8 Fruit-growing in Arid Regions 



saved from a fire set by a careless hand to destroy weeds. 

 Only about 150 of the 6000 trees were rescued from the 

 debris left from the flood, and in 1866 these were set out 

 in an orchard on Mr. Lee's upland farm. Many of these 

 trees are living yet, and yearly yield crops of golden fruit, 

 and look as if they will continue to do so for many years 

 to come. 



"In the spring of 1863, Hirman C. Wolf, of Denver, 

 received by express a box packed with different kinds 

 of fruit stock, principally berries and some apple, pear, 

 and plum, for which package he paid $62. Owing to 

 poor condition and lack of knowledge to handle the stock, 

 they failed to grow. 



"September 24, 1863, Mr. Wolf left Denver with a 

 four-horse team and drove to Des Moines, Iowa, about 

 nine hundred miles, for the purpose of bringing to this 

 territory a full load of apple, pear, plum, cherry, and berry 

 stock. Loading there, he, on the 3d day of November, 

 started for Denver and arrived here on the 16th day of 

 December, 1863. The stock he bought was buried, 

 and in the spring of. 1864 was set out in orchard, prin- 

 cipally in the Clear Creek bottoms, but some on the 

 uplands of Mr. Wolf's farm one mile south of Arvada, 

 in Jefferson County. 



"The great flood in Clear Creek in 1864 destroyed 

 nearly all of the orchard planted in the bottom, and the 

 lack of irrigation caused that planted on the uplands to 

 perish. None of the trees of this costly experiment of 

 Mr. Wolf's lives to-day, and it is only a reminiscence. 



"In 1870, Mr. J. W. Cook, of Ralston Creek, Jefferson 

 County, brought from Illinois a lot of orchard, berry, and 

 grape stock, and set them out on his farm in that valley. 

 Mr. Cook was a practical nurseryman in Illinois, but 

 failed to succeed in Colorado with Illinois methods of 

 tree culture. He was an enthusiast and somewhat 

 erratic, but he did make a success, of his orchard and 

 vineyard, and taught us many a profitable lesson. He 



