136 DOUGLAS FIR 



PerM 



Douglas fir $S ■ °o 



Cypress 3 ■ °° 



Red cedar S °o 



Sitka spruce S-oo 



Hemlock 3°° 



Balsam 3 . 00 



Larch S-oo 



Land Values. — Of the three possible uses of Douglas fir land 

 exclusive of the timber and nainerals, tillage, grazing and timber 

 production, the first wiU undoubtedly give the highest returns 

 where the conditions are favorable. But tillage requires gentle 

 slopes, reasonable freedom from rock outcrops and loose stones, 

 and a ready market, and this combination of characters is seldom 

 met with in the type. The slopes are usually too steep, especially 

 if irrigation is to be employed, the soil is frequently too shallow, 

 and the local market wiU only absorb a limited amount of produce 

 while the general market is across the continent and only acces- 

 sible for high grade products. For example, northwestern apples 

 have earned an enviable reputation but simply because it is only 

 the very best grades that wiU stand the freight charges that must 

 be paid to reach the general market. Hence, very little of this 

 type has yet been cleared. The famous agricultural sections of 

 the northwest the Palouse, the Willamette, etc., are treeless sec- 

 tions which have been rendered fertile by irrigation. In other 

 words it has been more profitable to irrigate arid regions than to 

 clear off the timber in the sections where there is abundant mois- 

 ture. Another factor which needs at least passing mention is 

 that even in the humid parts of the northwest there is a defi- 

 ciency of moisture during the simimer; for example, at Olym- 

 pia, Washington, only three inches of rainfall during Jime, July 

 and August or merely 5 per cent of the total annual precipita- 

 tion of 55 inches. This illustrates why irrigation is desirable for 

 many crops even in places where there is a superabundance of 

 moisture in the winter. Hence, the cost of irrigation must usu- 

 ally be added to that of clearing in the Douglas fir type. Three 

 factors, then, make tillage a doubtful proposition, the heavy cost 

 of clearing, the steep slopes, and the cost of irrigation. Grazing 



