HOOD EIVER-WHITE SALMON KIVER AREA. 



39 



apples, and strawberries, are grown, but in the upper Wliite Salmon 

 River VaUey the commercial planting of these fruits is attended by 

 considerable risk, owing to elevation and consequent increased danger 

 of late sprmg frosts. 



The follo^\dng table gives the results of mechanical analyses of the 

 soil and subsoil of this type : 



Mechanical analyses of Wind River fine sandy loam. 



WIND RIVER LOAM. 



The soil of the Wind River loam consists of a friable brown to dark 

 reddish brown loam, carrj-ing appreciable quantities of smaU red 

 pellets. The subsoil is in most cases of a Hghter brouTi color, though 

 generally similar to the soil in other respects. Occasionally it is a light- 

 gray, more compact loam. It is usually underlam by a stratified 

 grayish sand, often containing small quantities of fine, waterworn, 

 and subangular gravel, and suth material may displace the hea^der 

 subsoil at depths ranging from 12 mches to 6 feet. 



Three bodies of this type occur in the lower Hood River VaUey, 

 west of the river, the largest development being east and northeast 

 of Oak Grove. The other bodies m this valley are not far from the 

 town of Hood River, to the west and southwest. In that part of the 

 area lying in Washuigton the type occurs in the middle and upper 

 parts of the White Salmon Valley. 



The topography varies from smooth to rolling. The body of the 

 tj^e near Oak Grove has the more rolling surface, bemg cut by a 

 number of small intermittent drainage ways leading to the river. 

 The type usually has an elevation of several hundred feet above the 

 present stream valleys. In the smaller body of this sod, about 3 miles 

 southwest of the town of Hood River, the surface is somewhat lower 

 than that of the sm-rounding soils and the drainage outlets are in- 

 adequate. With this exception the drainage of this type is very 

 good. 



The soil is apparently the result of alluvial agencies, but the material 

 may be in part outwash material from former glaciers. 



Originally the type supported a moderately heavy stand of fir, 

 with a scattering of oak in places, and a rather thin growth of grass 

 and small brush. At the present time, in the Hood River Valley, 

 all of the forest has been removed and the land is largely in orchards. 



