckets that fold
automatically, and the cODtriEaEce ia
said to work wellin cufTanE 50 alow
even two miles an bdues
Th. R.& n peopI alive TO The
oppo u. now presented to the North
west excitement over gold in
Alas ~ ing houeanda and thous-
and. q y any ol whom will for the
first cat natural advant.
age sTl 'ng 1ntry and not 90
I, : all, stopping to plant
s$< nd fig'Fses, under which
~ in comfort and happi
goldhunters suffer 'he
icertainties Of the .sse
,ce.
he proposed enterprise
sss man said yeater-
Nileaka coast and
sshington TO
.shere viii go