354 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



zens. The fact is, the occasion for testing the agricultural worth of these high- 

 lands has not yet arisen and no one yet knows whether they have any value aside 

 from the timber which covers them. The reasons for this are the great cost of 

 removing the monstrous stumps and the comparative ease with which the valley 

 lands can be cleared. 



These valley lands are fully as rich as any in the States, and are admirably 

 adapted to hop-growing, which is the principal agricultural industry. Although 

 but a small portion of these lands were under cultivation in 1880, this Territory 

 ranked fourth among hop-growing States, having been surpassed only by New 

 York, Wisconsin and California. The average crop of hops is about 2,000 pounds 

 to the acre. The cost of producing and preparing for market is about eleven 

 cents per pound, and the market price will average about twenty-one cents. 

 This gives a net return of $200 per acre. Such lands are held at from $100 to 

 $125 per acre, which, judging from results, is not too high. 



The trees which cover the highlands are mostly fir and cedar, while the val- 

 leys nourish maple, ash, elder, willow, and a little oak, though practically there 

 is no hard wood timber in the country. 



Along the eastern shore of the Sound there are vast deposits of coal. Lignite 

 of a good quality forms the bulk, though there is some bituminous. Whether 

 there are any deposits wMch deserve the name of anthracite is yet problematical. 

 Again, it is claimed, and it is no doubt true, that large deposits of iron ore of ex- 

 cellent quahty can be found on the western slope of the Cascades. 



The climate of the "Sound Country" is remarkably equable as to tempera- 

 ture, and almost entirely free from atmospheric disturbances of any kind. Thun- 

 der and lightning are strangers in the land, and howling winds unknown. Even 

 brisk winds are rare. There is, however, usually a smooth, soft breeze stirring 

 which enables the sailing craft on the Sound to navigate, and which adds greatly 

 to the pleasurable climate. 



About the first of April the dry season begins, which lasts until about the- 

 first of November. During this period the wind is usually from the northwest; 

 occasionally it shifts to the south and when it does the weather becomes cool 

 and damp, the low temperature produced by the Cascade Mountains causing the 

 dampness. 



The air is always laden with moisture and when from any cause the temper- 

 ature gets below about 45° F. it becomes damp; on the contrary, any cause 

 which keeps up the thermometer will keep the weather dry. Now, since there 

 are no winds worth mentioning, there is no chance to vary the temperature with 

 air from other regions, so that it may be assumed that the climate depends wholly 

 upon the position of the Sun. About the first of November the position of the 

 Sun changes the temperature of the air and brings it to or below the dew point, 

 causing fog or rain for the most of the time until the first of April. 



This condition of almost constant dampness is not so unpleasant as one 

 would at first suppose ; for there is hardly ever a violent precipitation, the aver- 

 age rain being more like a dense fog which does not readily penetrate the cloth- 



