East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1905-05-29

near the surface until late, and pro-
duces quite bit of malaria, and now
and then a case of genuine lager"
Jacksonville is very old town, but
being missed by the railroad would
die il it were not for the county seat
being there. 1t is healthy and nicely
located. Central Point is about like
Athena in size and one of the most
pleasant little towns in the valley
Eagle Point on Little Butte creek, is
very small village, in a pleasant To-
cality, but as the railroad is coming
in here this summer we have great
hopes The country east of Talent,
Phoenix. Medford and Central Point
and some near Eagle Point is the ap-
pie and pear belt.
What the Desert Is Like.
The promoters profess great faith
in the desert" as a fruit country
when they get water on 1t, sut that
is problematical
This desert is a slightly elevated
nearly level country. of many thous-
ands of acres. beginning in the vicin-
ity of Medford and extending north
and west out past Agate, Table Rock
Eagle Point and toward Big Butte.
1t is generally entirely open, or with
low chaparral bushes. 1t is much like
some of the land out toward Butter
creek; long strips of soil cut in every
direction with slight depressions filled
with small boulders. 1 think it is
all hardpan land with a depth of
soil of perhaps two feet on an average
The M. & c. L. railroad will run di-
rectly through it. and it may make a
good country. As to prices, this coun-
try is having a boom in prices of
land. Prices have doubled during the
last IL months and now 1 consider
them much too high. Will give a few
samples to judge from: Near Ashland,
one acre, all in strawberries, under
water, small house, $1,000; six acres,
good house, no fruit. plenty of water,
$225O; five acres, all in peaches, wa
ter, fair house, $4,000; IA acres near
Normal school, small house and sta
BILE, five acres in alfalfa. no fruit,
fine place for chickens, $4,000; six
acres, all in peaches, good house and
stable, no water except well, $4400;
near Talent, 10 acres, good soil, good
eight-room house, stable, windmill
and tank, fruit enough for household,
$270O; 10 acres in prunes, cherries
and grapes, small house, $500; 10
acres near Medford, good house and
barn, windmill and tank, seven acres
in mature apple trees (mostly Ben
Davis) good soil. $12, 200; 80 acres, fair
house and barn, five acres in bearing
orchard, six acres in young trees
five acres in alfalfa, $4,000; near
Eagle Point land from $40 to $3.50
per acre.
Many Will Not Sell
find that people who have good
improvements and bearing fruit suf-
ficient to make them a comfortable
living, do not want to sell out at all (;
but what is offered for sale is either
bare land or land with poor and run
down improvements
To buy home all ready to step into
and go to making money, or even a
living, will cost quite a sum, on the
other hand, it will take time to get
things in shape to earn much.
With plenty of water, small fruit
will begin to make some returns in
one year, and in two years will be in
full bearing. Pears and peaches re-
quire five or six years, apples seven
to nine years. My advice to any one,
anywhere, is: If you are making a
fairly good living, and have health,
stay where you are. If you have not
health that alters the view.
came here largely on account of
my health. The alkali dust in Uma-
tilla county aggravated my catarrh
very much. 1 have not been here
long enough to know anything about
it from experience, but careful OBJ
servation leads me to believe this is a
good climate for people who are suf-
fering from catarrh. I am in the
sawmill business and have no land to
sell, though, of course, I would like
to see people come in, buy land and
build houses, but 1 would not like to
see any one come on account of false
representations, and shall be pleased
to answer through the E. o. any
questions in regard to the country
any one sees fit to ask; but make
them specific, so that I may know just
what you wish to learn.
L. H. LEE.