Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-03-01
FARMING IN IDAHO.
Not q Very Attactive vicw-Niany
Disadvantages.

seempiatlng moving westward toward
che Rocky mountains a number of
friends and Appropriateness requested
me to write and let them know ALI
about the country, its resources, q poor
mans chance for a home, educational
facilities, etc, and after a period Of
eighteen months can answer from ex-
perlcnec which l have had, seen and
heard. and every word / lave 10 say
can be found correct by any one wish
ing to investigate. ] will not term this
as lilly country at all. ] would call
IT, for short, a mountainous country,
from the fact that this, Potlatchs coun-
", as it is called, extends from 4 spur
of Bitter Root mountains on the north
to the Clear Water river ON the south.
andis drained, as they say by the Pot
latch creek, tho the country is divided
up by creeks which run in the bottom of
canyons. The canyons are numerous
and divide the country UP into what
they call ridges. The depth of these
canyons is from ~ and 90 feet 10 1400
feet. and the country between these
canyons they call ridges. These ridges
vary ir. width from an eighth of mile
| tn seven or eight miles Wide, and on
these ridges is where the big Wheat
raising is done, and when once IN top
lsof these ridges you. will find the land
rolling as much as You can in Iowa.
| These ridges are named the Pot!atch
ridge, Texas ridge. Big Bear ridge.
I5little Bear. American and many other
| names. The soil on the ridges is good
| without a doubt for almost every crop
4 excepting corn, which will yield from
lten to twenty bushels per acre. Beans
are good crop here. yielding from 500
Ito 500 pounds per acre Oats seldom.
| yield more than forty bushels per acre
and more times will yield but twenty
| bushels Garden Vegetables always
| seem to do we'll, yielding enormously,
Tho great trouble with US is that every
thing we raise out of the ground except
wheat we have to eat ourselves, as we
| have no cash market There are thou
sands of tons of beets raised here, but
we cannot get cash for them. We have
| to sell to the merchants and take trade
4 from the stores. The fruit business is
quite extensive. but the fruit man does
/ more work on an apple or fruit orchard
4 than i; takes to raise Il crop of Iowa
4 corn on the same acreage. He must
1 work the ground every two weeks at
I least to keep the weeds down: must
| also spray about three times: must
keep pruning constantly and keep pick
ling off the scaly or Worm eaten apples.
THAT his good fruit will be the proper
size. and in fact he Is a busy man from
i February till after his fruit is shipped
out of the country. Spray the fruis man
l3inust or the inspector is after him, and
4 every now and then the state fruit In
| spector comes along and notifies some
lone to dig up their orchard on account
J of the San Jose scale 81, some other in
4 sect pest After the fruit man has done
tall this, then pays from to 10 cents for
\ boxes and 5 cents per box for packing
and from to I cents Per box for the.
haulings and throws from one-fcurth To
lune-half away as culls and sells the
I good ones at 40 cents per box. you can
4 figure how much the orchardist makes
and the trees do not seem to yield any
4 more here than 1 have seen in southern
4 Iowa. wh-rs tf,ry nave "A rrufv 1urr
There it is worse. than a snort crop IN
Iowa, so those eastern people who want
4 Ito come west to enter the fruit business
4 can figure what their Profits will De be-
i fore they come. Then sometimes the
IIfruit is shipped to some commission
i merchant and in few weeks the CONS
mission man writes back 70 the ra,7cher
Ito send SIS or $40 TO help pay the
4 freight, as the fruit did not bring
/ enough Prunes sold green last year off
1.-the trees at 40 cents per hundred
4 pounds pears at 50 cents Ter hundred
i and the trees made from 100 10 200
slpounds and lots of the fruit was too
/ small for market, so it was left To rot.
Cherries, currants, black-cap berries.
i do Wen here, but there is no market for
4 them.
The price OF lands vary very much
here. but the Improvements, buildings
lend orchards and nearness TO town. and
sla,so the number of acres of tillable
Hand, are for those to be considered.
ldare say there are very few farms OF
i $50 acres but what has from five to JOG
4 acres of rocky or canyon land on IL.
i Some quarter sections have not more
Than five or six acres of tillable land
THAT is level and the canyon lands are
rot fit for everything but to pay taxes
len. The state or association assesses
Z 1.-THE canyon land at 81 an acre and the
Icanyon sides are so steep and rocky, al
4 most places. that q goat can hardly
stand on 1t and where they can be pas
Il tured 1t would take ten acres TO keeT
II a COW Il summer thru. But where tbs
II farm of $50 acres has fair buildings and
|Ierhaps i've acres of orchard and may
sbe 100 or $40 acres of tillable land the
price is about from $S,000sto $4,000. This
is about five miles from town and a
nan can buy some quarter sections fol
$500 But the great trouble with this
4 farms here is that they have become ST
Z foul with wild oats and the land has
been wheated till it will not produce 4
good crop of wheat without being sum
! imer fallowed at least once III three
years The wild oats resemble the tam.
oats in growing, but the cat Is black
4 with a very small kernel, fit for nothing
hut TO grow up very quickly and smoth.
;. er the wheat. The only way to kill then
lis to summer fallow and then the lant
. r,ust be ployed about twice and the dist
. should be used freely. Some enterpris
slirg farmers divide their farms into two
Z parts, and summer fallow one hal
!. every year. consequently their farm,
!, are clean of wild oats. Such farm i.
!, generally held at about 81 800 to ST, 600
!, But the profit on wheat raising Is yer!
Il small, counting the cost Of implements
lthreshing, sacks and time, and the las
q years crop of wheat for 1900 yielded
:. Gil the way from eight TO thirty bushel
per acre. Counting the quarter sections
NJ n -. b,,,tt ana milo and thraa fo.Irf1,