The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1907-07-24

b.
soil that some years ago was supposed
to be worthless. sage brush land.
which in localities seem to BE- pure
sand. the larger and denser the sage.
the more fertile the soil.
Near here lives John Prutel who
was raised near West Side who owns
two sections of land. He has large
threshing outfit and the smallest yield
threshed was % bushels an acre.
Deep wells have to be drilled to oh
tain water in most sections. These
average 400 feet deep costing about
two dollars foot. A first class
driller receives the fine salary of
eight dollars per day. met Mr..
Pruter in Spokane where he had
contract to sink four wells. each one
thousand feet deep at three dollars
foot.
followed the Yakima river which
is noted for its numerous sharp curves.
The valley is very fertile. but not very
wide. He is growing the finest APP
pies. and enormous sized vegetables,
also hay and grain. Apparently this
valley is aourishing and prospecting
Judging from its excellent cities, and
fine improved farms. Crossing the
Cascade range at night we passed
through the longest tunnel in this
country. it being several miles long.
The Pullman porter told US that on
some particular trip hobo. stealing
a ride on the roof of his car had been
strangled to death by the dense smoke
of several engines.
On the Puget Sound there are vast
forests. which furnish the longest
dimension timbers known. also the
desirable red cedar single obtained
mostly from trees averaging feet
and upwards. The Sound constitutes
the largest natural land locked harbor
in the US. and affords immense ship
ping points for ocean lines. Reach
ing Vancouver our train was cut in two
to be taken across the Columbia river
on large ferry boat to Portland Ore
gon. where our intention was to stay
a day but the continual downpour of
heavy rain caused US to go or. We
stopped at Roseburg. 200 miles south
of Portland where my wife's parents
live. After leaving Portland we en-
tered the Willamette valley, the long
est and widest in Oregon. Here we
find fruit, wheat and Jersey cattle. oc-
cassionally half dozen hogs. some
poultry. Forty to eighty arces are
the average size farms. whose tillers
are. in my estimation. lazy unthrif-
ty class who seem satisfied to merely
exist without trying to accumulate
more property.
A sample of their wheat farming
is as follows: A forty acre field. is
plowed in strips about five rods wide:
They commence on one side. there the
wheat is six inches high. in the nexl
strip about two. while the next is
just being sowed the remaining strip
to be plowed. These farmers are
sowing all fall and winter and har-
vesting all summer without even get
ting up sweat. which earns them
nothing more than an ordinary living.
Nevertheless, there are cities of from
5000 to $4,000 every twenty or thirty
miles. with frequent small villages,
which verifies the fact that large
farms are detriment to any commun-
ity. This level valley land is worth
$50 to $500 an acre. A Willamette
valley farmer on the train was telling
me about his hog country. merely
mentioned that owned only 100 back
in Iowa which really surprised him.
although that was more than l saw
since | left Lincoln.
Upon reaching Roseburg grove linn
mediately located my wife's brother
home. He is brewmaster having
full charge of the brewing and artifi-
cialice plants. Studying the moral
side of this extravagant unnecessary
traffic. the manufacturing of intoxicants
naturally interested me somewhat.
The local saloons. numbering fifteen
patronize the home industry. from
which they obtain pure beer made
from barley malt, hops. unlike the dope
which is manufactured by large con-
Germs from corn and carbqlic and var
ious other poisonous acids which inno-
cent human being consume The
brewery establishment pays great
dividends. the manager stated they
paid so per cent per annum. besides
their customers are delivered free