THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



SPRINGY PLACES FULL OF CAT-TAILS AXD WATER-CRESS. 



cumulated to a great thickness in an 

 old Cretaceous sea. The basin was 

 surrounded on three sides by bluffs of 

 clay and shale, and its bottom was so 

 furrowed by water from rains and 

 melting snow that it had been difficult 

 to find a wagon-way through it. It 

 was still very hot and the scene was 

 almost as desolate as that of a desert. 



About the only signs of animal life 

 that we noticed were conical mounds 

 of sand surrounded by circular patches 

 kept clear of vegetation. These were 

 the dwelling places of the agricultural 

 ants, one of the few kinds of insects 

 whose interesting lives, habits, and in- 

 genuous dwelling-places have been 

 studied and described. 



At last we saw an oil-derrick, some 

 cabins, and oil-tanks. This we found 

 was the partially explored oil-region 

 of which we had heard. In every 

 fresh exposure of the shales that we 

 examined we had found impressions 

 of scales and bones of fishes. This, 

 perhaps, had originated the theory that 

 the oil came from the fishes that had 

 lived in the sea. 



After traveling several weary miles, 

 we saw, to the southward, green trees 

 peeping from behind barren hills; and 

 then we came to the White River 

 fiat. We entered a gate through a 

 barbed-wire fence and were on a ranch, 

 the first we had seen for weeks. We 



soon found that we were in a pasture 

 for a man was driving the cows home 

 to be milked. 



In this pasture, above the irrigating 

 ditch, the sage-brush grew more rank 

 than on the higher land and the grease- 

 wood gave a greener tint to the land- 

 scape ; but when we came to the ditch 

 the scene was suddenly transformed. 

 It was only a step from comparative 

 desolation to a paradise of vegetable 

 luxuriance. The ditch was almost 

 hidden among green willows, grasses, 

 wild sunflowers, and numerous other 

 plants. 



On the west side of the road was a 

 field of oats that had just been har- 

 vested and shocked. In a more dis- 

 tant field we could see and hear a 

 harvesting-machine cutting the grain. 

 On the east side of the lane was a field 

 of wheat, and beyond that was a pretty 

 farm-house, half hidden in a cottpn- 

 wood grove. Between the field of 

 wheat and the grove was a garden and 

 an orchard. In the garden were beets, 

 carrots, onions, beans pumpkins, mel- 

 ons and other vegetables. In front of 

 the large brick barn were wagons and 

 farm machinery, and on the south side 

 was the barnyard where the cows were 

 standing: chewing their cuds and wait- 

 ing to be milked. 



All the sights, sounds, and odors 

 brought to my mind as by magic, 



