no PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. 



I started from Francis on the Ward Line, or Colorado & Northwestern 

 Railway, at 6:20 A. M., ascended Mt. Baldy by the old trail some distance to 

 the deep snow among the green timbers where both white and red spruce 

 thickly covered the ground. The south and west slopes where the timber 

 has been cut away, and in places where fires have devastated the timber, all is 

 bare, only stumps and dead logs remaining. There is no snow on their slopes. 

 It has already been melted and has flooded the lower country. The effects 

 are seen all over the valley. On the north and east slopes there is consider- 

 able timber, spruce and aspen, the solidly packed snow, the fall of ten to 

 twenty feet, having been compressed into four or five feet. It is firm to walk 

 over. spruce here rises to about 11,000 feet, and on the north slope is 



in plact: quite plentiful. 



Upon the divide along the east arm of Baldy, at 11,500 feet elevation, is 

 seen the fearful effect of wintry winds. The spruce and aspen are bent with 

 the winds to the southward, lying along the surface of the mountain only five 

 or six feet high, but often forty-feet length of tree, the roots in many places 

 being pulled out of the rock fastenings by the wind. The trees are arranged 

 in open rows with open space between, like parallel hedge rows. We reach 

 the summit of the divide near a deserted miner's cabin. Numerous monu- 

 ments occur where mineral locations have been made. 



Baldy proper is a round-top, elevated mass, with arms to east and west, 

 and is connected with the Continentnl Divide at the Arapahoe peaks. Numer- 

 ous lakes and streams in the valleys nearby come into view from this elevated 

 point. The top of the mountain is now (June 3) bare; except for occasional 

 patches of snow. The elevation is 12,150 feet. Far to the south Pike's Peak 

 is seen, and nearby, only three to four miles distant, is the Continental Divide, 

 its peaks all snowcapped. 



I continued a mile farther west to the foremost elevation of Baldy, where 

 half a dozen piles of stones mark the visit of tourists. Here I took many 

 photographs, some of which we reproduce. To the west are the Arapahoe 

 Peaks, but I see no glacier indications. They are not more than three miles 

 distant by section lines and surveys, and any glacial appearance should be 

 clearly seen from this distance. To the right is Raid Mountain, 11.403 feet, 

 and to the north Audubon Peak, 13.173 feet elevation. Saint Vrain Creek and 

 lake, or reservoir, being directly at my feet, while the black appearance of the 

 dark spruce shows a fine body of timber. Very much green young timber 



