Wheat Growing in the Pacific States. 



34i 



further south ; and the harvesting is principally done with a 

 self-binder. The combined harvester is not generally used, 

 as the character of the soil and the smaller size of the farm 

 render it more profitable to use smaller machinery. The 

 dampness of the atmosphere has also an important effect in 

 determining the kind of machinery used, as the grain is 

 not usually dry enough to be threshed at the time of harvest- 

 ing. 



Much wheat hay is sometimes made in Oregon, owing to 

 the low price of the grain of late years. Nevertheless, many 

 farmers in some sections of this State affirm that wheat can 

 be raised and sacked for as little as 20 cents (about iod ) a 

 bushel. Many parts ot Oregon are very fertile, and crops 

 from 30 up to 60 bushels per acre, in very favourable spots, 

 are not unknown. 



The western section of Washington has the same general 

 characteristics of soil and climate as the Willamette Valley of 

 Oregon, and the methods of farming are similar to those 

 described above. The great centres are, however, the Walla 

 Walla and Palouse districts, with the " Big Bend " (of the 

 Columbia River) towards the east of the State, in which 

 direction the wheat growing section overlaps parts of Oregon 

 and Idaho States (the wheat-growing district of the latter is 

 practically confined to this locality). There are two peculiar 

 features distinguishing this region from that of the Pacific 

 Coast proper, viz., the dryness of the climate and the very 

 finely divided condition of the soil. The region is subject 

 to droughts which frequently set in just before harvest, often 

 shrivelling the grain badly. 



The preparation of the soil is generally similar to that in 

 Oregon, although ploughing is somewhat shallower. Upon 

 the larger farms in the flat valleys the combined harvester is 

 utilised, but in nearly all of the Palouse country self-binders 

 are still utilised, principally on account of the early rains, 

 which render the grain too moist to be harvested with the 

 combined machine. 



Of the four Pacific States, the largest wheat raiser is 

 California, the average area during the past ten years being 

 2,700,000 acres, producing 33,300,000 bushels of grain. The 



