The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1928-12-27
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: LETTERS OF THE PEOPLE .
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Dear Ralph:

I've just come back from the
Coast. You know the place-it's
bound on one side by the Cascade
mountains and on the other by a
more or less peaceful ocean. Fam
GUS? Gracious yes! If my obser-
vations are correct, as dumping
ground for all the surplus rain,
fog and drizzle that would other
wise dim the God-given sunshine
for which Kennewick lis justly fam
GUS. I'll be darned if i can under
stand why anyone who has lived
in this valley should pine for what
that section of North America has
to offer unless it be scenery and
/ haven't found a way to grind
that into Cream of wheat" as yet.
Seriously tho, I'm not worrying
about competition in most of our
agricultural products from West
ern Washington. They might
hand US a jolt in some lines such
as head lettuce, berries or Hyacinth
bulbs. But if you are thinking Of
dairyintg, why pine for the pine
trees. Gee, gosh, | almost said
sstumps')
/ saw coolies of common cows all
hunched into equilateral triangles
the better to shed the ever recur-
rent precipitation while they hust-
led some chow among stumps,
slashings and ferns. What Ken
newick needs is deeper apprecia-
ton of our own natural blessings,
some good dairymen, a lot of new
ambition and prophet or two to
lead us out of the wilderness.
The farmers of this famous
coastal section have long realized
that dairying offered distinct OPP
portunities. Not that it was easy
money, for there are certain dis
tinct disadvantages, such as long
wet winters, necessitating elabor-
ate buildings (and even these do
not entirely obviate the difficulties
such as disease, mud and reduced
Vitality Kennewick farmers do
not have to meet these conditions
and our costs are immediately and
substantially reduced. They have
another disadvantage, the almost
total lack of ensilage and legum-
nous forage crops. Gosh, how we
have raised those things in the
past and how we still do it, pro-
vided we farm properly!
/ used to be foolish enough to
imagine they had something on us
with their vast acres of native
pasture. One of their county agents
said proudly that, under ideal con-
ditions, (notice specifically "ideal")
they could handle two cows on
every three acres but he didn't
say how many months out of the
year. / would hazard a guess, that
assuming there wasn't too much
rain .or not enough rain or that
it didn't get too hot and burn theI
pasture they could feed 'em good
for seven months at the most.
Piffle! we can do better than that!
We can make our pastures carry
one COW per acre for at least nine
or ten months of the year. BY
purchasing some concentrates, our
dairy farms can approach the re-
cord of the British isles, where
they consistently contrive to ham
die as many as fifty cows on for
ty acres.
What started the dairy industry
in Western Washington? A good
market. Rapidly growing cities
and plenty of them. Demanded
mand-demand-for the product.
And that demand will increase. Sc
attic is growing at the rate of
one hundred thousand every year.
And here is a secret, Ralph. They
don't even hint at this feature,
they leave you TO make your own
deductions. They are rapidly out
growing their available product
i've agricultural area. And there
are two reasons for this. First,
certain sections are proving more
valuable for certain highly special
lied products and again, under
present conditions, they cannot af-
ford to clear the logged-off lands.
Competition from "over the noun
tains" is too keen. You see we can
develop a new, farm far quicker
and cheaper than they can and
doggoned if we can't ruin one
quicker using average farm prac-
tees. We are rapidly crawling
upon our western brothers mar
ket handicap. We have passed the
day of five mile an hour transpor-
tation. ala the OLE Gray Mare
and we now think in terms of
fifty miles an hour and gaze sky
ward at the prospect of one hun
dred and twenty-five miles per
hour with absolute equinamity.
Shall Z risk a prophecy and envis-
ion, within five years, tank trucks
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