THE STATUS IN COLUMBIA BASIN 385 
central part of Idaho, western Montana, and extends 
into British Columbia. It includes the section often 
called the Inland Empire, which alone covers some 
one hundred and fifty thousand square miles. The 
chief dry-farm crop of this region is wheat; in fact, 
western Washington or the “Palouse country” is 
famous for its wheat-producing powers. The other 
grains, potatoes, roots, and vegetables are also grown 
without irrigation. In the parts of this dry-farm 
district where the rainfall is the highest, fruits of 
many kinds and of a high quality are grown without 
irrigation. It is estimated that at least two million 
acres are being dry-farmed in this district. Dry- 
farming is fully established in the Columbia River 
Basin. One farmer is reported to have raised in one 
year on his own farm two hundred and fifty thousand 
bushels of wheat. In one section of the district 
where the rainfall for the last few years has been only 
about ten or eleven inches, wheat has been produced 
successfully. This corroborates the experience of 
California, that wheat may really be grown in local- 
ities where the annual rainfall is not above ten inches. 
The most modern methods of dry-farming are fol- 
lowed by the farmers of the Columbia River Basin, 
but little attention has been given to soil-fertility, 
since soils that have been farmed for a generation 
still appear to retain their high productive powers. 
Undoubtedly, however, in this district, as in Cali- 
fornia, the question of soil-fertility will be an impor- 
2c 
