Page:A History of the Pacific Northwest.djvu/300

 bines the dairy with pigs, sheep, poultry, fruit, and market crop production is probably the most common form of the reconstructive agriculture in the old sections of the Northwest. The use of legumes, — vetch, the clovers, peas, beans and alfalfa,—is aiding materially toward restoring the productive powers of the cropped-out soils. Corn, once considered out of the question because of the cool summers, is being raised successfully, benefitting the soil by the more adequate culture it receives and contributing notably to the success of dairying and pig-feeding. Silos are already dotting the landscape in many sections, and almost invariably they are being filled with corn.

A substantial gain has been made in Northwestern agriculture since the opening of the era of general farming as opposed to grain farming. Two main obstacles, however, have impeded the progress of reform. These are, first, that the relatively high price of farm lands delays the process of subdividing the large farms of pioneer times into holdings suited to a more intensive system of farming; second, that the extraordinary variety of soils and situations makes the cultivation of every quarter section of land in Western Oregon or Washington in some sort a distinctive problem to be solved only through special study and experimentation.

Tradition and custom are here less safe as guides to the farmer than they are in the Middle Western states. And since most men rely on tradition and custom to a large extent, the percentage of failures is relatively