OREGON. 



700 



ing operations, both east and west, have put 

 into cultivation large tracts of land whu-h 

 hithorto were unproductive and worthless. So 

 also in the Polk and Benton Hills. The present 

 value of Willamette Valley farms is bound to 

 be maintained, and, although not desirable, the 

 indications are that they will go very much 

 higher especially in the eastern portion of 

 Lane, Linn, and Marion, where a narrow-gauge 

 railroad is projected from Springfield, in Lane 

 County, to Salem. At present, the value of 

 lands in this stretch of country, 75 miles in 

 length, is 35 to 50 per cent, less than in the 

 western portions of the same counties. A 

 greater progress in value, however, has taken 

 place in the Walla Walla Valley and dis- 

 tricts around the same. In 1868 improved 

 land, which now sells there at $20 to $25 per 

 acre, was sold for $2.50 per acre, and in 1873 

 the same land was selling at $8 per acre. All 

 along eastern Oregon and eastern Washington 

 Territory, up as far as Lowiston, an advance 

 in values of farm-lands has been maintained, 

 although not to the same extent as in the Walla 

 Walla Valley. Improved agricultural lands sell 

 in the Lewiston and Palouse Valley districts 

 for $6 to $10 per acre. In the Umpqua Valley, 

 in southwestern Oregon, good farming lands 

 prior to the opening of the railroad to Rose- 

 burg wore selling at $5 to $6 per acre ; they 

 now find purchasers at $15 to $16, and fre- 

 quently $20 per acre. In southern Oregon 

 there has been little advance during the past 

 ten years. In some cases, owing to local cir- 

 cumstances, they have advanced slightly ; but 

 as a general rule the want of transportation 

 facilities has retarded both the settlement and 

 development of southern Oregon. 



In 1868 Oregon and Washington Territory 

 had not commenced the export of salmon, 

 which industry has only progressed during the 

 last seven years. The year 1871 was the first 

 in which canned salmon were exported; 30,- 

 003 cases realized $150,000. In 1873 91,000 

 oases realized $501,000. At that time salmon 

 was so plentiful and cheap that the enterprise 

 was very profitable, and the foreign demand 

 had so increased that the people were wild with 

 excitement; and as a necessary consequence 

 canneries were erected on both sides of the 

 Columbia River, even as far up as the Cascades. 

 These canneries increased the production and 

 gradually drained the river, and the salmon 

 fisheries, regarded as for ever practically inex- 

 haustible, became endangered through want of 

 proper legislation. In 1875 there were 335,000 

 cases exported, which realized $1,650,000. In 

 1876 the capacity of all old canneries was in- 

 creased, and new canneries were still erected. 

 So greatly had this industry extended that in 

 the end of 1876 there were thirty canneries in 

 operation, with a united capacity for canning 

 795,000 cases of salmon. In that year, how- 

 ever, the maximum production was reached, 

 479,000 cases being then exported, which real- 

 ized $2,598,000. In 1877 there were exported 



889,508 coses, yielding $2,838,000. But the 

 catch of that year and of 1878 which latter 

 was only 845,000 cases conclusively proved 

 that without legislation and the necessary pro- 

 tection to the salmon this valuable commercial 

 product would soon be lost to the State. Ac- 

 cordingly both the Legislatures of Oregon and 

 Washington Territory passed joint laws, which 

 took effect in January, 1879, tor the protection 

 of these fisheries, and to raise a revenue each 

 year to propagate and still more develop and 

 increase the artificial production of salmon. 

 This legislation has placed the canneries on a 

 firmer basis, and given those engaged in the 

 industry greater confidence. The foreign de- 

 mand has become a settled fact, and Oregon 

 canned salmon is now used in nearly all civil- 

 ized countries as a daily article of diet. 



The various agricultural products of the State 

 also show a rapid increase. In 1868 the total 

 wheat-crop raised in Oregon was 1,535,000 

 bushels; in 1870, 2,270,000 bushels; in 1873, 

 3,127,000 bushels; in 1875, 5,251,102 bushels; 

 and in 1877, 7,896,676 bushels. These figures 

 indicate a rapid progress, and considering that 

 the State's population in 1877 was about 120,- 

 000 persons, including cities and towns, it will 

 thus be seen that the quantity of wheat raised 

 was 66 bushels to every man, woman, and child 

 in the State, or an average of 19 bushels per 

 acre; and the price obtained that year was 

 $1.75 to $2.10 per cental. In 1869 the quantity 

 of wool produced all over the State was 1,066,- 

 455 pounds, of which there was exported to 

 San Francisco 3,190 bales, of the value of $134,- 

 749. In 1871 there was 1,750,600 pounds of 

 wool produced ; in 1873, 2,036,000 pounds; in 

 1875, 2,638,050 pounds ; while in 1877 there 

 was raised 5,736,650 pounds, of which there was 

 exported to San Francisco alone, as admitted by 

 the Chamber of Commerce of that city, 4,929,- 

 675 pounds. The value of the wool exports 

 had increased from $134,749 in 1869 to $756,- 

 000 in 1876, and $998,305 in 1877; and 1878 

 returns show it to be $1,267,373, an increase of 

 750 per cent, in eight years. The quality of 

 the wool each year has so much improved that 

 Oregon wool now commands (like its wheat) 

 the highest prices in the Boston market, and 

 received medals and diplomas at the Centennial 

 of 1876 for (using the words of the commis- 

 sioners) u merino wool, very fine specimens of 

 fine fiber and good staple, very much resem- 

 bling Australian wool, and giving evidence 

 that Oregon can produce wool of very great 

 value." The woolen-mills in the State con- 

 sume a considerable portion of the crop each 

 year, and their consumption is always increas- 

 ing. The market for the oat-crop is in the State, 

 Puget Sound, British Columbia, and California. 

 In 1868 there was raised 2,029,909 bushels of 

 oats; in 1875, 2,983,086 bushels, which realized 

 $1,657,568; and in 1877, 4,127,663 bushels, 

 averaging 35 bushels to the acre, from which 

 there was exported to San Francisco 135,153 

 sacks. But this article of commerce fluctuates 



