Southern Oregon includes the Umpqua Valley and Rogue River Valley with many lesser tributary valleys. Southern Oregon is a land of infinite beauty and charm. The traveler who approaches Oregon from the south by way of the Shasta Route over the Siskiyou Mountains looks down from an elevation of more than 2000 feet to the Valley of Rogue River, the most southern of Oregon's valleys. It is spread out before him like some titanic checkerboard, its alternate squares consisting of orchards and fallow land. The green of the orchard, the brown of the cultivated land, the yellow of the occasional stubble field make the valley look like some huge map laid off in tinted squares. Nestling at the foot of the mountains, like a cameo set in a mounting of pearls and emeralds, lies Ashland, a city green to its very doors.
    The Valley of the Rogue comprises an approximate area of 2300 square miles, of which there are over 500 square miles of rich valley floor and gentle hill slope. The soil of the valley is largely alluvial but you will also find disintegrated lava and a soil of granite formation. Much of the soil is black and deep, with here and there lighter colored soil formed of disintegrated granite. You will also find dark red soil, as well as gray and light yellow soil, and soil coarse in texture. This granite soil contains abundant elements of plant food, such as silica, lime, magnesia, potash and phosphoric acid.
    In buying land here, as well as elsewhere in Oregon, it is well to know exactly what you are planning to raise so that you will not later be disappointed, for you will find here sandy soil coarse in texture excellently adapted for early crops where rapid growing and early maturity are desired. You will find this soil ideal for strawberries or loganberries, but unsuited for orchards. Hence it is well to examine carefully and investigate thoroughly any place, wherever located, before you buy it. Much of the land in the Rogue River Valley not now being used for agriculture will in time become valuable, as its plant foods are readily available, and if humus, such as barnyard manure, is added to the soil, it will respond with good crops.
    The Rogue River Valley is best known for its pears, apples and peaches, particularly its pears. Pears from Medford and vicinity have brought top prices in almost every large city in Europe.
    The high prices received in the past for fruit caused the farmers to devote most of their attention to the orchard instead of the raising of corn and alfalfa, hogs and dairy cows. They have acted upon the principle of Pudd'nhead Wilson ; put all their eggs in one basket and have watched that basket. More and more, however, farmers in the Rogue River Valley are beginning to take up poultry, turkey raising, the growing of sugar beets, alfalfa and other farm crops in addition to orchard fruits. The red soils of the foothills now covered with a heavy growth of oak timber or mountain mahogany are especially adapted to  grape culture.
    At Jacksonville, one of the oldest towns in Southern Oregon, one may see splendid vineyards, orchards that have been planted for nearly fifty years and huge fig trees heavy with the weight of their ripened fruit.
    The Rogue River Valley in time will be settled by hundreds of retired farmers, merchants and professional men who want to work a small tract intensively and enjoy the mild climate, the pure mountain-born water and the scenic beauty of the Valley of the Rogue. The annual rainfall at Grants Pass is 32 inches, at Medford 28 inches and at Ashland 20 inches. Only 8 percent of the annual rainfall occurs in June, July, August and September, so that it is a sunnier district than the Willamette Valley or the Coast region.
Oregon for the Settler, Southern Pacific, edition of August 8, 1923, page 17


    Dr. J. D. Hullinger of this city, who is traveling in the West, writes
the ADVERTISER the following letter from Medford, Oregon:
    From Portland we pass many fertile ranches where fruit of nearly every kind is grown. We traverse the Willamette River, with its wide valley and prosperous farmers. We pass the capital at Salem and state's prison, also the state hospital. At Eugene, a place of 10,593 population, is located the University of Oregon. The buildings are large and commodious and 2,000 students are enrolled. Further we pass through Roseburg, division point of the S.P. on [the] "Shasta Route." This is an attractive little city, situated in a bend of the Umpqua River surrounded by dairy farms, orchards and timbered hills.
    A few miles south, we enter Cow Creek Canyon, which is followed for 35 miles. This picturesque ravine is held within steep walls which rise more than 1,000 feet above the tumultuous stream; the scenery is simply charming. Mountains rising either side and covered with towering pines, fir, laurel, and madrone delight the eye, while the silence of the wilderness is broken only by the music of the waters in their rocky bed below. Here one is sure "Back to Nature." The stream comes down in a succession of rapids and the angler finds good sport all along its course. Near West Fork, alt. 1036, two prominent peaks rite above the skyline, Gray Back, 4138, and Panther Butte, 3517 feet. After leaving Cow Creek Canyon we pass the Umpqua and Rogue River Divide, this crest forming the county boundary between Jackson and Josephine counties, alt. 1441 feet, to Ray Gold, where one of the first discoveries of gold was made and where gold mining is still carried on on a paying basis. At this place a dam has been built across Rogue River and power for several valley towns is generated. Mt. McLoughlin, with its snow-crested peak looms up here, 9,706 feet high.
    The Rogue River Valley is the most fertile region of which I know. All these valleys are fertile but I know most of this one. Peaches, pears, apricots, apples and even prunes are raised, when the orchards are irrigated, most successfully. This is a god season and when you pass any of these "ranches," trees are propped up, all the larger branches, to prevent breaking from [the] weight of the fruit. Grain and all kinds of garden vegetables grow wonderfully fine. Flowers, of same variety, grow much larger here than seen anyplace.
    We snowballed at Crater Lake, alt. 8,156 feet, and in three hours were eating native ripe figs off the tree in Medford. Sure great country.
    Rogue River Valley is 41 miles long, about 13 wide, has ten towns, Medford, population 5,756, being the largest. It is the fruit shipping center of Southern Oregon, and about 20 cars of Bartlett pears are now shipped from here every day.
    I was shown through several "packing houses" where the fruit is wrapped in paper, boxed, [and] prepared for shipping. The pears, picked green, are handled like eggs, to avoid bruising. They are dumped on endless carriers and the employees assort them as they pass along, grading them as to size and quality. They are handled from orchards in boxes holding about ½ a bushel. Trucks haul them from all directions and carry big loads.
    The fruit industry is an important one here and the products of these valleys are shipped all over the world. The quality is of the very finest and brings fancy prices wherever sold.
    The soil is surprisingly productive and the ordinary farm, or as called here, ranch, is 5 to 10 acres.
    Medford is an attractive modern city, good substantial business houses and public buildings. It has modern residences and good hotels. It is the northern entrance to Crater Lake, a national park, situated some 90 miles to the east [sic]. We visited Crater Lake and saw the greatest natural wonder of our lives. Some detail should interest everybody.
    Centuries ago Mount Mazama was a huge volcano. He belched for ages and the molten rock is seen, on the sides, just as it ran down and cooled, layer on layer. Finally it became hollow and the weight of the peak caused the whole top to tumble in, leaving a lake seven miles across and over 2,000 feet deep. The top of the volcano, however, still is above water, is called Wizard Island, and the original crater is present in this island and can be entered and descended into for over 300 feet. The size is sufficient for a secret lodge to put on an initiation in the crater, as they did some time ago. At many places on the sides the remains of the fire and melted rock, inside [the] original volcano, still are plainly visible.
    We drove around the "rim." The distance is 35 miles and at several places were snowbanks on August 16th. The water is 1,000 feet below the rim and the sides are so steep that it cannot be ascended except on a "trail," which has been made S-shaped, down one side. The water is an intense blue and the reflection of the water is so perfect that you cannot tell the wall from the reflection into the water, so intensely blue in its unbroken circle of 24 miles. A dense growth of pine surrounds the lake and the government has set apart 159,360 acres here, as a national park. Wild animals, bear, elk, cougar and deer are common sights. We saw a fawn which crossed the road in front of us and which stopped and looked at us, like a tame calf, at 40 yards.
    From the rim at an altitude of 8,165 feet we could see for more than 100 miles in all directions. To the south Klamath Lake 45 miles away is a noted resort, and to the north Diamond Lake, another hunting and fishing resort. Many high and lofty peaks could be seen. Near Diamond Lake are Mt. Thielsen, 9,178 feet, Bailey, 8,256, and Diamond Peak, over 9,000 feet high.
    Many tourists visit these resorts and accommodation can only be secured by telephone days in advance. The road through immense pineries of fir, pine and a few cedars is traveled by campers only and it winds around mountains, over streams, through canyons, and is very picturesque. There are places where it is impossible to pass cars on the sides of the mountain road and one has to "horn" often and use every precaution. The up-going car has right of way and they sometimes meet where one has to back up or down. Accidents, however, seldom happen.
Clinton Advertiser, Clinton, Iowa, August 28, 1923, page 12


    In all our travels through the states we concur with J. F. Enterline, who viewed the cities in every clime, that Salem is as pretty as any of them. The population is 20,000.
    We were surprised upon entering the editorial haunts of the Oregon Statesman at Salem to meet L. J. Brady, who has been a noted character in Kansas politics and newspaperdom during the past two decades, coming to Oregon but a few months ago. Mr. Brady has served in the House and Senate, was Ed Little's appointment for Congress down in the Fifth District twice. In later years he was associated with the late J. R. Burton in the publication of the Salina Daily Union. He inquired of the welfare of Charlie Mann, Ed Getty and Emma Aldrich, all prominent local people with whom he is personally acquainted.
    Judge J. W. Huff, J. W. Blunt, Mrs. Willis Delay and the Mesdames Getty, W. A. and E. L., together with others, will remember Alex Dixon, who blew into Downs with the Central Branch Railroad in 1879. He made headquarters at Mr. Delay's when the latter owned two twelve-foot headers and was cutting half of the wheat in Ross township. During the summer months of 1881 Alex manned a plow for W. A. Hopper and here your reporter, a kid of eleven frosty winters, became acquainted with him. But in the many years of school, courtship, wrestling with mortgages and selling wheat at a loss, the name Liston had faded from memory. Going down Court Street, Salem, with no thought of recognition, we smashed squarely into the following sign: "W. A. Liston, Real Estate, Loans and Insurance." A glance at the proprietor and a minute's revolving of the Irish tongue carried memory back a million times faster than it had advanced. Mr. Liston has the same jolly disposition and a still broader smile than in the pioneer days of Downs when there were but two sure crops, that of sandburs and sunflowers. He has prospered, owns a beautiful residence in the elite section and two ranches a few miles out of Salem.
    "Jim" Young, who built the S. T. Kindley storeroom, now occupied by Ira Headley & Son, has been quite successful building many of Salem's business and residence homes. He never tires of talking about conditions and old friends back in Downs.
    Jefferson, named for the third President of the United States, is a pretty little village nestled on the banks of the Willamette River, and a few miles farther downstate is Albany, the home of the Oregon Presbyterian College. Both are important stations for loading wheat. We interviewed one farmer engaged in drilling wheat. His last season's crop yielded: Wheat, 15 sacks; oats, 20 sacks. Reducing it to a Kansas-legible quantity marks the wheat yield at thirty bushels per acre and the oats at sixty bushels to the acre. The land, smooth, without rock or stump, no fertilizing or irrigating, with fair improvements and on the cement highway, can be bought for $100 per acre. The wheat sold for a dollar and the oats at 50 cents per bushel. The average yield along the Willamette is a little under the above figures.
    The ground in the orchards is blue with prunes that have fallen to the ground and are now in such a condition that they cannot be dried, according to William Wood, manager of the Washington Growers' Packing Corporation.
    Some orchardists are attempting to salvage part of the fallen prunes, but the number that can be used is so small that it is scarcely worth the effort. A number of driers have already closed down because they have dried all the prunes that were in condition to be prepared for the market.
    This year's crop was so large that the percentage of loss through spoiling will be comparatively small, manager Wood said, although it is still too early to say what the loss would be. "If we announce prices it will only be something for the other packers to cut under," Mr. Wood remarked when asked if the association would announce prices this season. While he did not state definitely that the cooperative corporation would not announce prices, he indicated that it would be unlikely this year.
    Prices announced by the Oregon Fruit Growers' Association were withdrawn shortly after they were issued, for the independent packers immediately quoted prices that were a cent a pound lower than those named by the Oregon growers.
    Continuation of the present policy of selling on the day's market was indicated by manager Wood, although the board of directors of the association may set definite prices at any time.
    Completion of the Eugene-Klamath Falls cutoff, whose resumption after a heart-breaking decade of delay was celebrated at Klamath October 12 and 18, will be a momentous event. The greatest direct benefits will accrue to Eugene and Klamath Falls, but all Oregon will be stimulated by the closer union between east and west that will follow the construction of a main line railroad over the hitherto unbroken barrier of the Cascades.
    Here in Eugene, naturally enough, they have been wont to give attention chiefly to the good that will come to them locally from the completion of this long-planned line of railroad. This good will be great. There can be little doubt that as a result of this extension of present transportation facilities Eugene will double in population and more than double in industrial importance within the next few years. But it is well to remember that the benefits will not be confined to Eugene.
    Oregon's apple crop for this year is estimated at 6,700 cars by F. L. Kent, statistician for the Department of Agriculture. Estimated yields from producing sections range from 3,450 cars in the Hood River and Wasco counties to 250 cars in the Willamette Valley. Rogue and Umpqua valleys are credited with a total of 1,250 cars and Umatilla County with 1,000 boxes. Union, Baker and Malheur counties will jointly produce 660 boxes, according to the estimate.
    The pear crop is set at 2,097 cars and apportioned as follows: Rogue and Umpqua valleys, 1,750 cars; Hood River and Wasco counties, 275 cars; Willamette Valley, 50 cars; Union, Baker and Malheur counties, 21 cars jointly. Reports received from the various districts by the Oregon Growers' Cooperative Association agree that the quality of the fruit will be high and of large size generally.
    Guy Delay is a farmer and stockman, specializing in dairy stock and capturing a number of blue ribbons at the state fair at Salem last month. His daughter, 9 years old, makes her home with her grandmother, Mrs. W. J. Townley, at Hot Lake. Guy gets his mail at Sublimity, Ore. Allen Delay is following his trade, that of printer, learned in Downs thirty and more years ago. He is at Klamath Falls. Mrs. May Delay-Stoddard and her husband are located at Wenatchee, Wash., Mr. Stoddard being interested in the automobile business.
    At no place along the way have we been put wise to ranching conditions as at Arthur Delay's, six miles northeast of Eugene, Ore. Arthur has about forty acres, half of which is Willamette River flood land. The low land, however, supplies an abundance of fuel, post timber and fairly good pasture nine months of the year. The other twenty acres are very fertile, upon which are the following named crops, all profitably bearing this season: Cherries, $600; squash, $200; parsnips, $150; thirty-bushel corn, $250; cabbage, $50; with apples, potatoes, berries, filberts and English walnuts for family use. Arthur does some team work for neighbors and has just finished a twenty-four days' engagement with a prune drying company. Dan is a sophomore in high school with ambitions to take a course in electricity at Portland. The lad has a radio in the home, the wires of which are mounted on a pole cut from a nearby forest that reaches upward ninety-four feet and only a foot through at the base. Dan possesses a fine, broad, straight physique, already weighing more than his father.
    The DeLuxe photograph gallery, centrally located in Eugene's business section, is owned by Mrs. Alice Delay-Lare, but her daughter, Miss Dorothy, is the power behind the art. They have a good business. The Lare youths number three daughters and a son. David is 16, handsome and a worker, as their two-acre ranch bears testimony. Fruits and vegetables, ample for a dozen families, are decaying for want of a market. A branch two and one-half feet long was broken from a Damson plum tree and handed to your reporter that had 106 beautiful fully developed plums attached to it. The eldest daughter, Miss Marguerite, is the homemaker, while Miss Josephine is still in high school.
    Miss Jennie Limbocker, one of Oregon's intellectual lights, left her Smith County farm home several years ago, being attracted by the greater wages paid school teachers in the west. She began work in Roseburg, but is now engaged in the Portland schools. Our brief stop in Roseburg will give us a lasting impression that it is as wet as Missouri, as the rain came down in a deluge all the time we were there.
    Twelve miles south of Roseburg the Myrtle Point and Brandon gravel road leads off to the southwest and the Pacific Ocean. We had long planned to take this sidestep to renew the acquaintance of our friend in early Downs days, Mark M. Young. Automobile road officials, however, unhesitatingly said it couldn't be done. Our disappointment was acute. We had dreamed of a beach dinner of crabs, clams and fish, and to again hear that sonorous voice in "right hand to your partner and grand right and left."
    In the primitive days of Oakdale, when we were shedding our baby toggery and memory was beginning to function, we often accompanied mother to the Free Methodist meetings at the school house. The old gentleman, Miller--grand old soul, who, with his family, lived in a little log cabin on the nearby corner--used to frequently lead in singing the following verse:
    As we older grew and began studying the Bible and defining its precepts, the old song seems misleading. For many hours prior to the miraculous escape of the Israelites God commanded Moses to smite the waters and He caused a strong east wind to blow and forced back the water of the Red Sea so that when the children of Israel, fleeing before Pharaoh's army, arrived just at the opportune time, and no sooner had they crossed than the weight of water and force of gravitation brought the sea back and engulfed the pursuing army. Here at Klamath Falls, Ore., is nestled in the mountains pretty Klamath Lake and Lake River outlet. The hills are piled high in funnel form, and occasionally the winds rise strong enough to pile up the waters of the lake and the river ceases activity. However, the waters of Klamath Lake always come back, as did those of the Red Sea.
    A railroad was completed as far north as Reddings Falls during 1872, and the road from Portland south to Roseburg at about the same time. The stage coaches continued to be the connecting link between these points until the summer of 1885, when the railroad entered the Rogue River Valley. The Concord coaches, Thomas and Holiday, carried passengers for 12½ cents per mile. They were drawn by horses, four being used in the level stretches, and six were required in the mountain districts. Much of the material of exciting stage coach days that has appeared in story form in yellow-back novels was gathered along the 220 miles of Rogue River Valley.
    In the interest of the school children, if any are following us, we learn that the westerners pronounce Spokane, Spo-can; Rainier, as Ra-near, and Willamette, as Will-am-et.
    Spectacular are the snow-capped mountain peaks along the Cascade Range. At Seattle Mount Rainier, 14,408 feet high, claims the attention of the eye for a hundred miles. Then Mount Adams is next in succession, 13,000 feet in height. Just across the Columbia River stands Mount Hood, 14,000. Mount Pitt freely gives its snow water to the Rogue River. Mount Shasta, 14,192 feet, overlooks the greatest mineral deposits in all California, but is surpassed in height by Old Whitney, that we will tell you about later.
    The Rogue River Valley in Southern Oregon is one of nature's most favored locations. Blessed with an equable climate, abundant sunshine and freedom from devastating storms, it is an ideal place for the home and the par excellence of all the great Northwest territory for the growing of fruit and all other crops adapted to the climate; it is not the climate of Palm Beach; it is more stimulating and varied without being unpleasant.
    Land under the irrigation development, of which several projects were completed in 1921, awaits the settler. These irrigated tracts offer opportunity for the dairyman, who, in connection with the culture of small berries will find profit in his occupation, as well as the pleasure of enjoying an ideal climate and beautiful scenic surroundings.
    Abundant water, both for irrigation and power, is one of the most valuable assets of Jackson County. The Rogue River and its tributaries drain practically the entire area of Jackson County, this river being one of the most important power and irrigation streams on the Pacific Coast. According to figures from the office of the state engineer of Oregon the Rogue River and its tributaries can furnish 300,000 horsepower. Some of the Jackson County power sites are extremely desirable because they are located nearer the headwaters of the stream where the fall is more rapid, and where the diversion and use of the water for power will not materially interfere with the later use of the same water for irrigation purposes.
    The most extensive electrical power plant in Jackson County is located at Prospect, on the Upper Rogue River, where 7,000 horsepower is now being generated, the estimated power of the site being 40,000.
    Jackson County is the first one of the counties of the state in which the Pacific Highway is completely paved. This covers the distance from the California boundary to the northern limits of the county, a total of fifty-four miles, with which is connected an additional stretch of eight miles of pavement to the city of Grants Pass in Josephine County.
    The second largest amount of money appropriated by the Oregon state highway commission for the counties of the state was spent in Jackson County and at present approximately one million in state and county funds are being used to improve the lateral market and post roads.
    Several hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent on building and improving the Ashland-Klamath Falls road by way of the Green Springs Mountain, the Medford-Crater Lake road by way of that scenic stream, Rogue River, besides the other roadways leading into the agricultural districts of the county.
    A whole week was enjoyably spent at the pretty mountain home of Rev. and Mrs. William M. Carle. Mrs. Carle grew to womanhood with her parents and brother and sister at the R. A. Henderson farm home, six miles north of Downs. Mrs. C. was also one of the leading pedagogues in the Downs vicinity thirty years ago, having charge of Corinth Center, Osborne County, the Stone and Verhage schools in Smith, the Ackabour school in Jewell, forming a large acquaintance that she still cherishes. Mr. Carle ascended to his majorities on a farm near Topeka, graduated from the Kansas State University at Lawrence, and after his ordination as a minister in the Presbyterian church, having charge of the Logan, Kans., church and at Rose Valley, with Mrs. Carle, took up the duties of missionary among the Alaskan Indians. They returned to the states some twelve years ago and soon afterwards, while preaching at Weed, Cal., Rev. Carle's health failed.
    Oregon's stockmen enjoy free range, so Mr. Carle has cattle, a flock of sheep, poultry and fine warden [sic]. Wood is plentiful and without price. Mr. Carle can pull down enough out of the adjacent mountains in a day to last six months. The two daughters of the Carle family were married several years ago. Anna, the eldest, is most pleasantly located on an adjoining farm and has four very bright and robust children. The younger daughter, with her husband, resides at Trail, where he has a lucrative position under civil service rules. The countryside has all been worked for its gold, and most of the ranchers pan out a few hundred dollars' worth during the rainy season. Louise and your reporter "prospected" a few hours. She secured a nugget worth a dollar. Many side trips were taken from the Carle home, one to Gold Hill, so named because a $2,000 nugget was found there. [Something between $150,000 and $700,000 was removed from the Gold Hill pocket.] Another to Jacksonville, the second oldest city in the Northwest, where in the '60s a population of 2,000 bearded, booted, "don't-care-if-I-do" miners searched for the yellow ore. Another interesting drive was up Lewis Creek, where a 200-acre ranch was offered for $5,000. It had three "cure-all" springs gushing from its hillsides, thirty-five acres of comparative smooth land under irrigation, a good eleven-room house, barn, chicken house, etc., with some raw timber and more coming on. We did not consider it a good buy. We climbed to the top of a high mountain with a Mr. Draham (an experienced miner and hunter) as guide and had a wonderful view of the famed Rogue River Valley, Mount Pitt, etc., and on our return enjoyed more than all else a sumptuous dinner prepared by Mrs. Carle. Sunday, October 23, we worshiped with the Presbyterians at Rogue River, Ore., and were edified by Dr. Gray from a text taken from Isaiah 55:10-11, in which is declared that the Word and rain came from heaven. The spiritual and material relationship were harmoniously enlarged upon. The necessity of Biblical prophets and modern angels, scientific irrigation, an auxiliary of the raindrops, etc. Both clearly defined but beautifully interwoven. The text at this season, when drought-seared hillside and valley has just begun to respond to the annual fog and rains with an attractive dress, was appropriate. We thank you! Rev. and Mrs. W. Alex. Smith of Plaza, Wash., were also guests at the Carle home while our family was enjoying like hospitality. The Smiths are formerly of Kansas, being stationed at Jewell, Culver and Newton a couple of decades ago.
    Tapering down from forty-five inches of rainfall at Portland, Jackson County, Southern Oregon gets seventeen inches annually. And naturally must rely on irrigation to some extent to produce full crops.
    Medford is a busy city of 8,000 population, noted for its fruit production; especially is it the home of the famous Bosc pear, also for its all-year-round climate, scenery, mountains and streams with their many fishing and hunting opportunities.
    Ashland is the southern gateway city of Oregon on the Pacific Highway, twenty-two miles from the California state line, and is famous for its remarkably fine climate, mild, but invigorating due to its elevation of 1,940 feet. Enervating hot days are never known, and the summer nights are always cool and restful.
    Nestling in a sheltered location, with Mount Ashland directly to the west and the Siskiyou Range to the south, strong winds and gales are unknown, and thunder storms seldom occur.
    The mineral waters of Ashland are well known, lithia, sulfur and soda being available in Lithia Park, in the heart of the city, or may be enjoyed at the source of the springs by short journeys or hikes. Two fine natatoriums supply the bathing requirements, and close to the city there is a warm sulfur pool which furnishes the finest bathing mineral water known. Natural carbonic acid gas is found at the source of the lithia springs and is shipped to various parts of the country, as is also the sparkling, delicious lithia. All these waters have well-known curative properties and will, with the natural increase of population, make Ashland much better known in the future.
    Ashland's auto camp ground, the original auto camp ground of the West, if not of the United States, has made Ashland known far and near, and it is a common saying wherever you go, "Be sure to stop at the Ashland camp; it's the best ever." Not so much from any artificial equipment or planning, as from the natural surroundings does it draw its charm. Ashland welcomes the tourist.
    Ashland Fruits--Apples, cherries, peaches, pears and all kinds of berries are unexcelled, but during the summer the tourist may obtain cherries and peaches of most distinctive and luscious flavor here. The season for the Royal Anne, Bing and Lambert cherry is unusually long, and the peach season extends over a long period. Apples from the Ashland district have taken prizes in the great apple shows of the country, as they have a color and flavor quite rare. Apricots are exceptionally choice, and Rogue River Valley pears are known the world over.
    Fruit, grains, alfalfa and dairying are the principal agricultural pursuits, while poultry raising is rapidly gaining ground and offers unlimited opportunity. Although on the edge of vast timber tracts, up to the present the lumber industry has been developed only slightly, several small sawmills supplying the local demand. Granite quarries, equaled only by the famous Barre, Vt., deposits, are gaining an enviable reputation for their products and will sometime mean a large payroll.
    Railroads--The Southern Pacific railroad makes Ashland one of the chief division points, and its employees delight in the privilege of making Ashland their home. A large payroll results from this company's activities, and a splendid dining service is connected with its hotel equipment.
The Downs News and The Downs Times, Downs, Kansas, November 8, 1923, page 4