338 TEANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 



streams and is soon gone, instead o£ being retained on tlie mountain 

 slopes by the forests, and thus permitted to melt slowl}^ keeping the 

 streams supplied with water all the summer. In this way the coun- 

 try at the foot of the mountains has been robbed of much of its 

 water supply. 



Mr. Minier — T am glad Prof. Budd has called up this matter. 

 Our law-makers passed a law forbidding the cutting of timber from 

 these mountain slopes; but the cowboys were too smart for them, 

 and set fire to the timber and burnt it off, thus evading the law and 

 making grass land for their herds. The consequence is that the 

 streams have dried up, and there is not enough water to irrigate the 

 land. I think it will be a long tim^ before there will be enough, 

 and the Great American Desert will long remain as such. 



Mr. Mortimer — When people first went to the mountains they 

 had to pay very high prices for vegetables and fruits of all kinds, and 

 it occurred to them that if they could raise these things there would 

 be good money in it. The country being too dry to raise crops of 

 any kind, they conceived the idea of irrigation, dammed the streams, 

 built canals and commenced cultivating the soil and irrigating with 

 good results. 



The next in order was report of committee on grubbing up old 

 apple trees, but as there was no report, it was suggested that we have 

 some discussion on the subject, and it was taken up. 



Mr. Kellogg — I think we should grub the old orchards out and 

 select a new site suited for the purpose, and plant the varieties that 

 have done the best for the last twenty years. If Ben Davis has been 

 profitable, plant a thousand of them. Don't set a new orchard where 

 you have grubbed out an old one. 



Mr. Bouvelett, referring to grape culture, said that he grew the 

 best grapes he ever saw on a sandy soil, and said that he thought our 

 soil was deficient in potash. Nitrogen soil gives very poor fruit. 



Professor Budd — The application of ashes is a great advantage to 

 our prairie soil, especially in a dry season. We made some experi- 

 ments which showed conclusively that the application of ashes was 

 very beneficial. You could plainly see the difference where the ashes 

 were applied and where they were not as far as you could see the 

 vines. 



