282 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Conclusion. 



Our tour was one of continued interest and unalloyed gratifi- 

 cation, and, did time permit, it would be pleasant to allude more 

 particularly to our journey across the continent, — to those 

 heaven-piercing mountains of which Nevada has a Imndred, 

 each from ten to fifteen thousand feet above the level of the 

 sea — to the fearful passes, and almost fathomless canyons 

 l)eneath, some of which are hundreds of feet below the level of 

 the sea — to the forty miles of snow-sheds, twenty-five feet 

 high, so strongly built and roofed, and to those almost inter- 

 minable stretches of desolate plains over which we travelled. 

 Even these impressed us with a sense of sublimity and sur- 

 prise, suggesting the thought that although now so a})parently 

 barren, they might be made fertile, and become the abodes of 

 civilization. Some of these give unmistakable evidence of fer- 

 tility, and we were glad to perceive that the good work of 

 planting trees had in some instances been commenced on the 

 line of the Pacific Railroad. 



A vast amount of these lands, it is believed, may be made to 

 produce good timber, which will serve to shelter the crops, im- 

 prove the climate, add charms to the scenery, give comfort to 

 the traveller, and induce immigrants to locate, where, without 

 these evidences of fertility, a state of desolation would exist for 

 ages to come. 



And now, I would express our entire satisfaction with the 

 excellent construction and arrangement of the great trans-con- 

 tinental Pacific Railroad. In common with the people of our 

 whole country, we say, honor and gratitude to the noble men 

 wdio conceived, executed and brought to a triumphant comple- 

 tion this most wonderful work of modern times, — a work which 

 will ever be memorable in the annals of history for its bold 

 enterprise, rapid construction and grand achievement. 



Nor can I close these remarks without reference to the courte- 

 sies and hospitalities extended to us by the good people of Cali- 

 fornia. The first of these was the reception at Omaha of a tele- 

 gram from the California committee, with the inquiry, " When 

 will you meet us at sunrise on the summit ? " To which we 

 responded, "At sunrise Monday morning;" and just as the sun 

 was lighting up his fires on the snow-capped mountains around 

 us, the delegation, consisting of the presidents of several societies 



