destroyed by fire, wild pea-vine grows in great abundance, furnishing most excellent pasturage for stock. But it is in Middle Oregon, especially in the southeastern portion of it, that the most extensive natural pasturage is found. It is estimated that the pastureground there comprises about 33,000,000 acres. A great variety of native grasses grow in this vast region. Amongst these the "bunch grasses," so called by the stockmen because they grow in tufts, have the highest reputation. Three kinds are distinguished, which are Agropyrum repens, Sclerochloa Californica, and Koeleria cristata (blue bunch grass). In short, Oregon, as a whole, is a very fine grazing country. Stock generally obtain green pasturage all winter. WATER SUPPLY.-What is stated in the foregoing, under the head "Climate," regarding the regularity and copiousness of rain in Western Oregon, accounts in the largest measure for the fact that it is one of the bestwatered regions in the Union. The snow in the high mountains is another unfailing source of supply, from which all the streams arising in the Cascade Mountains are regularly fed during the warm season. Fine springs abound. Nowhere in Western Oregon is there a scarcity of water. But in certain parts of the country east of the Cascade Mountains the supply is insufficient. The vast water-power of Western Oregon will be described in the subsequent chapter on Commerce and Industry. FISHERIES. The lakes, rivers, streams, and creeks of Oregon, beyond the reach of tide-water, teem with trout of superior quality. In some rivers in South-eastern Oregon the sucker-fish is found in immense quantities; also in the Willamette. The Columbia River and other rivers emptying into the ocean abound with salmon and sturgeon: while tom cod, flounders, and other kinds of sea fish are caught along the coast. Oysters, clams and mussels, crabs and shrimps, are found at Tillamook and Yaquina Bays, and other points on the coast. Oysters, which are small, but of excellent quality, abound at Yaquina Bay. They are dredged from the deeper water and put out to fatten in shallow beds, which are left almost dry at low water. They are shipped in large quantities to San Francisco. Trout and salmon of several species constitute an article of trade, but the former as yet only to a limited extent. The salmon-fisheries of the Columbia River, however, are of great commercial importance. The fishing season begins in April, and is over by the end of July. The fish are taken in tide-water by nets and traps in immense quantities as they ascend the river fresh from the ocean. They are cured fresh in one and two pound cans, and cured by pickle in barrels and half-barrels. The Columbia salmon is very fat, and of peculiarly fine flavour.* Salmon-fishing is also carried on at the mouths of the Rogue, Umpqua, Coquille, and Nehalem Rivers, where the catches, however, serve principally to supply the home consumption. A fish-hatching establishment, intended mainly for raising the Chinook salmon (Salmo quinnat), is in full operation on the Clackamas, having been established by the Oregon and Willamette Fish Propagating Company. At the end of July white or salmon trout of excellent quality ascend the rivers, such as the Yaquina, in great numbers, and are very easily caught. * OREGON SALMON, as prepared for the markets of the world, was exhibited at the Centennial of 1876, and awarded medals and diplomas, "for," in the words of the judges, approved by the Commissioners, "in cans, very great excellence, the preparation being wonderfully sound, and of choice flavour." "Pickled, a very excellent preparation." Again, "for good flavour and soundness." GAME. It would be difficult to find a finer field for the sportsman than Oregon. In all the valleys of the State deer abound, but are of course most abundant in the wilder districts. There are four species: the whitetailed deer (Cervus leucurus), black-tailed deer (C. Columbianus), mule deer (C. macrotus), and the large wapiti deer (C. Canadensis), or, as it is called invariably in the west, the elk. The elk and mule deer are local, in the State, whilst the white and black-tailed deer seem more widely spread. There are plenty of deer in the Yaquina Valley, and the settlers use them as a regular source of food. All the deer have their regular annual migrations. In the Cascade Mountains they go back into the wilder heights during summer and move lower down in the beginning of autumn. Many are shot on these migrations by hunters posted at known passes. A young hunter at Camp Polk, on the east of the Cascade Mountains, told me that he shot 150 deer in one winter, killing them principally for their skins, which fetch about $1 apiece. We had some excellent venison from the black-tails when amongst the Cascade Mountains. In the Yaquina district these deer are usually hunted by hounds, being driven to take to water in a stream and there shot, the places to which they will probably run being known beforehand. On the plains east of the Cascade Mountains antelopes (Antilocapra Americana) are abundant. Quails and various species of the grouse family, known in Oregon as the grouse (Tetrao obscurus), the pheasant (Bonasa Sabinii), the prairie-chicken (Pediocoetes phasianellus) and the sage-hen (Centrocercus urophasianus), abound, are very easily obtained, and are excellent eating, though the sage-hen feeding on the bitter sage of the eastern plains is only good when young, or at certain seasons. In the autumn wild geese and ducks swarm along many of the water-courses. Wild swans are very numerous on the lakes and rivers of South-eastern Oregon. The Cascade and Coast Ranges and the minor chains are frequented by beavers, yellow and silver foxes, mink, and marten. Black, cinnamon, and grizzly bears, wildcat, wolf, and the cougar, or puma, roam in these mountains. Of the larger game, however, only deer visit the inhabited portions of the State. PRODUCTS. Western Oregon is unquestionably one of the finest farming countries in the United States. In its rich soil and mild climate almost every kind of agricultural product grown in the temperate zone in America and Europe can be raised, and attains a perfection, both as to size and quality, that is rarely found in other parts of the Union, not even excepting California. GRAIN.* The leading staple of Oregon is wheat, which is noted for its superior quality and large yield, and commands a high price in the grain markets of the world. The berry is very fair and full, often weighing from 65 to 69 lbs. to the bushel measurement, and commanding very high prices in the Liverpool market. English wheat is reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel. The following quotations of the prices of wheat in the Liverpool market in the winter of 1875 show the high standard attained by Oregon samples:— * Several medals and diplomas were awarded by Centennial Commissioners to Oregon exhibitors for fifteen varieties of wheat, five of oats, white rye in grain, with straw nine feet high; again, "ninety-day white wheat," grain and sheaf raised upon land neither ploughed nor harrowed, and yielding thirty bushels per acre. Also upon Oregon flour and oatmeal, all of excellent quality. The standard Next in importance to wheat rank oats. weight for oats in Oregon is thirty-six pounds per bushel; but the country is so well adapted to their growth, that the weight of forty-five, even of fifty, pounds to the bushel is often reached. Barley is also successfully raised. Maize is grown in many localities with success, but is not made a speciality, the average summer being too cool for its successful culture. The relative local productiveness varies in Oregon, as everywhere else, according to the nature of the soil, and the more or less skilful cultivation. High cultivation is extremely rare. Indeed, as a rule, the ground is not manured at all, receives a very shallow ploughing, is given no rotation of crops; in a word, is very badly farmed. In the report of the U.S. Commissioners of Agriculture for 1875 the product for each principal crop in Oregon is given as follows: OREGON. Average Number of Value per Total Valuation. Quantity 1875. Acre. |