FARMING LOGGED-OFF UPLANDS IN WESTERN WASHINGTON. 33 
particularly strawberries, currants, and gooseberieshave a better chance 
on the lighter and drier soils than dairy farming, which depends for suc- 
cess largely on an abundance of cheap forage crops and pasture. If the 
settler wishes to engage in poultry and fruit farming the areas nearer 
the larger cities offer many advantages in market and transportation 
facilities and a ready supply of extra labor. With the gradual expan- 
sion of facilities and the settlement of practically all of the good 
unimproved land adjacent to the large cities, the new poultry raiser can 
well afford to consider the possibilty of locating on land which at 
present is beyond the influence of town-lot prices. The prospective 
dairy farmer who wishes to succeed on a logged-off farm must 
necessarily look for cheap land which is capable of producing good 
field crops and an abundance of pasture. 
The availability of a good water supply for all farm needs is of 
prime importance in the selection of a farm in this region. On many 
upland farms this has often been the limiting factor in the success or 
failure. Unfortunately, there are no accurate methods of ascertain- 
ing the depth to which one must go to get an adequate supply of water. 
The presence of a considerable amount of moisture-loving vegetation 
is often a fair indication that water is available within a reasonable 
depth. 
Buying wild land and clearing it, if all costs are included, will in most 
cases amount to more than the land is finally worth, even though 
the rise in land values during the past few years has tended to cover 
up this fact. This is particularly true in the vicinity of the large 
cities. In view of the high cost of clearing, only the best lands should 
be selected for agricultural purposes. A settler who pays too much 
in labor, time, and money for a good farm is at a disadvantage, but 
not an insurmountable one, as would be the case if he selected a poorer 
type of soil. 
FINANCING OPERATIONS. 
The amount of money which a settler needs to begin farming on 
the logged-off uplands in this region is largely dependent upon such 
factors as the price and quality of the wild land, the extent of improve- 
ments if an unimproved farm, the possibility of obtaining outside 
employment while paying for and developing the farm, and the 
standard of living to which the settler has been accustomed before 
he settled the land. 
The settlers who came into this section before 1898, those who took 
up wild land particularly, had a comparatively small amount of money 
when they decided to settle. The average net worth of the settlers 
on unimproved land was then $-475, while those who bought improved 
farms had accumulated an average of $1,517 before they began to 
live on the place. (See Table 15.) By 1916-1921 the amount neces- 
sary to begin with had not only increased to $2,200 for the settlers 
on unimproved farms and $4,032 for those who bought improved 
farms, but the size of the purchase has been reduced almost half. 
The high price of land which is useful for agricultural purposes near 
the large cities makes it necessary for a new purchaser to buy a 
smaller farm and put it to its maximum usefulness if he expects to 
realize returns with which to pay off his debts. As has been shown, 
poultry and fruit seem to serve this purpose best. If one wishes to 
