The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1909-04-16

TO FARM
NEWCOMERS TO NORTH
WEST FROM EAST.
OVER 100000 PERSONS SETTLED
IN FOUR NORTHWEST STATES
DURING LAST IA MONTHS.

Recent statistics show that rs per
cent of the newcomers into the north
west during the fiscal year ended Feb
ruary %, 1909, turned to farming, stock
raising and dairying, while of the 9th
ers more than so per cent took up or
charding and chicken growing in dis
tricts tributary to the settled COM
munities.
OF the thousands of visitors to the
rooms of the Spokane chamber of COM
merce since January 1, 1908, the ma
jority, including men and women from
all walks of city life, came to the
northwest to seek homes in the rural
districts, not to become general farm
ers, but to take up some special phase
of the work and in the great number
of instances it is fruit growing.
The practice of intensive farming,
more specially apple culture, has, in a
measure, solved the problem of the
American trait Of the farmer seeking
city life and the city man dreaming of
rural happiness, and the nearness of
the irrigated districts to the towns and
cities in the northwest has served to
satisfy both. Small tracts, electric rail-
ways, telephones, rural mail routes,
make a combination of the best of city
and country, and thousands are passing
useful and busy lives in these districts.
There has been q tremendous move
ment to the northwest in the last IA
months, when, according to the best
information available, approximately
100000 persons settled in Washington,
Oregon, Idaho and Montana, and of
these about 63,500 located in eastern
Washington, northern Idaho, northeast
ern Oregon, western Montana and
southeastern British Columbia. Thirty
five thousand settled in the Yakima,
Wenatchee, Spokane, Wala Walla,
Okanogan and Colville valleys, the Pa
louise and Big Bend districts and in set
Elements opened by the Chicago, Mil
waukee & Puget Sound and the Spo-
kane, Portland & Seattle railroads.
Illinois, Iowa and Missouri furnished
the majority of these settlers, the rest
coming from Nebraska, Indiana, Mime
sofa, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mich
igan, New York, West Virginia, Ken
lucky, Massachusetts, Vermont, Ne
vada and Maryland, with sprinkling
from southwestern states.
There was also a large influx of
aliens into the northwest in 1908, when,
with the exception of Minnesota, Mis-
souri, and California, Washington added
more foreign population than any other
state west of the Mississippi river.
There were approximately 10000 aliens
and of these Scandinavians were in the
lead, with south Italians second, En-
glish third, Germans fourth and Fin
nish fifth.
The most important thing about i'm
migration into Washington last year is
that the greatest increase in numbers
was of those who engage either in pro-
fessional or skilled occupations. Rela-
lively to the great mass of immigrants,
the number of foreigners of good class
who declared Washington as their des-
tination was larger than in any other
state.
The number of laborers, so classed,
who entered the state from foreign
countries last year was $500 in round
numbers. The number of farmers is
exceptionally high, and shows, of course,
the settlement of the rural districts by
thrifty class of people.