At present we ship in about 500 tons per year of merchandise and supplies, and ship out, in the way of hops and other things, from 400 to 500 tons per year. This we could double if we had railroad facilities for shipping. We employ during the winter--that is, in November, December and January--about forty men; the rest of the year, from 75 to 1,200 men and women. The keeping up of this supply of labor, which all comes from Seattle, would be quite an item to the traffic of a railroad. I presume you know that where there are a large number of people employed, they are continually coming and going. In speaking with a railroad contractor the other day, he told me that in order to keep 500 men at work, he had to keep 1,500 on the road. This will also be an important item when the mines are working above here. There are a great many items of interest to which I might call your attention, but I will confine myself to the above at present. Yours, very respectfully, T. G. WILSON, SECRETARY AND MANAGER OF THE HOP GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. [Sidenote: Farming, fruit and grazing lands.] Besides the bottom lands, there are large areas of what might be called table-lands, north and northeast of the lakes, which are top-dressed with glacial drift, but which will be well adapted to the crops of the country, and especially to fruits. And besides the table-lands, the smaller mountains are generally adapted to agriculture, and especially to grazing. My impression, as heretofore stated, is that, ultimately, West Washington will become a great grazing region, though it is generally supposed that East Washington is to be the chief cattle country. But the mild and equable climate, and the abundance of rain, ensures abundant forage summer and winter in West Washington. This will be important for the feeding of cities farther south, as well as for sending canned and refrigerator beef far and wide over the Pacific Ocean. The growth of vegetables, especially of root crops, is something phenomenal on both sides of the Cascade Mountains, and will furnish a large item of commerce, as is shown already by the large shipments of potatoes from Seattle, and the multiplication of canneries. [Sidenote: Hops, barley and beer.] The hop interest is a large one, but the low prices of the last year or two have checked the progress of this industry. Breweries have already been established at Seattle, and elsewhere on Puget Sound, and, as the chief materials for beer (barley and hops) are produced here so cheaply and abundantly, we may expect Puget Sound beer to become quite a large item of commerce. The Snoqualmie and Squak valleys have as yet but a scattered agricultural population, but ultimately farms will be opened along all the streams, and even high up on the Cascade Mountains. [Sidenote: The two great railroads.]