[Sidenote: Differences between East and West Washington.] In respect to cold waves, winds and storms, Washington Territory is singularly favored. There is nothing to correspond with the blizzards, northers, hurricanes and cyclones which trouble some other States. Even ordinary thunder-storms are rare. The climate of East Washington is different from that of West Washington, and yet, when compared with that of Montana and Dakota, it will be seen that it is really transitional and intermediate between the climates on each side. The range of thermometer from the heat of July to the cold of January is, at Bismarck, 65°; at Spokane Falls, 45°, and on Puget Sound, 22°. And, in like manner, the amount of rain is intermediate between the heavy rainfall of the Sound and the lighter rains of the Rocky Mountain country. The explanation of this is, that while the Cascade Range, like all high mountains, condenses the moisture of the air on the windward side and changes its temperature, yet this range is not sufficiently high and cold to have the effect of the Himalayas or the Andes in depriving the leeward lands of rain. The mountain rim of the plateau country has not the moisture which distinguishes the west side of the Cascade, and it varies in its amount at different places. Some statements have already been made in reference to the dryness and summer heat of the Yakima Valley on the east flank of the main mountain. The mountains running along the Canada line have probably a better summer climate than the east side of the main mountain. I do not know how it is with the Coeur d'Alene and Blue Mountains, but the climate of the plateau has no unusual character in the matter of temperature. Half of the States of the Union have as great or greater extremes; but the plateau has less than half the precipitation of Puget Sound, as shown in the tables given on pages 56 and 57. And the rainfall in the summer is so scant that one would not, _a priori_, expect any form of vegetation to progress at all. These meteorological phenomena render almost unaccountable the facts of agriculture, which will be given hereafter. [Sidenote: Chinook wind.] The Chinook wind, which springs up in winter and melts the snow on the plateau, and to some extent in the mountains, is simply a southerly wind, such as is common in the Mississippi Valley and even on the Atlantic seaboard. In the Pacific States it does not, from the descriptions, appear to differ from the breezes of the coast, except in its greater strength and steadiness. I heard an intelligent gentleman, residing in Spokane Falls, say that he thought the Chinook was a disadvantage in winter, as it caused a disagreeable thaw, and so relaxed the human system as to render it more sensitive to cold; but generally the Chinook is enjoyed in East Washington. SOILS. [Sidenote: Soils all fertile.]