The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-05
THE FAnMnn,s rnlNKIsa CAP.

Farmers' Institutes have not met with
that support in washington which has
been rendered them in some other states.
California ID . very notable example Of
what may be accomplished by an ex-
change Of Views BY practical growers
OF fruit ana produce. There Is as great
a diversity Of soil and climate in the
state Of Washington as IN the state~cf
California. ana the success Of grower
In one part cannot be taken as insur-
ing the success Of another because the
same method Is adopted.
There Is far more need Of farmers
Institutes in newly settled country than
In the older states. Men OF good judy
ment and experience In the country
where they were raised on coming to
the coast find that they have much to
learn. because Of the different condi-
tions. Varieties OF fruit which have
yielded the best results in states where
there are extremes OF heat and cold do
not thrive so well where the season Of
summer Is shorter and the winter sea-
son is an alienation Of warm winds
and cold rains
The striking feature about farm
ers' institute Is that 1t Is usually ad-
dressed by men who know what they
are talking about and attended by audi
tors who thoroughly understand what
is being said to them. When the farfh-
ers Of the stillaguarnish valley con-
vened for the second annual confer
ence. two hundred Of the leading farm
ers and dairymen Of that part of Sno-
homish county were present. They
were addressed by several professors
from the agricultural college, by fruit
inspector, commission merchant and
a stranger from Texas who was on
the Sound arranging the advanced de-
tails for colony Of people expecting to
come here from that state.
Besides these there was present L. g.
Miller, general manager of the Seattle
s. International railway. who has been
instrumental in organizing these new
Institutes for the district along his road,
and who promises by his policy to be-
come to this state what w. H. Mills Is
to the state of California. His interest
is Of exceptional importance. because
1t is useless for farmers to produce a
good quality Of any article raised on the
farm II the cost Of transportation to q
market Is prohibitive. -
Mr.. Miller presented I'd those farm
ers who ware present the absurd fact
that there had been shipped to Airing
ton, where they were then gathered, in
the midst Of the finest and most DIVERSE
fed farming land in the state, from the
city of Seattle, over ton Of butter. as
much cheese, two thousand dozen eggs.
cabbages and beans. to say nothing OF
potatoes and hay. In other words, the
people of a farming town had paid out
in six months 1850 for articles which
they should have raised at home, and
some of which they probably bought Of
Iowa and California farmers.
A commission merchant gave a prac-
tioal address, In which he pointed out
the best marketable varieties Of apples.
showing that the kindswhich would be
most salable at Seattle and other near
by places was not adapted to packing
for consumption in Alaska. A confer
enee between commission merchants
and producers is very much needed, If
for no other purpose than to explain
why SO much money is sent away to
other states for farm products. Is the
quality here inferior? Is the supply in
sufficient. and why? Is the cost Of rails
ing them greater here. and if SO, is 1t
not Offset by freight charges? are some
of the questions which it would be
profitable to have answered.
Wenatchee and Yakima and Kitti-
tas supply the Seattle market with
peaches, but some of the growers COM
plain that 1t does not pay to send some
of the fruit, especially grapes, to the
coast, but that it does pay to ship 1t
east to Montana. Why do we send
grapes to Montana and buW them of
California?
Farming Is becoming more and more
a profession, in which manual labor is
the least important of the factors, al
though it derives by far the larger per-
centage OF revenue. Chemistry of the
SOIL climatology, the habits of parasites
and the adaptability OF the various
fruits and vegetables to new conditions
are among the many necessary studies
of farmer. Besides this. he must be
a shrewd business man In order to get
even a fair share of the markets re-