SOILS AND LANDS.

Washington is particularly blessed in having a diversity of soils, all admirably adapted to some department of agriculture and giving the state the opportunity of great diversity in the occupations of its people.  The central plateau of eastern Washington, made up of level stretches and undulating hills, is all covered with a soil composed of volcanic ash and the disintegration of basaltic rocks which, together with some humus from decayed vegetation, has made a field of surpassing fertility for the production of the cereals with scant water supply; but under the magic touch of irrigation it doubles its output and makes of it not only a grain field but an orchard and garden as well.  Underneath the forests of eastern Washington, along the northern border of the state and in its southeastern corner there is added a large proportion of clay, a necessary element for perpetual pasturage, and widening the field for fruit growing.

In western Washington, upon the bench lands and on the hills and foothills the forests are supported upon a gravelly soil, intermixed with a peculiar shot clay which disintegrates with successive tillage so that when the forests are removed the soil becomes ready for all the grasses and grains and fruits.  In the valleys more silt and humus make up the soil, and when the cottonwoods, alders and maples are gone there is left a soil deep and strong for the truck gardener and general farmer, which will endure successive tillings for ages.  At the deltas of the rivers are large reaches of level lands, some of which have to be diked to prevent the overflow of the tides, which have had added the fertility of the salts of the ocean and are probably the richest lands in the state fit for cereals and root crops, not omitting the bulbs which have made the deltas of Holland famous.  There are also extensive peat beds which, scientifically [Page 14] fertilized, will produce abundant returns to the intelligent farmer.

LANDS.

The lands of the state are owned, some by Indian tribes, some by the general government, some by the state, but largely by individual citizens and corporations.

Indian Lands.

Of the Indian lands most of them have been “allotted” and the balance will soon be thrown open to settlement.  Of these the largest in western Washington are the Quinault and Makah reservations and in eastern Washington the great Colville reservation.  This latter will in time make two or three counties of great value, being adapted to general farming, dairying, fruit growing and mining, and having an abundance of forest area for fuel and building purposes.  Those in western Washington are timbered areas at present.

Government Lands.