The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1910-07-08
AT HOME.
Mates from the Captains Log on the
the HOneward Voyage Of the
Good Ship "Prairie Hen"

One of the principal delights
of travelling in far away places is
the pleasure of getting home
again-Of once more mingling in
familiar scenes and being again
surrounded with familiar faces.
1t is splendid thing to get away
from the monOtony and burden
of the daily grind-it is nearly
as good a thing to getback to it.
The Herald family started on
the last leg of it's homeward
cruise when it left kennewick,
Wash, after d two weeks visit
with our daughter, Mrs. Showers,
in a newly opened up fruit re-
gion, in the well-known Yakima
valley. While in that region we
visited our brOtherinlaw, Fred
Molm, who is located at Sunny
side. in a fruit and alfalfa cOun-
try. We have before mentioned
the wonderful effects of water
upon this arid land. To any
one accustomed to the rich,
black loan of our prairie coun
try, this white, barren-looking
soil has peculiarly unpromis-
ing aspect, and one jumps to the
conclusion that it must be worth
less for any vegetable growth.
Before the construction of
the irrigating ditch this is liter
ally true, as in places there ism t
enough wholesome vegetation
growing upon hundred acres of
it to r-feed a nanny goat, but
as soon as the irrigating ditch
gets in it's work on this volcanic
ash soil, three and four heavy
cuttings of alfalfa and often
two crops of vegetables may be
produced in season, and the
cherry, peach, pear, plum, apple
apricot. grape, and in fact all the
temperate zone fruits flourish.
Lest the reader may imagine
from what we have said that the
turning of the water tap is all
that is required to get a harvest
of the fruits mentioned, we want
to state right here that the fruit
raising business is not a lazy
man 5 job, but success in this
industry, as in almost all others,
means lots of hard work, CON
stant care, and a degree of skill
that can only be acquired by eX-
perience, but when these condi-
tiOnS are met and the market is
not overstocked it is generally a
paying proposition. These
Washington irrigated fruit lands,
when in producing order, are
held at high tigure>-the $1,000
an acre land being moderate
price for promising orchard,
even before it is in bearing or
| der.
After leaving eastern Washing
ton we spent week in the Puget
Sound cities of Seattle and Bel
lingham. At the former place
we met Mr.. and Mrs. Lou Ranous
and Mr.. and Mrs. George Mer-
ritt. Both of these families we
found in excellent health and
spirits, and anxious to hear about
old Milbank friends. Seattle is a
fine, growing city, though just at
present there is complaint OF
a Stacking up of business "a
complaint we found quite general
throughout the coast country
While at Seattle we made an ex
cursion to Bremerton, the U. S
naval station. where we boarded
some of Uncle Sam $ war YES
sells and examined these floating
batteries. The old battleshir
Oregon, that made the famous
run from the Pacific waters
around Cape Horn, to join the
Atlantic fleet at the breaking out
of the Spanish American war
was lying at anchor in the bay
and is being dismantled the
improvements in naval construc
ton during the past few years
being such that however good q
boat she may have been in hel
day, she is now considered OBJ
solete, and as fighting machine
would be worthless in combat
with later built craft battle
ships, like prize ring heroes, have
their little day and then are
towed back into the bay OF
Hasbeens, and are never brought
back The transport Dix. al
immense hulk, was in dry dock
the day we were there, getting
the barnacles removed and 9
fresh coat of paint put on hel
sides. The cruisers Colorado
WASHINGTON and PENNSYLVANIA