HOOD EIVER-WHITE SALMON EIVER AREA. 31 



the slopes of the hills and mountains which rise from 1,000 to 2,000 feet 

 above it, and dissected by the several forks of the Hood River. These 

 streams flow in gorges usually 150 feet or more below the general 

 level of the plain, but only the lower 40 or 50 feet of these gorges is 

 cut in the lava bedrock. Laterals from the streams have worked 

 back into the plain and m places have dissected it thoroughly. This 

 causes the topography to vary from broad, smooth-topped ridges to 

 steep slopes, the latter along the stream channels. 



At one time practically the entire Hood Kiver VaUey was covered 

 with glaciers descending from the upper slopes of Mount Hood. 

 Upon retreating these masses of ice left behind a thick deposit of 

 bowlders, rock, gravel, and soil, which now lies just above the lava 

 bedrock of the country. While the material of the Parkdale series 

 is regarded as derived prmcipally from weathered ice-laid material, 

 certain features of the topography suggest a glacial outwash plam. 

 The melting ice was the source of numerous streams, which naturally 

 carried large amounts of eroded rock material. This would under 

 favorable conditions be deposited as a mantle of varying thickness 

 over the rocky till. In the absence of bowlders and in the general 

 fine, sUty character of the superficial material the soil further re- 

 sembles the material of water-laid sediments, and the soil and sub- 

 soil may consist m part or even predominantly of glacial outwash 

 sediments. The underlying glacial tiU, on the other hand, appears 

 to have been deeply weathered, and the soil may be solely the result 

 of the nearly complete weathering of ice-laid material. 



The native vegetation consists of a dense growth of fir upon the 

 ridges, with cedar and a number of deciduous trees in the narrow 

 stream bottoms. 



Although this part of the area has been inhabited for many years, 

 it is only within the last five years that there has been any serious 

 attempt to develop it agriculturally. Lack of transportation facilities 

 has been the greatest hindrance to progress in this part of the area, 

 but now that railroad transportation is available the land is being 

 rapidly cleared and put under cultivation. Both hay and orchard 

 crops are now grown, and the conditions are favorable for a con- 

 siderable extension of the acreage devoted to them. Where the 

 soil is well dramed, apples and strawberries do well, but on account 

 of the short growhig season, due to elevation, the production of 

 some crops is impracticable. Where drainage is not excessive, the 

 soil is retentive of moisture, and the native grasses, as well as clover 

 and alfalfa, yield well. 



