As a final word, it should be remembered that, after these lands are put under good tillage, every acre can be made to return more than the cost of clearing annually.  Western Washington has never been able to produce enough to feed its wonderfully increasing population.  Meats, vegetables, fruits, poultry, eggs, etc., are all constantly coming in from outside to supply the markets.  This condition keeps prices high.  It has been so for twenty years, and will be for twenty years to come.  From $100 to $500 per acre per year can be had from fruits and vegetables.  The same can be realized from poultry, nor will the dairy fall far behind when the scrub cow is abandoned and a choice thoroughbred animal takes its place and the soil is intensely tilled and fertilized.

The logged-off lands when first looked at are black and big labor and difficulties.  When the problem is intelligently understood—­undertaken with comprehension and some capital and plenty of grit—­the solution is easy and the rewards ample and gratifying.

[Page 40] irrigation in Washington.

The lands which require irrigation in the state are chiefly the lower lands in the valleys of the rivers east of the Cascade mountains.

The winds from the Pacific, though heavily laden with moisture, are forced to surrender the greater portion to western Washington, as they meet the cold heights of the mountain ranges.  The mountains themselves receive a very heavy fall of snow in winter, which fills the lakes and sources of the rivers on the eastern side, providing a large amount of water available for irrigation purposes, for lands not too far distant.  Within fifty miles from the mountain peaks there is a drop of about 4,000 feet.  The sides of the valleys in the main are gradual slopes.  These conditions make irrigation very feasible.  Its wonderful results have been seen and the process of irrigation has found a wide field within the past few years.

THE IRRIGATION AREA.

Not only the Yakima valley, where this method of farming had its beginning in the state, but many other places, are now being made productive which were once thought wholly worthless on account of their aridity.  Among these are the Wenatchee valley, the Entiat, the Methow, the Chelan, and the Okanogan—­all on the slope of the Cascades.  The immediate low lands of the Columbia and Snake rivers and considerable of the narrow valleys of the small streams emptying into them have in many instances been irrigated.

[Illustration:  Plate No. 33.—­King County Rural Views.]

[Illustration:  Plate No. 34.—­How the hills make way for the skyscrapers in Seattle. 1907—­Last of Hotel Washington. 1908—­New Hotel Washington.]

[Illustration:  Plate No. 35.—­A Portion of the City of Seattle Overlooking the Harbor.]