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THE RHNCH
ONE
DOLLAR
A
YEAR
WEEKLY
VOL. 1. NO. 21.
PROSPECTS.
Now the weeds. How foolish it is,
when one has a soil virtually free from
all harmful weeds, to permit the few
that do creep in to multiply and be
come a troublesome and costly pest.
The general statement on this subject
among arid land irrigation farmers is,
"There are no weeds here," and some
of them seem to believe it so fully that
they don't see the weeds when they do
get in, until they are so increased that
they have become a veritable barri
cade against the crop. Then the al
leged farmer wakes up and discovers
that there really were some very bad
weeds in the field. One anarchist does
little harm, but a host of his like be
come very troublesome. The new
farmer on the clean irrigation land
should take this lesson to heart and
keep his clean land clean of weeds
from the start. Thorough weeding
means thorough cultivation, and vice
versa. And only by thorough cultiva
tion from the beginning to the end of
the season can we hope for a full crop.
Slipshod farming never did pay and
never will pay, even in the most fertile
soil.
* * *
About all summer weather is "favor
able" in the irrigation country. Sir
John Bennett Lawes, the noted Eng
lish farmer who was knighted for his
important work in agricultural investi
gations, and who has set apart $500,
--000 for the continuation of his work
at Rothamstead, says that the weather
is the most important condition in ag
riculture. On favorable or unfavor
able weather hangs all the prospects
of a crop. Soil may be perfection as
to fertility and tilth,exposure,aeration,
drainage, sunshine and shade; yet if
the amount of rain is too much or too
little, failure to some degree follows as
surely as harvest time comes; fail
ure, at least in producing the crop pos
sible if the weather had been c< ntroll
able. An agricultural Caesar well
might say, Give me control of the
weather—the rainfall —and I will con
trol the whole world.
# ;.■-;, #.; »
Thus it follows that ou irrigated
land, with an adequate supply of wa
ter, a fertile soil and almost continu
ous sunshine, the farmer enjoys an al
most immeasurable advantag-e over
A Journal of The Land and The Home in The New West.
JUNE 9, 1894.
his rain-country competitor. He is in
deed the Ca;sar among agriculturists.
Sunshine. Fertility. Moisture. These
are his to command. Only the degree
of his intelligence in combining these
all-powerful means, and his eiv.rgy,
measure the results in crop pro
duction. To a farmer in the east, de
pendent upon rain for a crop, the inde
pendence of the irrigation farmer is at
first quite incomprehensible, and the
all-important fact is appreciated only
by slow degrees, and wholly compre
hended only after a season's experi
ence in actual irrigation work.
All of the arid region from Mexico
to Washing-ton possesses these condi
tions of agriculture in some measure;
but the Inland Empire —central Wash
ing-ton, southern Idaho and eastern
Oreg-on —possesses them in higher de
gree, and none more so than Yakima.
Our high northern latitude gives us a
greater number of hours of sunshine
in the growing- season. The soil is of
the best grade of fertile volcanic ash,
so famous as the basis of the most
fertile soils of the world in other lands;
and here it has the further advantage,
like all of the great basin drained by
the Yakima, Columbia and Snake riv
ers, of having- had the beneficent dis
integrating effect of water throug-h un
told ag-es acting- upon it to make its
fertility more available, and adding- to
it valuable organic matter, Here and
there are outcroppings of the coarse
gravel of the drift formation, but over
the greater portion of the territory
the priceless old lake silt lies in vast
banks of stored fertility from a few
feet to nearly a hundred feet in depth,
all "soil," from surface to bedrock.
It takes a railroad company a long
while to make up its mind as to what
constitutes "satisfactory rates" for
the shipment of fruits. Satisfactory
rates were promised at the Spokane
meeting last winter. At a meeting- of
the Walla Walla horticultural society
last month the same subject came up.
The report of the committee on re
duction of rates reported that the
Union Pacific had "made certain con
cessions which were considered favor
able, although no established rate had
been made." Railroad Agent Bissel
was present and said that he was
authorised to promise refrigerator i-ars
to run with regular passenger trains,
Weekly #1.00 a Year.
Monthly edition SOo a Year.
and every facility for the prompt for
warding of fruits. Satisfactory rates
would be given by his company for this
season's crop, but he was not prepared
to establish the rate." And that's
about the way the thing- seems to
stand all around. It is about time
that the roads which were going- to do
so much last winter began showing
their hands. Fruit growers want to
know just where they "are at."
* * *
Wisconsin is one of the most enter
prising states in the Union in an agri
cultural way. It has one of the best
managed and most useful experiment
stations; it gave the first great impetus
to the farmers' institute idea; it holds
successful state fairs without the "ag
ricultural hoss trot;" it maintains one
of the most active and effective dairy
ing- associations; and likewise of hor
ticultural societies. Wisconsin's leg
islatures arc largely made up from
the ranks of the farmers, and it has
had within the last few years no less
than three prominet governors chosen
by farmers, the predominating class
of the state, from among their own
number—Taylor, Rusk and Hoard. Is
it asked what gave to agriculture this
prominence in the Badger state?
Simply the cow and the creamery.
That is to say, the wealth of the state
has largely come from that source;
the intelligence of the state has been
directed along the line of dairying.
The ability and the perseverance of
the men engaged in that business have
placed the industry at the head of the
list, and have made agriculture profit
able and fashionable. These remarks
are suggested by a single item re
garding the recent act of one of the
prominent counties of the state. At a
session of the board of county com
missioners on May 25 an appropriation
of $60,000 wa.s made for the purchase
of county fair grounds. The citizens
of the place where the fair is to be
held agree to put $20,000 into buildings
and other improvements for the fair.
Do the people of this part of the coun
try appreciate the importance of the
agricultural interest to its future?
The dairy may not do as much for
the arid region as it has done for Wis
consin, but it may (i<> much. Then we
have other interests that may do as
much or more. The point is, the fact
must be kept prominently in mind that
THE
TRUTH
IS
ENOUGH
