COLONIZATION. 569 
long and six rods wide, produced three hundred bushels. For the past 
three years the fruit has been seriously injured by the grasshoppers 
eating off the leaves of the trees, but the injury was less than it would 
have been in a section depending on rain to supply the requisite moisture. 
AS a grape-growing region this Territory cannot compete with Cali- 
fornia or Southern New Mexico, yet very fine grapes can be raised, and 
the Rio Virgin section can produce a quality equal to the grapes of any 
part of New Mexico, but the area is limited. 
The potato grows to a large size, is of fine quality, and yields heavy 
crops. There are several fields of lucern, which is used to feed the cattle 
of the villages when the pasturage in the vicinity proves insufficient. 
Very few of the valleys, except those in the mountains, furnish any 
timber of importance; but, as a general rule, a supply can be obtained 
from the neighboring ranges, chiefly pine and fir. 
COLONIZATION. 
‘The settlement of countries by colonies is by no means new. The 
children of Israel went to the land of Canaan as acolony. Athens and 
Rome were founded as colonies, and it is well known that much of New 
England was settled in this manner. Of late years few colonies have 
been founded, and settlements have been by individual effort. The 
laws relating to Government land require that titles pass directly to 
an individual, and no combined effort, no codperation is recognized. 
Hence, when a colony undertakes to acquire a title to Government land, 
there are great difficulties; for, as soon as the location is made, squatters 
and land speculators rush in, and appropriate whatever lands they can 
seize, not in good faith, but that they may realize more or less on the 
rise in the price of land, caused by those who do come in good faith. 
Where there are railroad grants covering one-half of the region, the 
difficulties are proportionally diminished. 
The objects to be secured in organizing a colony may be definitely 
stated: First, to secure choice and cheap land; second, to divide such 
land equitably among the members; third, to build a town, centrally 
located, that each may have a share in the increased value of town 
and of country property, and that there may be the advantages of 
schools, churches, and good society at an early day; fourth, to obtain 
reduced rates on freight and passage; and fifth, to prohibit the sale ot 
intoxicating liquors and the introduction of gambling establishments. 
Theoretical ideas are of little value unless enforced by practical exam- 
ples. The most noticeable recent example is that of the Union colony, 
the center of which is the town of Greeley, in Weld County, Territory 
of Colorado. 
A visit was made to Colorado, late in the fall of 1869, by a gentle- 
man interested in the formation of a colony, when the remarkably fine 
climate, the fertile soil, the abundance of minerals, and the majestic 
scenery attracted his attention. Almost every part of the United States 
had been previously visited with a view to impart information on the 
‘best localities for those seeking new homes on cheap lands, and it was 
‘seen that Colorado offered many inducements, an important one being 
its freedom from malarious diseases. But it was seen that to remove so 
far, in the common isolated method, would entail hazards of no ordinary 
character, and .at .the best .it would .be many ,years ,before the settler 
