The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-12-05

farmer IN Western Oregon told me that
MS cows net him S75, each year per
COW. This is independent of the calves.
me qualty OF creamery made Oregon
butter is unsurpassed. This is owing
to the rich feed and the abundance Of
pure water
| We have all read of the Kansas hen
how she so faithfully labors to assist in
producing the wealth of the country.
The Lay sf the Oregon hen" has
not yet been given to the world for the
reason that the producers in good NUN
bers are not there. Like dairying. every
climatic condition is there for success
fui poultry raising. To be sure it is
done. Every farmers wife has her
poultry yard and Oregon ranch" eggs
are unsurpassed for size and flavor.
But yet the fact remains that eggs and
poultry from the middle west are being
shipped into Oregon all the time to
supply the ever increasing demand, and
the question is still an open one, when
viii the vast areas of land which can
now be purchased so cheap'y, be occu-
pied and titled to produce that which
must be consumed?'
The soil of Oregon produces the
finest hops i'll the world. The profit
from hops is from $3.50 to $500 per acre.
Hop lands can be bought for $50 to 500
per acre, and when for rent goes at one
fourth per crop There is no more
beautiful sight in the world than hop
field III full bloom. The hop picking
| season furnishes remunerative and
healthful employment to thousands of
men, women and children. Entire
families go into the hop fields, carrying
tents and household utensils. Families
of six persons who are good plckers
often earn from $500 to 5000 during the
season.
The one drawback to successful farm
ing in Oregon is the scarcity of labor
| Farmers are willing to pay $3.50 per
day, with every thing found, for decent
labor. Intelligent young farmers to
till positions as managers are in great
demand and command excellent sal
aries. The young man who is willing
to work a year for the other man, can
easily save enough IN that time to pur-
chase, or partly pay for, a small farm of
his own, with the certainty that in ten
years he will have accumulated enough
to be practically independent.
In trying to present to the readers of
The journal the practical side of agri-
cultural life III Oregon | have refrain
ed so far from touching on other indus
tries. All men cannot be farmers, but
pity It's that more men do not wish to
be. 1t is hard to find a line of industri
al endeavOr in which men may not
engage in the great State of Oregon.
The subject of lumber is one which
could only be properly handled in a
separate article. The immense trees
classed as Oregon Pine" would be a
revelation to the easterner. Rising 200
to tho irct EJ,,h tinU ra, l., ,f
beauty unmarried by defect or blemiSh.
The Douglas fir or spruce is the pride
OF the Oregon forest. and trees ten feet
through are no novelty. That State
today has more than three hundred
billion feet of understandable timber,
conServatively valued at about four
billions of dollars. The lumber mills
of Portland alone have daily capacity
of 9, 000,0 900 feet. The lumber goes to
domestic ports and also to China,
Japan, South America, Africa, Hawai-
ian Islands, Australia, England and the
Philippines. The Columbia River basin
is now the center of Americas lumber
supply.
The fishing industry would also fiji a
special article. The marketed salmon
product in 1907 was valued at about
81, 900, 900. While salmon fishing ranks
first in fish industry, other fish include
sturgeon, shad, smelt, catfish, tom cod
! black bass, founders, carp and perch,
Z While brook and salmon trout, pickerel,
| etc, abound. Shell fish include oysters,
CLANS, crabs, Holsters and crawfish. AL
. kinds of fish being SO plenty it is very
J moderate III price.
Mining in Oregon is yet in its infancy
Within the bowels of the vast noun
! 60, Ia
copper, coal, iron, platinum, and hun
dreds of other minerals whose value is
just beginning to be known. In 1904
the States output of gold alone was
over s., 100000. Vast deposits of auri
ferrous gravel lie along the rivers anC
valleys of the mineralized belts, anC
the problem of securing the great riches
of these river beds is being solved by
the perfected dredge.
r Irrigation in the State OF Oregon is
yet in its infancy. The productiveneSs
of any land can be increased four-foC
by irrigation. In central Oregon, in
Guiding five of the largest counties, The
United States reclamation department
, has under construction one project thai
will reclaim 250,000 acres of rich land
Thirteen thousand acres will receive
water during this year, and other sec
tons will be completed as fast as the
, influx of settlers warrants it. Oregon
: now has more money available for irri
cation than any other State in the
{ Union. This is through the nationa
r appropriation.
3 There are hundreds of opportunities
along all lines of industry for the mar
who is willing to work, and none othel
r need apply. The lot of the workingmar
or woman in Oregon is pleasanter thar
in older communities. The relations
between employer and employe art
J more cordial and freer than in the east
The western spirit imbues alike the
capitalist and the laborer. Disastrous
strikes and lockouts are practically un
known. The scale of wages is some
what higher than in the east, and the
cost Of living in any city in the State
is far less than in eastern cities. The
difference in fuel alone is an item
worthy of attention. Beef in Oregon
does not cost the householder half what
it does in eastern cities. Mutton, veal,
norH fish of oil binds Ao,,r