Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1913-04-24

seen all Ol lne DbSl pd'lS OF lne
United States, and who has no prop
erty for sale in southern Oregon.)
A new word has been introduced
into the English language. the word
boomer" signifying one who
'booms," unduly blooms" or extols
a certain region for the purpose of
inducing immigration. Loud and
deep have been the anathemas hurled
at his devoted head by his victims
who have by his representation been
induced to abandon good homes to
reach a fortune in land known to
them only through the boomers cir
cular. The boomer cannot be too
strongly condemned; but the victim
is not blameless. If a man has
good home, pleasant surroundings
and the means of gaining comfort
able livelihood he deserves no pity
if he rashly abandons his certainty to
seek fortune in uncertain fields.
Yet there is a feeling of unrest
among the people of certain portions
of our country. Where shall we go
to escape the dreaded cyclones that
have devastated so many portions of
the east? Where to avoid the long,
cold winters that consumed the hard
earnings of the summer? Where
shall we find climate that is neith-
er too hot nor too cold, and soil
that will give us honest seturns for
our labors? are the questions that
are agitating many of our small
farmers and men of moderate means
on the Atlantic slope. 1t is difficult
&c find a location that combines all
the advantages with none of the
drawbacks, nor can we expect to find
bananas and icebergs growing side
by side; but we claim to have found
a land where any reasonable man
ought to be satisfied. We do not
claim that fame and fortune will i'm
mediately and invariably follow the
turning up of the virgin soil; we do
rot even intimate that a man can sit
down in idleness and expect that the
promise of the unfailing seed time
and harvest will fill his barns and
granaries and cause his presses to
flow with new wine. No, we claim
nothing of the kind; we simply claim
to have found a land where the cy-
clone has never come, where the
frost king only comes to gently kiss
sleeping nature that her awakening
may be made more sweet, where the
grateful soil in response to faithful
labor pours into the lap of the hus-
bandman a most bountiful harvest
OF the best things of earth, a land
where for the multitude Of its ad-
vantages as compared with its draw
backs has no superior within the
limits of our republic.
A third of a century ago southern
Oregon was almost unknown, though
rumors of its beauty it's fertility and
its mineral wealth had reached the
outside world through the hardy
trappers who found here a rich hunt
ing ground With the discovery of
gold in California there came a rush
of prospectors invading these hither-
TO almost unexplored valleys and
mountains in search of the precious
metal. Rich placer mines were found
IN Jackson and Josephine counties,
and the influx of population incident
upon such discoveries created de-
mand for the necessaries Of life, and |
in answer to that demand the agri-
cultural capacities of the country
were rapidly developed. The great
distance from arket made IL unprofit-
able to produce more than sufficient |
for home consumption, so that the |
supply was limited to the few prod
ucts necessary to sustain a mining
community. Only recently have the
settlers begun to realize the capaci- !
ties of their soil and climate. The
beautiful valleys. nesting like gems
IL their mountain settings, yield
cereals, vegetables and fruits in the
greatest profusion. while even the
foothills, formerly considered only fit
1Cr pasturage, are found to produce
the finest kind of grapes, peaches,
piums, prunes, cherries and other
small fruits.
A year ago the inaccessibility of
these valleys caused the farmers to
doubt the profitableness of attempt
ing agricultural or fruit growing op-
eI eIations except on the most limited
scale; but within the past few
months the completion to Ashland
Of the Oregon & California railroad
has opened to them the. whole world
as their market. AS an immediate
result the country is being rapidly
settled up, thousands of fruit trees
ere being planted. and southern Ore
son bids fair to rival If not outstrip