Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/353

Rh They are not equal to the grasses of Eastern Oregon for making beef, but they can not be excelled for daily purposes, especially on the bottom-lands of the Wallamet and Columbia, in the northern part of the valley. These overflow in June, every year, from the melting snows in the mountains, that swell the Columbia beyond its banks. After the overflow subsides the grass comes forward quickly, furnishes a crop of hay, and then pasturage the ensuing fall and winter. No grass in the world, wild or tame, is better adapted to making butter and cheese. The time was, only a few years ago, when Oregon did not make good butter enough for home consumption. Even now a vast amount of butter is made here and shipped out of the State, that is a disgrace to the name. It is because very many people do not know how to make a good article, and they are too careless and indifferent to learn, or to appreciate a good article of butter when they see it. Within the past few years a few men have taken hold of the butter business near Portland, and are making a splendid article of butter, demonstrating! that the wild grass of this section has no superior for that purpose.

"The fruits best adapted to the soil and climate of the Wallamet, are, apples, pears, plums, cherries, quinces, currants, and all the different kinds of small fruits, strawberries, blackberries, etc. Among these the apple is the staple. Like wheat, it is a sure thing anywhere in the valley, where the land is not positively swampy. There is generally a fair market for apples in San Francisco, as those of California production are of inferior quality; and, as the apple is a fruit that bears transportation, it will continue to be cultivated for export to a considerable extent. The hilly portions of the valley seem to be better adapted to fruit-growing than any other. The extensive tracts of timbered lands in the northern part of the valley are especially good for that purpose. These are convenient to the Portland market, and, also, to shipping facilities; hence it is probable that the fruit business in future will receive more attention here than elsewhere in the valley.

"The peach and kindred fruits do not succeed well, unless, it may be, in sheltered localities in the upper part of the valley. The climate is not adapted to their growth. Like corn, such fruits require hot weather and hot nights to bring them to maturity, instead of which we have in the Wallamet Valley the cool sea-air and cool nights all summer. There is too much moisture