The forests of Snohomish are very extensive and but little depleted. Fir, cedar, hemlock and spruce are its chief trees. Nearly one-half of the area of the county is heavily mineralized with veins of gold, silver, copper, lead, nickel, iron, and other ores. There are also vast ledges of marble, granite and other building stones. In diversified agricultural possibilities, few counties can excel Snohomish. Its general soils in its valleys are alluvial, and produce astonishing crops; about the deltas of its rivers, the riches of the salt water and the mountains have combined to make a soil that will endure for ages and annually astonish the husbandman with its generosity. Upon its uplands, its clay and decaying herbage have combined for ages to create a soil wonderfully adapted to produce grass and fruits, and the industrious are luxuriating in nature's prodigality. Rainfall is abundant, but not excessive, and crops of the cereals and fruits are never failures. TRANSPORTATION. This county is splendidly provided with transportation facilities; many steamboats ply its salt waters and part way up the three great rivers that flow into the Sound. Two transcontinental railroads cut the western part of the county in two. The trunk line of the Great Northern follows the valley of one river from the southeast to the coast, while two branch lines run up the other two great valleys, past the center of the state, toward the mountains, while a dozen spurs and short logging and coal roads act as feeders to the main lines, thus giving all the towns of the county access to all the Sound markets, and those of the east and the ports of the Pacific ocean. PRINCIPAL CITIES AND TOWNS. EVERETT, situated upon a fine harbor on the shores of Puget Sound near the mouth of the Snohomish river, is the county seat and metropolis of the county. It has a population of 35,000, and is fast developing into a commercial and manufacturing center of importance. The largest steamers afloat can find wharfage at her docks and safe anchorage in her waters. It has upwards of 3,000 men employed in its factories and mills, with a monthly payroll aggregating $230,000. [Illustration: Plate No. 69.--Codfish and Salmon Packing Plants at Anacortes, Skagit County.] [Illustration: Plate No. 70.--Plant for the Manufacture of Portland Cement, Located in Skagit County.] [Illustration: Plate No. 71.--Snohomish County Views.] [Illustration: Plate No. 72.--Snohomish County Industrial Scenes.] [Illustration: Plate No. 73.--Street Scene in Stanwood, Snohomish County. A Pony Farm at Everett, Snohomish County.] [Illustration: Plate No. 74.--City and Town Views, Snohomish County.]