66 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
RESOURCES OF OREGON. 
Two Million Acres In Cultivation—Willamette Valiev the Wealth¬ 
iest Part—Fruit Industry of 1903 was $2,501,000 In 
Extent—The Apple Leads. 
JEFFERSON MYERS, PRESIDENT LEWIS & CLARK EXPOSI¬ 
TION COMMISSION FOR STATE OF OREGON. 
Oregon lies between the 42d and 46th degrees of north 
latitude. From north to south the distance is 275 miles, and 
from east to west about 350 miles. It contains 95,274 
square miles, or 60,976,000 acres of land. Of this there is 
in cultivation about 2,000,000 acres. Oregon has a continu¬ 
ous navigable water front extending from the northern 
boundary of California northward along the Pacific coast 
to the month of the Columbia river; thence up the Columbia 
along the northern boundary of the state nearly to its eastern 
limit. Of this distance 300 miles are along the shores of 
the Pacific Ocean and 270 miles are 
along the navigable waters of the 
Columbia river. The Columbia river 
furnishes a harbor considered one of the 
best and safest in the world. 
The Cascade mountains extending 
north and south divide the state into 
two great divisions, known as Eastern 
and Western Oregon. The first division 
embraces the counties of Wasco, Crook, 
Harney, Lake, Klamath, Wheeler, 
Gilliam, Morrow, Grant, Umatilla, Sher¬ 
man, Union, Wallowa, Bakerancl Mal¬ 
heur. The second division contains 
the counties of Clatsop, Columbia, 
Washington, Clackamas, Marion, Linn, 
Lincoln, Yamhill, Polk, Tillamook, 
Benton, Lane, Douglas, Coos, Curry, 
Josephine, Jackson and Multnomah. 
The Willamette Valley is the princi¬ 
pal valley in the state and the wealth¬ 
iest part of Oregon. It is drained by 
the river of the same name, which 
stream is navigable for a distance of 
125 miles from its mouth. It flows northward about midway 
between the Coast range and the Cascade mountains, and 
empties into the Columbia river at a point about 100 miles 
from the ocean. . 
The valley begins- at the Calapooias on the south and 
extends to the Columbia river on the north, a distance of 
about 130 miles. It has an average width of about 60 miles 
and comprises one beautiful sweep of valley of about 7,800 
square miles or 4,992,000 acres of land, all of which is highly 
fertile. 
EASTERN ORE.GON. 
Eastern Oregon resembles in form a parallelogram, 275 
miles long and 230 miles wide. The surface is diversified 
by mountains and valleys, rolling and table lands. A water¬ 
shed is formed by the Blue mountains on the north and the 
Si. '■< 's mountains on the south, in the main parallel with 
the Cascades and extending the whole length of the state. 
From this watershed the land slopes eastward to the Snake 
river and westward to the lower land east of the Cascades, 
through which flow the John Day and Deschutes rivers. 
An extensive tract of country known as Sage Plains lies 
between the Crooked and Deschutes rivers and the head¬ 
waters of Silver creek on the west, north and east; and the 
highlands of Lake County on the south. Irrigation has 
developed the fact that this land, which was thought to be 
unfit for cultivation, is fertile and produces excellent crops. 
Rain seldom falls, but the land can be easily furnished with 
an abundance of water from irrigating ditches. The valleys 
along the various streams on both sides of this watershed 
have long been noted for their richness and fertility. 
The population of the state of Oregon at the present time 
is about 500,000. It is estimated that there is over twenty 
five million acres of vacant land yet untaken in the state, a 
great deal of which can be made very valuable and homes 
established for many families. 
There were in the state at the end 
of the year 1903, 94 banks, with an 
aggregate deposit of 860,615,000. This 
will indicate something of the wealth- 
produced here. There are 1,608 miles 
of railway trackage in the state, the 
principal lines being the Oregon Rail¬ 
road & Navigation Company, from 
Portland to Huntington, and the 
Southern Pacific from Portland to Ash¬ 
land. Portland’s export trade with 
foreign countries for the year 1903, 
amounted to about 811,000,000, and 
the export from this port is one of 
the largest in the United States. 
At Salem, thestate capital, in Western 
Oregon, is the most important hop pro¬ 
ducing district to-day in the United 
States. The crop for 1903, amouuted 
to about 85,000 bales out of a district 
of about 20 miles around this point, 
valued at $3,500, 000, a large por¬ 
tion of this being profit to the 
grower. 
NATURAL PRODUCTS 
The salmon industry on the Columbia river, the chief 
canneries being located at Astoria, produced about $3,700,000 
worth of fish for the year of 1903. The product is not all 
canned, but large quantities of the fish are shipped east in 
cold storage and there marketed. 
The forests of Oregon produced for the year of 1903 over 
one hundred million dollars, including poles, ties, cordwood, 
hard wood, manufactured wood and lumber. The mines, 
located chiefly in Southern Oregon, and in Baker and Union 
Counties in Eastern Oregon, with coal mines in Coos, Morrow 
and other counties, produced all told about $6,000,000. 
The live stock brought in for the year 1903, through sales 
to the meat packers, over $12,500,000, while butter, cheese 
and milk brought $4,200,000. Poultry and eggs brought 
over $4,250,000, not including the amount consumed by the 
producers. There was produced wool and mohair valued 
