The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1911-02-09

"A
. :. letter from Al. Sears, of Mt. Yer
non the capital of the rlch SkagIt
Valley. Mr.. Sears evidently used 10
live in Kansas. and Judging from his
letter was credulous enough % b.
Iieye much the real estate men #
tnat state tell about it. However, Mr.
Scars letter tells 50 much that is true
that it is well worth printing Amt
the things that he is mistaken about
are so self evident. that | almost
fancy he intended that no one should
believe them. For instance:
He talks about our eight months
winters. That is SO prepostef3''s that
it sounds like Mark Twain Joke. Til
winters seem long because We have
so much dark, drizziy weather, Dut
statistics show that the state OF New
York. in some localities, has more
rain than the Puget Sound country
And. statistics show that We have
more than zoo days of bright sun
shine.
Again in talking of the dairying in
| dustry he says to ask Gail Borden 0r
the Carnation condensed milk people,
and that they will tell you there $
little nutrition in our acknowledgement
grass. That also must be a Joke. Ger
tanly if Kansas people were to ask
those people they would come 10 jha
Sound country to ask them. There are
more condensed milk and butter lac
tories to the square mile i'll Puget
Sound country than there are 10 he
township in Kansas. Isn't it rather
peculiar that these people shoul1
keep right on locating factories i'll a
section where there was no nutrition
in the grass.
Then there is that slam, about our
iruit-but pshaw, it is all good any
way. He admits all of those thinss
that some easterners doubt, and de-
MES only those things about which
there is no question. Mr.. Sears let-
ter is not only splendid adyertise-
ment for the Skagit, but it is bet
ter one for the Nooksack valley Tor
here We do not need to dyke our
rivers. He says: " =. J
There are a lot of Kans1m ar
here. Most OF them are pfosps,tYs
and contented. There seems to pe IN
undefinable something in the Eoh-
west, particularly along the Goa,
that lays hold of people whoR nae
lived here for season, and they ae
never satisfied away from herd, Thv
return home to the Middle WeSt, al
come back again-even from Kan.s.
And yet there is no reason unir
the sun why man who is fairly vel
situated in Kansas should ever wit
to come here to remain. He #mht
do as well, but it is an nxceptioal
case where he would do Detters lie
real secret of our strong hold un
the people who remain here a Spells
the wonderful summer, off tlr
months duration. Nothing excepr
Methodist's conception of Heaan
can equal it. And the other eat
months are like an old-time PltitG's
conception of the other place, pxc9t
that there is considerable mort rn
and darkness and gnashing of fteeh
] despise the long winters. Ard y Ht
they are not really winters; it IS one
long, dark, oozing, raw, spell ~ he
cussedest. meanest temperatufg you
ever experienced. By Christm& the
earth is covered with slop and lMd
and before the first of April it GETS
up in the very Sky. IL
The stories Of the big crops not
exaggerated. | have seen l07 hpsAels
of wheat grown to the acre, ORr on
WILDLY island, 80 miles from }herc;
and | have seen 167 bushels the
finest oats that ever grew prodlEed u
each acre of field of twenty Facres,
while 1875 is a normal yield. Know
of one farm in the Skagit fl$fs, in
this county, which this year predlCed
a net profit to the owner of $4,000.
and the crops grown were haY tat
$22.50 per ton, six tons to the eEacre)
and oats C50 bushels to the akre, at
$50 a toni. But the land is baluei
at $4O0 an acre. And it is wpth it.
In it's raw state it was coveree with
giant cedar trees from three to ten
feet thick at the base and Covered
the ground every thirty or forty feet
apart. Between these was a Growth
of vine maple and scrub, fallen logs
and chuck holes full of water.I The
land was swampy. When thk land
was cleared, the cedar was considered
worthless timber. and was BURIED on
the ground. This was some twenty-
five years ago. After this came the
grubbing out of the stumps with
giant powder and the picking " and
piling in great stacks with the aid oi
donkey engines, the process entailing
an expense OF $3.50 an acre. Then
followed the drainage problem-get-
ting rid of the surface water that
covered thhis flat overflow land from
the Skagit river delta. For where
this great fertile area of land lnow is
was at comparatively recent period
a great tideflat, and it is but Jan i'm
mense bar filled with giant cedar logs