The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1904-06-02
A Rack Nunher.

We are in receipt of booklet on
Oregon, sent out by the publicity depart.
ment OF the Lewis and Clark exposition
at Portland that is made up OF old sta.
tistics in many instances, and contains
information hastily compiled and moi
up to date. II the statistics of other
counties are as old and out of date az
those OF Wasco county, in this book
purporting TO show the resources OF
Oregon" it is a colossal libel on the
state. There is no reason why such a
publication should not be carefully
compiled and information given that
will show up the country in as favorable
light as possible. The wonderful adj
vancement that has been made in
Oregon during the past few years,
demands a complete revision OF the old
statistics Of five and ten years ago. New
sections are being developed in the state
that are now lively commercial centers
and prosperous and thickly settled farm
ing communities, which few years ago
were deserts or wilderness.
HIRE are some OF the figures given for
Wasco county:
Farms, value, 1890, 2GO.
Orchard products, value, t250,000.
t'lifnate-Annnal rainfall, 1872.
Soil-Sandy ham.
Water courses--Columbia and Des
Chutes rivers.
Farm land--averaee price per acre $40.
The above startling array of figures
has apparently been made from records
at The Dalles, OF ten years ago, before
Hood River had gained national rep
utation, and not single item is correct
as it applies to Hood River. The
learned and gentlemanly scholar who
collected this information should scrape
u little moss off his back and get out OF
Portland long enough to find that up
about GO miles from the exposition
grounds there Is section OF the state
that has become hetter known all over
the world through commercial channels
than the city OF Portland There are
thousands Of people in the United States
who have been paying fancy prices for
Hood River strawberries and apples,
but who have never been west OF the
Rocky Mountains, who know that Hood
River is the greatest section Of Oregon,
and have an idea that Portland is a
small steamboat landing somewhere
near the mouth OF the Columbia or is
a suburb OF Seattle.
As TO the first item, the value of the
farm land of Wascncounty, OF 81, $3.50, 900,
II does not cover the first ten miles OF
the Hood River valley.
! The value of orchard products is given
at $780, 900, and the amount will not
buy the orchard crop Of the valley,
while the strawberry crop alone this
year will amount TO nearly that sum.
The annual rainfall is given at Is
inches, which may be true as to The
Dalles, but IL ranges from 35 and 4C
inches at Hood River to over 90 inches
at Cascade Locks.
Only portion Of the soil in this val.
ley is sandy loan, the apple land being
mostly deep clay soil, containing vol.
canic ash and iron, while the Columbia
and Deschutes rivers are not the only
streams on the map OF Wasco county.
The average price Of farm land ID
given at $40 an acre. II has been O
long time since the poorest tilable land
in Hood River valley, from the Colum-
bia to the snow line on Mount Hood,
could be bonght for $40 an acre, and at
tie present values, is better bargain
than any $40 land to be had in Oregon.
81 600 an acre has been refused for our
be. bearing orchards.
A booklet on Oregon, issued under
Tia, authority OF the exposition officials,
for the purpose of showing up the
resources OF the state, should at least
not underrate its advantages.
The present issue should be recalled
and the book thoroughly revised and
made up.to-date.