Horticultural Experimentation for Colorado. 193 



And not only this, but we need methods of cultivation to correspond. We 

 need also to know, more definitely, as to the amount of water and the fre- 

 quency of its application, to perfect any given crop, whether in field or gar- 

 den ; taking into consideration the slope and character of the soil, and the 

 special crop under treatment. And we need to determine the desirability 

 of growing even hoed crops in our orchards. The work of the college should 

 enable us to determine this, as well as the adaptability of our climate for the 

 production of special crops in horticulture and agriculture, as the hop and 

 tobacco. 



In the glades and recesses of the Rocky Mountains, occur the native fruits 

 in great abundance — the plum, the cherry, several varieties of the currant, 

 gooseberry and raspberry, with many deciduous shrubbery and a host of an- 

 nuals and herbaceous perennials, all affording possibilities of future excel- 

 lence, either by superior cultivation or through cress-fertilization. Already 

 the Colorado Agricultural College, although but a young institution, has done 

 a work in the hybridization of wheats that has given it an internat'onal rep- 

 utation ; but wheat can not always be paramount in any system of agricul- 

 ture based on its progress as an art. But the present aspect of the field 

 shows what a work remains undone, by the chemist, in the analysis of soils, 

 of water and forage crops ; by the farmer and gardener, in determining on 

 a diversified system of agriculture, in the originating and adapting of im- 

 proved field and garden products to the exigencies of irrigation and our pe- 

 culiar climatic conditions, and in recuperating the alreadj' overtaxed ener- 

 gies of the soil, which in all the newer States is being rapidly depleted of its 

 store of plant food. 



All of these questions present their peculiar claims, demanding varying 

 arrangements, and facilities for their elucidation. All science, however, 

 must stand the test of actual application. The motto of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society, England, is " Practice with Science;" bat that of the Maid- 

 stone, England, Farmers' Club is " Science with Practice; " explaining the 

 choice of position to science, by saying, provided it can be followed with a 

 view to profit. In forestry, too, the field is fallow. The climate of the plains 

 calling for walled gardens, shelter-belts, groups of trees, and shrubbery. The 

 tree planting of these plains is the great problem of the age to the people 

 who live on them, and no doubt when they come to realize its importance 

 and know what they can do in this direction, and providing legislation con- 

 tinues favorable, these plains will be dotted with a luxuriant vegetation. At 

 the college the soft maple, the walnut, hickory, several ashes, the catalpa, 

 white elm and sweet chestnut are known to succeed. But further experi- 

 ment is urgently needed. Through trees only, so far can man hope to in- 

 fluence the meteorological conditions of this country in his favor. To what 

 extent they will influence the rainfall, perhaps can not be told; but we do 

 know that they conserve moisture and snow wherever it falls in their shade. 

 The plant in its successive growth and decay is the salvation of the soil from 

 the vacuum f)f sterility. The despised weed in its decay quickens the germ- 



