A journey along the banks of these canals or the Yakima river unfolds a panorama of unusual breadth and interest. Instead of the heavy forests of the west side, the sage brush struggles for existence just above the main ditches; but the country below is checkered with orchards, farms, and gardens; and cotton woods protect the banks of the streams. Impressive is the sight in springtime when fruit trees are all in bloom and the Blossom Festival, participated in by a hundred-thousand people, is ushering in the full tide of spring; or in autumn when deeper touches of color mark an immense crop ready for the harvester.

From the hills on either side, the picture assumes its most perfect form. Cities, meadows, orchards, vineyards, hop fields, vegetable gardens, alfalfa farms, corn fields, and prairies, bisected and crisscrossed by railroads, highways, canals, and rivers, protected by the brown hills near by and watched over by the mountains in the distance, supply composition for pictures that in detail and variety must discourage all competition.

THE WENATCHEE VALLEY.

Equally beautiful but of smaller dimensions is the Wenatchee Valley, reaching from the Columbia well up into the foot hills of the Cascades. This, too, was a desolate brown slope until the effects of irrigation were felt on its rich volcanic ash soil. After that only ten years were necessary to convert it into a garden of dazzling splendor. Instead of the forlorn looking sagebrush, a maze of orchards, extending up the valley and ascending the hills, presents in springtime a solid mass of blossoms, varying from purest white to daintiest shades of pink. Serpentining along the hill sides, as if protecting the gardens below, are the great viaducts, conducting the precious waters that irrigate the land; while dodging from one side of the vale to the other, or paralleling the Great Northern Railroad, the Wenatchee river hastens onward towards the Columbia.

The north, south, and west are guarded by forest-covered hills, spurs of the Cascades, over which many trails lead to charming mountain lakes and streams, where summer homes are maintained, and game awaits the hunter. The east opens up toward the wheat fields of the Big Bend, while the Columbia River Valley to the north and south is tributary and joins in all the enterprises of the district. Every tiny tributary stream in the vicinity marks the location of a peaceful home supported in affluence by successful fruit culture or gardening.

Within this valley are several prosperous cities, including Wenatchee, the metropolis of north central Washington, with a population of about 5,000, at the junction of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers; Leavenworth near the head of the valley; and Cashmere, midway between the two. The pervading spirit is one of optimism and liberality, for the Wenatchee red apple is famous the world o'er and nets its producers $5,000,000 annually.

LAKE CHELAN.

Chelan, "Beautiful Water," is the name of one of the grandest sheets of fresh water reposing upon the bosom of the American continent. It is one of a number of beautiful lakes found throughout the highlands in the vicinity of the upper Columbia, but on account of its thrilling beauty and easy approach has become one of the favorite resorts for the entire northwest.

[THE WENATCHEE VALLEY—NEAR THE CITY OF WENATCHEE.]
Photo by Curtis & Miller.