ARKED on the maps of railroad financiers and soon to have a place on the official time-cards is a region in Southern Oregon, East of the Cascade Mountains, concerning which the public knows very little, but that is destined to furnish homes for a multitude. Remarkable fertility of soil, splendid mountain climate, turquoise skies of Summer with breezes tempered by snow-capped peaks, and abundant water supply from immense natural reservoirs to be carried to the land by means of a vast system of reclamation works being built by the United States Government are some of the elements combining to convert the Klamath Basin from its native state into one of the most highly developed agricultural districts of the land. Homes for 50,000 people are to be provided by means of irrigation. The largest body of soft pine timber on the Pacific Coast has been practically untouched by the bandsaw to convert it into merchantable timber; water power sufficient to operate transportation of a commonwealth and turn thousands of factory wheels, may be harnessed, creating immense manufacturing industries and home markets for products of the soil.

Unheralded because of its remoteness from established lines of travel and almost unknown to travelers, the Klamath region, with its extraordinary system of lakes, rivers and marshes, is the habitat of waterfowl, rainbow trout and other species of fish that delight the lover of rod and reel, are found in abundance, and grouped within a given area are scenic attractions more varied than anywhere else. Rivers that flow in both directions, wood that sinks and stone that floats are among the natural wonders whereat visitors marvel. A river that flows nearly a hundred. miles in its course from source to mouth and then is lost in a lake distant less than seven miles from its headwaters and which has no visible outlet is another peculiar feature. Crater Lake is classed by

discerning globe-trotters as entitled to rank as one of the seven wonders of the world, its surface at an attitude of 7,000 feet and having a maximum water depth of 2,650 feet. These attractions, to say nothing of the big game, bear, elk and deer, are resources of great importance and must prove the magnet to draw thousands of tourists annually.

Upper Klamath Lake is the largest body of navigable water in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains. It is fed by streams that gush full-fledged

river from springs as cold as iced drinks, and at various places throughout the basin hot springs of water possessed of medical properties boil up from the mysterious depths of the earth.

Despite the handicap of lack of transportation facilities there has been a great deal done toward development of the rich resources of this fertile land. Thousands of acres are producing bounteously of forage and grain and root crops. Great strides have been taken already in transformation from a breeding and grazing ground of livestock to the development of the feeding industry which will remain one of the permanent pursuits of the region, although the trinity of waste water, fertile land in primeval state and idle men, brought together through the beneficence of the splendid paternalism embodied under the operation of the National Irrigation Act, will constitute a unity of production, fringing more intensive cultivation and higher compensation.

Enough has been done in agricultural and horticultural lines to demonstrate beyond cavil that the most profitable avenues are open to successful accomplishment of the farmer and fruitgrower. Wheat, rye, barley, oats, alfalfa, timothy, and other grain and forage crops; vegetables, celery, sugar beets, asparagus, potatoes and other root crops and all of the hardier fruits, including apples, pears, plums, apricots and berries, thrive and yield bountifully. There is nothing experimental about these demonstrations and added to the experience of the pioneers is the result of scientific research by soil experts and authorities of the plant division of the Department of Agricul

ture.

Poultry raising offers inducements to the person of limited means seeking the

KLAMATH HIGH SCHOOL.

Photograph by Miss Baldwin. KLAMATH COUNTY DEER.

All

advantages of outdoor occupation. kinds of poultry does well in the Klamath Basin and a splendid market is found locally. Likewise bee culture is attractive and few localities are so favorable for the man desirous of establishing an apiary.

Tule and marsh lands embraced within the reclamation area or tributary to Upper Klamath Lake are adapted to dairying and this industry should become one of the most lucrative branches of rural life. The finest horses in America can be bred and developed most successfully on the Pacific Coast and the Klamath country has been a center of horse production for many years. Thoroughbreds will in future be the substitute for the range animals that have heretofore been driven to market.

Klamath Basin is the objective point of no less than four railroads while the engineers of a fifth are already directing their course toward the great irrigation district. The first railroad connection with the transcontinental Harriman system will be by the route of the California Northeastern Railroad, building from a junction with the Southern Pacific at Weed, California, and now completed to within about thirty miles of Lower Klamath Lake. When this distance is spanned with steel rails, communication will have been established by means of rail and steamboat through to Klamath Falls, to Merrill Landing, and to other way points along Little Klamath and Klamath Rivers. Meanwhile construction is under way on the grade on various portions of the line and it is the