The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-05
AMERICAS NETHERLANDS.
a VeritabIe Little Holland in One
Corner of Washington state.

From the Seattle Post-Intelllgencer.
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
woodlands ak, it does not seem that II
would be necessary to reclaim land from
the sea to obtain acres in 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 of the world, lying
behind bikes built to keep out the sea
and the overlows 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 fats.
all surrounded by bikes ranging in hight
from two to fifteen feet. There are tide
gates along the seashore, which act auo
tomatically. 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 sediment,
and there is really no bottom to the soil.
If farmer in the east plows a little too
deep he turns up clay or rocks; If the
Beaver marsh rancher holds his ploW 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 sto-
ries. One hundred and twenty-five BUSH
els of oats to the acre. ton and half
of hops, or five tons of hay are common
yields, while all sorts of root crops give
equally large results.
In order to plow his land, which, If
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 bikes
| are In use In the county, and many Of
them are used also as roads. Very pic
turesque are these entertainments in many
| places, as they wind around through the
trees When the Skaglt Is having fresh
| ct as has been the case this week, the
people turn out to watch their bikes, and
| by repairing them save their lands from
! inundation. Sometimes a very high tide
will go over dixie and cover a number
of ranches with salt water. II the water
| does not stand too long this does no par
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 II
1 has a reasonably straight channel to the
sea. Five or six forks or mouths dis
| charge the water into the sound, and the
delta thus forped Is excellent farming
| land If the water should be confined
/ to one channel thousands of acres of land
would be reclaimed and the danger Of over
| flow reduced to a minimum. BY this I'M
| Drovemcnt a magnificent navigable river,
| teeming with fish and flowing through
wealth of timber and mineral land, would
| be opened up and would provide employ
/ rnent for countless numbers of people.
| II any resident of Washington has never
| seen the yerdant fields of the Skagit flats,
| let him go up and take a look at them.
| II will pay II he wants to know all about
| the resources Of his state. If he cannot
] afford to take the 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.
THE venerable English actress, Mrs.
Kelley. whose ninetieth birthday was pub
iicly celebrated at the Lyeeum theater on
I Nov, %, 1885, stll enjoys general good
I health She resides In Pelham crescent,
1 T2rovonfnr Tondon where she has lived