The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1912-11-07

N. Yakima, Wash.
Sunday, Sept. %, 1912.

very smoothly in my room since De-
gan and tho pupils seem to be very
bright ano industrious so far. we had
no school Tuesday, it being primary
election day. We get ali the legal
Eastern holidays and in addition are
paid for fhe Friday after Thanksgiving,
Institute week and Xmas and Easter
vacations, SO we receive 4 weeks pay
for 8 weeks work in Sept. and also in
Dec.
Washington women have been al
lowed suffrage but not for all elections
till this fall, when general suffrage
was permitted them, so it is somewhat
amusing to listen to some OF the re-
ports of women at the primaries last
Tuesday.
The Friday before my school opened
we drove out to hop ranch. There
are so acres in the ranch owned by 3
Ohio men, and looked after by Mr..
Brooking here On the camping
ground are Y tents occupied by over
$50 people all picking hops. We
walked from one end of the ranch to
the other and saw Japs and Indians
picking along with many whites; then
we went through the drying and pack
| ing rooms. The pickers are paid a
dollar box, each box holding s barrels
of hops. Some pick = and some y
boxes day. A man oversees the NIL
ing OF the boxes and as each box is
filled the owner receives check good
for dollar. There are all classes as
well as races working in that yard
street car men, clerks, book keepers
and wives of prominent business men
all "enjoy it" and call it their va
cation" Employers give their en-
ployees their annual vacation about
this time. AT the fruit ranch where
Mr.. butcher oversees for the county
auditor, are = employees from the
court house who "are enjoying their
vacation" picking pears those days.
This is indeed rich valley. Twenty
five years last April they celebrated
their silver jubilee. Before 1887, va
kima Valley in southeastern Washing
ton was, virtually, unknown except to
those resident in the extreme N. Pa
citc coast country. Today it is one of
the best known valleys in the entire
U. S., and is well and favorably known
in many of the foreign countries. One
man near this city shipped consign-
ment of HOO boxes of pears to London
and has signed a contract calling for
24O0 boxes of apples to Lagos, Africa,
along the upper Guinea country.
One word expresses this transforma-
ton and that neutrality-suspicious. re.
sponsible for much of the development
of the West in general in the last
quarter century.
Until recently the words irrigation
and reclamation were novel ones to
most Of US, although those somewhat
versed in world history knew for what
they stood.
So important has irrigation been
that within the past years the govern
ment has taken part in the work of
reclaiming vast tracts of land where
conditions seemed to indicate'the gov
eminent as the proper agency to per-
form the work. Here in this valley
the government projects have accom-
plished some great results.
The land is watered by the Yakima
river which has its source, primarily,
in Lakes Keechelus, Kachess and
Clealum in the Cascade mountains. 1t
flows in a generally south easterly
direction TO the Columbia river near
Kennewick and Pasco and its total
length is not far from 200 miles.
This region is composed largely OF
disintegrated lava, poured out in pre-
historic ages in successive flows from
assures in the earth--not from volcanic
vents.
The soil seems totally unlike the soil
OF the eastern states, but like the
delta Of the Nile it is fertile and ex-
haustless. 1t is dark gray soil, easily
worked and as absorbent as a sponge,
and can retain vast amount of mois-
ture when in cultivation. People re-
fer to the soil as like the volcanic
ashes of Sicily which is said to produce
wheat for over 2000 years, and it is
said that with proper care the soil inn
proves as years go by.
The general climate of this valley
varies with the altitude, being warm
est at Kennewic (alt. 37S ft,) and cool
est in the E,lensburg section (alt. 1900
IT, No matter how warm the days are
the evenings and mornings are cool
enough for wraps.
The Yakima river is the source of
all the irrigation water including the
government reclamation project, and
as the great supply of rrigating water
is needed in summer, they have re-
servoirs of storage water at Lakes
CleaIum, Kachess, Keechelus, Pump
ing Lake and Nc Allister Meadows.
The reservoir at the last named is 100
feet high and has storage capacity
sufficient to water $4,000 acres foot
deep.
Very little rainfall in this valley
the annual rainfall dependent to n
considerable degree upon altitude,
varies from less than inches around