A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 | Page 9

flounders, smelt, herring, sardines,
oysters, clams, crabs and shrimp from its salt waters, and sturgeon,
trout, perch, black bass, white fish and many others from the fresh
water. Great quantities of salmon and halibut are shipped in ice-packed
boxes, fresh from the waters, to all parts of the nation. Of these fish,
many salmon, halibut and cod are caught in Alaskan waters and
brought into this state to be cured and prepared for the market.
The salmon are chiefly packed in tin cans after being cooked; the cod
are handled as are the eastern cod, dried and salted. The business of
handling the smelts, herring, etc., is in its infancy, as is also that of the
shellfish.
[Page 22] The propagation of oysters, both native and eastern, is

assuming great importance in many places in the state. In Shoalwater
bay, Willipa bay, Grays harbor, and many of the bays and inlets of
Puget Sound, oysters are being successfully grown. In some instances
oyster farms are paying as much as $1,000 per acre. The state has sold
many thousand acres of submerged lands for this purpose. It has also
reserved several thousand acres of natural oyster beds, from which the
seed oysters are annually sold at a cheap price to the oyster farmers,
who plant them upon their own lands and market them when full
grown.
The native oysters are much smaller than the eastern oysters and of a
distinct flavor, but command the same prices in the market.
AGRICULTURE.
Cereals.
The largest and most important industry in the state is without doubt
the cultivation of the soil. The great variety of the soils and climatic
conditions has made the state, in different parts, admirably adapted to a
large variety of farm products. Vast fields of wheat cover a large
proportion of the uplands of eastern Washington, the average yield of
which is greater than that of any other state in the Union.
The diked lands of western Washington produce oats at the rate of 100
to 125 bushels per acre. In some counties in southeastern Washington
barley is more profitable than any other cereal, on account of the large
yield and superior quality.
Corn is successfully raised in some of the irrigated lands, but is not as
profitable as some other crops and hence is not an important factor in
Washington's grain supply. Rye, buckwheat, and flax, are successfully
grown in many localities. In western Washington, particularly, peas
form an important ration for stock food and are extensively raised for
seed, excelling in quality the peas of most other states.
[Page 23] Hops.
Hops are a large staple product in many counties of the state. They are
of excellent quality, and the yield is large and their cultivation
generally profitable. The chief drawback is in the fluctuations of the
market price.
Grass and Hay.
Grass here, as elsewhere, is very little talked about, although it is one of
the large elements that make the profits of agriculture. Saying nothing

of the vast amount of grass consumed green, the state probably
produces a million tons of hay annually, averaging $10 per ton in value.
Western Washington is evergreen in pasturage as well as forests and no
spot in the Union can excel it for annual grass production.
East of the mountains a very large acreage is in alfalfa, with a yield
exceeding six tons per acre.
Potatoes.
On the alluvial soils of western Washington and the irrigated lands of
the eastern valleys, potatoes yield exceedingly heavy crops of fine
tubers, often from 400 to 600 bushels per acre. All other root crops are
produced in abundance.
Beets.
Extensive experiments have proved that the sugar beet can be raised
profitably in many counties and sugar is now on the markets of the
state, made within its borders from home-grown beets.
Truck Gardening.
Garden stuff is supplied to all the large cities chiefly from surrounding
lands in proper seasons, but much is imported from southern localities
to supply the market out of season. The soils utilized for this purpose
are the low alluvial valley lands and irrigated volcanic ash lands. The
yield from both is astonishing to people from the eastern prairie states,
and even in western Washington, with its humid atmosphere and cool
nights, tomatoes, squashes and sweet corn are being generously
furnished the city markets. The warm irrigated lands of eastern [Page
24] Washington produce abundant crops of melons, cucumbers,
squashes and all other vegetables.
HORTICULTURE.
The conditions for successful fruit growing are abundant, and
peculiarly adapted to produce excellence in quality and quantity in
nearly all parts of the state, but some localities have better conditions
for some particular fruits than others, e. g., western Washington excels
in the raising of raspberries and other small fruits of that sort, its
climate and