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remarkably and of fine quality ; but some seasons they blossom and do not bear, and yet 
not killed by the frost. Apples yield from 100 to 300 bushels per acre, the trees being yet 
small, though the crop is sure every year. 
In Douglas all kinds of fruit suited to the temperate zone succeed well ; 
apples, pears, and plums better than in the Mississippi valley ; peaches and 
cherries not so well. The yield is abundant and the fruit fine ; but as yet there 
is no market, and the surplus is fed to the hogs. 
WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 
_ 1. From Washington Territory, occupying the northwestern extreme of the 
republic, north of Oregon and south of British Columbia, our returns include 
Clallam, the most northern, and Pacific, the most southern county ; Wahkiacum 
and Clarke, (back of Pacific, on the Oregon border,) and Walla-Walla, a large 
county in the southeast. Owing to the decline of mining operations in British 
Columbia and the high tariff upon produce imported into Victoria, the price of 
farm land has decreased 50 per cent.since 1860. In Pacific there has been 
little or no change. Improved land is worth $10 per acre, chiefly confined to 
river bottoms. ‘There is an increase of about 50 per cent. in Wahkiacum and 
25 per cent. in Clarke, though in a few instances in the latter there has been a 
decline, owing to the freshets in the Columbia river. Walla-Walla reports an 
increase of 50 per cent. also, making the average increase of 25 per cent. for the 
counties reporting. 
2. The average value of wild or unimproved lands in Clallam is $1 25 per 
acre, covered with a dense growth of heavy timber. When cleared the high 
land is capable of producing good crops of wheat, oats, barley, &c., and the low 
lands will yield, in addition to the cereals, abundant crops of hardy vegetables. 
The same average price rules in Pacific ; land said to be of little value except for 
timber. Lands entered, but unimproved, in Wahkiacum have advanced 50 per 
cent. since 1860. There is still much government land in this county; but it 
is generally hilly and covered with fir timber, which will not pay for clearing. 
The settled land is chiefly valley—heavy, rich alluvial soil, suited to the cereals 
and vegetables. Clarke county averages $1 25 per acre and Walla-Walla $2, 
the former mostly uneven and heavily timbered with fir; soil about second 
quality; no vacant prairie land. In the latter county the land is prairie, good 
for wheat and splendid for grazing. There is a vast quantity of government 
land remaining for sale or. subject to entry under the homestead laws or sol- 
dier’s warrants in this Territory. 
3. In the counties named no mineral resources of consequence, except coal, 
have been developed as yet. Coal is said to exist in large quautities in some 
localities. ‘Timber is abundant. Our Clallam reporter says : 
The whole of this county, with the exception of about 3,500 acres of open land, is cov- 
ered with a first-rate quality of timber, the principal part of which is red fir; the next in 
quantity being cedar, white pine, spruce, maple, and hemlock. The red fir* that is within 
easy hauling distance of the salt water is being rapidly taken to the adjoining county and 
manufactured into lumber. iia 
In Pacific the tide-land spruce furnishes excellent timber for shipbuilding, in 
‘addition to which there is an abundance of fir, hemlock, and cedar timber; but 
as yet little has been done to make it a source of revenue. In speaking of 
resources of the soil, our Wahkiacum reporter says : 
The valley land is almost inexhaustible. I have examined it down 10 feet and found it 
about as rich as it is at the surface. In the valley the principal timber is soft maple, alder, 
with scattering spruce, very thick underbrush. It costs from $25 to $50 per acre to clear it. 
4. Beef and wheat are the staple productions of Walla-Walla county, its 
extended prairies furnishing a rich grazing region. Our Clarke reporter writes 
as follows : 
Wheat, hay, and apples are our chief crops. Wheat is cultivated by nearly all the farm- 
ers; average yield about 25 bushels per acre; yield of the county this year, (1867,) 75,000, 
