Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-03-26

Will p6 Ol years OF age IN May,
came through from Ohio to klamath
Falls in 1894. He has been appoint
ed United States Special Disbursing
Agent and Allotment Agent for the
klamath Indian Reservation in
which capacity he served from 1894
to 1898. In these four years he di-
Vlded up among 100 Indians an
average of 120 acres each, or 1,125.-
O6O acres. OF this land, 400, 900
acres was farming land, 100000
acres timber land and the rest rocky
or grazing land. The agency was To-
Gated nine miles from Klamath Falls
and extends to upper klamath lake.
Major Worden kept his family in
Salem while he was on the reserva
ton. Owing to the failure of 1t
syndicate in Ohio. he arrived in Ore
gon $4,000 in debt. all of which
he paid off during the four years he
was in Office at the rate of about
5000 a month At the end of his Of
fetal services he had $500 on hand,
which he promptly invested in Klam-
ath Falls real estate. He is today
practically a millionaire. all due 10
his faith in the klamath country.
Every dollar he has made on real
estate he has again promptly in
vested in more Klamath county
lands.
How Lands Have Advanced i'm Value.
1t can be stated in a general way
that the best agricultural lands in
klamath county have advanced from
$3.50 to SIS per acre in ten years.
TO prove this, l could mention spe-
citic examples. For instance, Judge
Hale, now a resident of Grants Pass,
had large ranch which he bought
for 81 an acre. He sold this to
State Treasurer C. S. Moore for
$3.50 an acre in the sage brush.
Moore sold it to the late H. E. An
keny and r. E. Cantrell for SIS an
acre Mrs. Ankeny bought out Can
trell for $50 an acre, and the whole
ranch is now worth SIS an acre.
This land turned off Is, 900 bushels
of wheat in 1909, besides feeding a
great many cattle.
The John F.. Miller Ranch.
This tract of land consisted of 4
500 acres, and Gen. Miller's brother
William Miller, has $500 acres ad-
joining. The Miller lands were
sold to A. Bush, the Salem banker,
for $10.50 per acre. Major Worden
bought the property for $3.50 per
acre. After holding it about ten
years he sold off one-half the ranch
in 40 to 160-acre tracts at $40 to
$65 per acre. 1t grows wheat as
high as your shoulder. You can
count alfalfa stacks all over it by
the dozens, and herds of fat cattle.
A Few More Facts of Production.
We visited the S. B. Low ranch,
where last year $50 acres of alfalfa
cut TAO tons. On the Masten ranch,
Mr.. Parker, the manager, told us h
threshed 1000 bushels of wheat,
put up 1000 tons of alfalfa, cut
enough loose hay to winter 1870
horses, and all this on $40 acres,
with considerable in the sage brush. |
Is it any wonder that Major Wor
den, who has called a dreamer,
tenderfoot, rainbow-chaser, but |
who put every dollar he could get
hold of into land now owns half the !
country down here? Further, is il |
any wonder to hear him say: "Klam-
ath county will yet be the banner
county in agriculture in the state OF
Oregon.
The Secret of the Soil.
What is the wonderful secret of |
the productiveness of the klamath !
county soil? 1t is probably found |
in the statement that all the mineral |
and chemical qualities with which |
these soils have been endowed by |
nature in millions of years are still |
in the soil. In an almost rainless re- |
giOn, these phosphates and nitrogens |
are never washed out; cultivation |
does not eXhaus, he soil. 1t never |
rains on tn soil between seeding |
and the harvesting of the crop. Plow-
ing rs carried on with two and three |
gang plows and four to six horses
All the stubble fields are very rank.
and so TO 100 tons of barley and |
oats to the acre is not uncommon,
Many fields of wheat go 40 to 50 |
bushels to the acre. klamath coun
ty wheat has taken Worlds Fair
premiums several times. The wheat
grown here is principally medium
hard blue stem.
Electric FIGURING Mills.
The Touring mills at klamath
g.. alls are driven by electrical power
and have a capacity of about 1885,
600 bushels per annum. c. J. Mar
tin, the miller, informed us that the
entire production is sold locally, al
though some is being shipped out on
the railroad of late years. The elec
trio power line from klamath Falls
% miles to Bonanza and 20
miles further to Merrill, operating
large Touring mills as each place.
in fact Merrill is called the Flour
City of klamath basin. This cleo
trical power was installed last year
and is generated at the falls. The
same power will be used in the saw
mills and box factories that are be-
ing established on the upper lake.
1t is almost impossible TO estimate
the amount of power available at
klamath Falls, as the Link river,
about the size of the Willamette
above Eugene drops over 60 feet 4
between Upper and Lower Klamath !
lakes in a distance of about a mile.
Water Navigation.
There are practically so miles %
navigable water above and below
klamath Fallss In the movement
Of haavy freight and logs for thu
these waterways will al
ways be of incalculable value. The
lakes, which are now full of boats
four years ago had almost no means
Of transportation. Al that time.
Major WOrden' hired the only craft