70L. LX3V
INDIANAPOLIS JAN.   30, 1G09
NO   5
More About Washington.
By Geo. S. Cottman.
I,et no man who has built up a home
mid is doiug fairly well in Indiana be deluded by the notion that there is some-
it here else a laud of milk and honey
where he can do thrice as well. The
country is fairly flooded with boom literature from south, west and north which
dwells in superlative terms upon the wonderful soil, the delightful climate and
the dazzling opportunities of the various
sections. The truth seems to be that
when God created the earth he made few
sections that did not have some merits,
and the business of the land boomer is to
make the  most  of  these  merits. His
sins of omission yon discover when you
(To in person. If the soil is fertile you
hnd that advantage more than cancelled
by remoteness from markets and inadequate transportation. The "delightful
(limate," more than likely, takes all the
energy out of you and has diseases i e-
ouliar to itself; aud in spite of the alluring profits per acre which the boom literature proved by "facts and figures,"
>uu find people just as poor and working
just as hard as back home. It may be
set down as certain that you will find
drawbacks more or less serious which the
boomers have scrupulously failed to hint
of.
I spent ii season once in the famous
'Land of the Sky," among the mountains
of North Carolina. As a place to go fur
one's health it was worthy of its fame
but as a place wherein to live and do business it was a country victimized by one
railroad. This road, having all the
transportation in its own hands, did what
it pleased, when it pleased and as it
pleased. I have seen meat, which left
-Asheville fresh, delivered at a station
1" miles away after it was spoiled, and I
have seen boxes of fruit and other edibles
riiled of half their contents by the train
crews. An Indianapolis man who went
into the lumber business down there was
fairry driven out because of the miserable
and neglectful transportation service on
this road.
This being victimized by transportation
lines is not the least of the evils that beset the man who goes into a new country
to make a living. I knew a man who
tried apiculture down in Arizona. He
went into that business intelligently and
succeeded so far as getting honey was
concerned, but when it came to getting
his honey to market, he simply could not
do it. When the railroad had him at its
mercy it offered him a ruinously low price
for his output. He quit the business.
Another man who had a plantation in
eastern Florida told me that what with
transportation difficulties, and the handicaps imposed by others who handled his
fruits, he gave up the whole business in
disgust and now only uses his place as a
winter resort.
But all this is discursive. What I
started out to say was that the Pacific
coast states are now in the midst of an
energetic and contagious boom. Of
California, I know little, but every town
01 any size, seemingly, from southern
Oregon to northern Washington has its
commercial club that will, on the slightest provocation, fire at you by mail its
Pamphlet setting forth in glowing terms
tfie advantages that make its particular
•"cality  the pick  spot  of earth.      As a
matter of fact it is doubtful whether any
other section of the Union now in tlie
loom business can offer as many advantages as do tliese two states, and it is not
the purpose of this letter to decry them.
They are, I believe, destined to a great
future; but here, as elsewhere, what the
real estate men and other interested parties say is only part of the truth. In a
previous letter I spoke of the magnificent
fruit display on permanent exhibit iu the
Chamber of Commerce at Spokane. The
actual products of Washington as shown
side by side, like the lean aud fat in a
slice of bacon. In walking over a
twenty-acre tract on a crisp morning. I
have noted spots where there was scarce
any evidence of frost, and others where
the ground bristled with crystals of ice.
Within a radius of half a mile from my
place there are soils and subsoils ranging
from vegetable muck to sand, from sand
lo hnrdpan. and what does well in one
field is no indication of what will thrive
in the next. A limited region here about
is adapted to the    Concord    and kindred
A  Transportation   System  that  is  not yet Entirely   out of Date.
here and at the fruit fairs are apt to have
a rather intoxicating effect upon the visitor who is not quite content with smaller
results elsewhere; but there is another
side that it is well to know. On my
way from Spokane to Seattle I passed
through the famous Wenatchee country,
which is now being extensively advertised
as the ideal home of the apple, and where
land is now being sold, I believe, at fancy
prices. The chief part of the crop was
then gathered, but the trees that were
still laden with apples to the breaking
point showed what the soil here- is capable of. A narrow, irrigated strip along
the Columbia river was, perhaps, all
that the boomers claimed, but of the desolation that hemmed it in the boom literature said never a word.
The settled lands were little oases,
green and pleasant to look upon, but the
dreary treeless, rocky lands, bearing no
sign of life and no vegetation save the
gray, ashen sage-brush, ran away on
every hand to the farthest limit-of vision,
making a dreary desert picture not to be
forgotten. Along the roads the pulverized dust, shoe-mouth deep, arose in
clouds with every passing foot, and the
whole dun landscape seemed powdered
with dust. Nature, as if by a law of
compensation, has stored this unpromising soil with latent elements of rare fruit-
fulness; but he who lives here and converts these elements into a golden harvest
must pay the price.
Washington is, perhaps, one of the
"spottiest" countries on earth. Fertile
soil and sterile, warm soil and cold,    lie
varieties of grapes,    while over the hills
0 mile or two away, they do no good. A
lriend of mine in eastern Washington
writes me of.a tract being boomed there as
"natural fruit land, and the home of the
apple." All this is based upon one bearing orchard on the top lands adjoining,
the tract itself being black lowland. According to my correspondent, this rich,
fine-appearing soil is underlaid by an alkali subsoil that is fatal to fruitage
though the trees may grow and seem ta
be thriving. As hundreds of small tracts
have been sold to buyers who built their
little homes and set out orchards, in anticipation of future profits, there would
seem to be something of the tragic in
their faith.
All of which goes to show that the
homeseeker in this country who is a
stranger to its conditions, runs a perfect
gauntlet of risks, against which a word of
warning should be uttered. This does not
mean that I would advise one to keep
away from Washington.    On the contrary
1 repeat what I said before that no boom
section in the country can offer more advantages than this—only let no one be
lured by the bait, so often used, of five
or six hundred dollars annual profit off of
each acre of land owned. The probabilities are that your profit will not exceed
what your industry and capacity can
create in Indiana.
In a later letter, if this proves of interest, I may have more to say of the attractions of Washington as I have observed them. Ceo. S. Cottman.
Vaughn, Wash., Jan. 14.
Our  Agricultural Wealth.
According to the report of Secretary
Wilson recently issued, it is indeed very
1 ard for anyone to talk of the down trodden farmer, and some question whether it
is really needful for the Government to
engage in the uplift business on behalf of
the agriculturist. During the last year
the farm value of all farm productn
reached the extraordinary total of $7,-
778,000,000—four times the value of the
products of the mines, including mineral
oils and precious metals. It would take
eight billion dollar Congresses to dispose
of this sum. In  other words,  enough
money is now extracted out of the farms
of thecountry in a year to pay forrunniug
the Government for eight consecutive
years.
Broadly speaking the farmers of the
country are better off this year than in
previous years in two respects; the crops
are better than the average and the prices
are  much  higher. It  is   not  so  much,
however by reason of increased production this year that the farmers are better
eff as it is because of high prices.
And yet, with all the allurements of
such wealth on farms, the Government
officials have found it necessary to step
in to establish a remedy whereby country
1'fe may be made so pleasant as to keep
the boys and girls on the farm, and not
turn to the enchanting lights and witchcraft of the city, where as clerks, their
s; iaries of $10 and $12 a week, and little
cubby holes for lodging, are the reward,
instead of pure food, pure air and pure en
vironments of the country. The temptation to leave the country is great, but the
awakening is sad.
 s   s»   s
Wants Quick Pasture.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I have a field that was planted to corn
last year that I would like to sow in
something that will make pasture this
coming summer. I also want to sow this
feld iu bluegrass or something that will
make a permanent pasture. Any advice
you can give me will be thankfully received. C. F. A.
—You cannot expect much pasture next
summer from anythiug you can sow in
the spring. You should have sown rye or
vetch last fall. They would have made
some good forage in May. If your soil is
fertile, clover will give some good pasture
in late summer. Sow quite early, about
12 pounds per acre. Oats might help
you out.
Important Bills.
A bill will be presented before the
House for the enactment of an inheritance tax law. It provides for a graduated scale of income tax depending upon the degree of the relationship of the
beneficiaries and the amount of property
involved.
Two bills were introduced in the Senate
for the protection of game, and fish, and
a third fixes a penalty for those who hunt
and fish on private grounds without permission. A bill for the adolition of the
open season on quail for a period of five
years was introduced.
Also a bill making it unlawful to fish in
any of the streams from February 1 to
June 15,    but not including the lakes.
Our Indiana Farmer's Account Books
are still in good demand, and we are filling orders for them on the day they are
received. A copy ought to be in the
desk of every farmer; price only 25 cents.