30 BOTANICAL SURVEY OF THE C<EUR D'ALENE MOUNTAINS. 



strawberries, raspberries, currants, and gooseberries — were seen here 

 and there. The low bench lands had been selected for these gardens and 

 orchards, because their elevation gave them a higher night temperature 

 on an average than the bottom lands possessed. The cultivation of the 

 bench lands in this valley would render possible the production of a 

 far greater variety of farm produce than is practicable upon the land 

 now used. They are, however, for the most part heavily timbered, 

 and when cleared the soil dries and bakes so hard that irrigation 

 becomes imperative, although the annual precipitation is so large. 

 Hay is the principal crop in the St. Joseph valley also. The eleva- 

 tion of the slack-water portion of the valley, 050 to 070 meters (2,100 to 

 2,200 feet), gives it to some extent immunity from summer frosts. More 

 grain and garden vegetables are raised here than on the St. Mary; 

 also large quantities of small fruits, especially strawberries and rasp- 

 berries. The production of these is more than sufficient for home con- 

 sumption, and a ready market is found for the surplus in the South 

 Fork mining districts. Several orchards were seen, none of the trees 

 fruiting very freely, but I was informed that in some years apples, 

 pears, plums, and cherries bear abundantly. Owing to the fact that 

 the slack- water portions of the St. Mary and St. Joseph valleys are 

 elevated above the summer stage of the river only 2 to 3.5 meters (6.6 

 to 11.5 feet), and that the spring rise of the rivers, or rather the back 

 water of Lake Cceur d'Alene, often amounts to 5 meters (1G.4 feet) and 

 upward, they are frequently overflowed for weeks at a time. This 

 entails a severe loss to the owners of timothy fields, as such a pro- 

 longed submersion kills this grass. For this reason a large part of the 

 rich meadow lands produces nothing better than coarse sedges and 

 such plants as sweet flag (Aeonis calamus), tule (Scirpm lacustris ovci- 

 dentalix), bur reed (Sparganium eurycarpum), water cinquefoil (Potentilla 

 palustris), and cat-tail ( Typha latifolia). The reclamation of these over- 

 flowed bottom lands would make them very valuable. It can be 

 accomplished only by lowering the water in Lake Cteur d'Alene. This 

 is possible by widening the channel of the Spokane Eiver at Post 

 Falls, a matter that could be done readily and cheaply. It would, 

 however, destroy in large measure the water power at this point and 

 very materially injure the one at Spokane. The interests that would 

 suffer by a lowering of Lake Cceur d'Alene would be far greater than 

 those that would benefit by the permanent drainage of the overflowed 

 bottom lands of the St. .Joseph and the St. Mary. 



The neighborhood of Lake Coeiir d'Alene insures a comparative free- 

 dom from summer frosts to the small quantity of arable land around its 

 shores. Northeast from this lake lies a very undulating region, formed 

 by a multitude of low spurs which in part proceed from the northern 

 half of the western rim of the North Fork triangle and in part from 

 the ridge which forms its base. It is about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) 

 long by 1.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) wide, is of low elevation, varying from 



