LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. 75 



It is only by comparison with some standard whose 

 proportions have assumed a definite form in the mind, 

 that any approach to a conception of the vast area which 

 still remains unoccupied between the Mississippi and the 

 Pacific can be obtained. The statement of its contents 

 in acres or square miles conveys no impression whatever. 

 Even an inspection of such portions of it as are already 

 accessible, serves to aid the mind to grasp the idea of 

 its extent only when the comparative insignificance of 

 what has been seen is proved by reference to maps show- 

 ing its relative proportion to the whole. 



The traveler approaching from the East is impressed 

 with the sense of solemn grandeur inspired by the vast 

 extent -and dreary monotony of the great plains. He 

 flies by day and night over a road so level and straight 

 as to admit the full speed of steam power, seeing no 

 change in the boundless expanse on every side, save 

 when he crosses the sandy beds into which great rivers 

 have sunk exhausted in the effort to span the weary 

 distance. He recalls the fact that he is crossing the 

 plains at the narrowest point, and tries in vain to con- 

 ceive of their transverse extent from their unknown limits 

 in the frozen North to their Southern boundaries in 

 Mexico. 



All this region which till a comparatively recent date 

 has been supposed to be a desert and incapable of culti- 

 vation, requires only forest culture, to restore the humidity 

 of climate, which is all that is needed to develop its 

 capacity of production. The possibility of forest culture 

 has been abundantly proved at various points, and espe- 



