THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



mesas, marking the rise to the mountain masses which 

 line the horizon on either hand. To the eye of the 

 traveller who has just come through the awe-inspiring 

 scenery of the mountains and narrow upper valleys, 

 nothing could be less promising than the brown waste of 

 arid soil which he beholds upon approaching Grand 

 Junction. The scene is one of utter desolation, for even 

 sage-brush aiid mesquite are absent from large portions 

 of the landscape. The roaring river hurrying down the 

 slope seems to mock, with hoarse laughter, the unfruitful 

 soil, which stretches away from its banks in silence and 

 in sunshine. But if the traveller leaves the train and 

 rides out a few miles upon the desert he will quickly in- 

 terpret the mystery of these conditions. Wherever the 

 water has been married to the soil, prolific fields and 

 orchards have sprung from the union such fields and 

 orchards as may be rivalled as yet only in semi-tropic 

 California. The favorite size of farms is from ten to 

 twenty acres, or only about one-fourth or one-eighth of 

 the average area of farms on the eastern slope of Col- 

 orado. 



Fruit-culture chiefly claims the thought and energy 

 of the people in this locality, and it is very profitable. 

 Peaches are the leading product, and they are wonderful 

 for flavor, size, and beauty. A local festival is " Peach 

 Day/' when people come from all directions to feast 

 upon the free bounty of Grand Junction. Lands are held 

 high, ranging from fifty to one hundred and fifty dollars 

 per acre, though they were but recently public property 

 and of no value until irrigation facilities had been pro- 

 vided. The excuse for these high prices is the fact that 

 orchards in bearing frequently earn one hundred and fifty 



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