250 GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



But one of the best means of judging of tlie climate, so far as its 

 bearing upon agriculture is concerned, is a list of its productions. 



Not only can wheat, oats, barley, rye, and the hardier vegetables be 

 raised, but Indian corn, of a tolerably good quality, is grown here year 

 after year in sufficient quantity to supply the wants of the valley ; 

 melons, tobacco, and broom- corn thrive ; and such fruits as apples, pears, 

 plums, and cherries mature their fruit. Peach-trees have been planted, 

 and during the past season gave promise of maturing their fruit, but 

 whether success has attended this effort has not been ascertained ; but it is 

 quite probable that after a few years' trial and the trees become somewhat 

 acclimated, they will succeed. Muskmelons, squashes, tomatoes, beets, 

 carrots, and onions, of excellent quality and of large si^e, have also been 

 raised. These facts give undoubted evidence of the comparative mild- 

 ness of the climate in this northern latitude. 



The following sketch by Major Wheeler, the United States marshal 

 of the Territory, who passed through this and the adjacent valleys in 

 the early part of the autumn of 1870, will convey a better idea of the 

 beauty and agricultural resources of this part of the section than a 

 more lengthened description. Speaking of the farm of Hon. W. E. 

 Bass, he says : 



" The large fields of wheat, corn, and potatoes, the vegetable-garden, 

 and especially the flower-garden, excited our admiration. We saw fifty 

 acres of wheat, averaging 40 bushels to the acre, and twenty acres of 

 corn, averaging 50 bushels, ripe and sound. Every thing else was in the 

 same ratio. I brought away specimens of corn, onions, melons, tobacco, 

 broom-corn, and even peanuts, which for quality and size cannot be 

 surpassed anywhere. The flower-garden was a gem of its kind, covering 

 half an acre, and containing over a hundred varieties. The barn is 165 

 feet long and 60 wide. The loft will hold 150 tons of hay, and the stalls 

 below will accommodate the herd of dairy-cows, fifty of which are milked 

 and the butter churned by water-i^ower obtained from a small stream 

 which irrigates the garden," (a very convenient contrivance, becoming 

 quite common in this Territory.) " The house is prettily located among 

 shady pine-trees, a forest of which extends back to the mountains. A 

 saw-mill furnishes the lumber used on the place. On the opposite side 

 of the valley, ten miles away, is the farm of Thomas Harris, esq. He 

 has seventy acres of wheat, fifty of which are raised without irrigation, 

 and the whole will average about 40 bushels to the acre; twenty acres 

 being a voluntary crop. Mr. Harris has an orchard of apple and plum 

 trees of four years' growth, and they look very thrifty, varying from 

 6 to 9 feet in height. Frost has never injured a twig. He has a field of 

 timothy-grass, from which he cut twenty tons of excellent hay, or two 

 tons to the acre. Here were vegetables of the best quality in the great- 

 est profusion — watermelons, muskmelons, squashes, tomatoes, beets, car- 

 rots, and onions, of large growth." 



Another gentleman, Mr. Bonner, who has resided in the country for 

 several years, furnishes the following statement in regard to what he 

 knows from personal observation of the productions of this vaUey, 

 including the condition of the crops and orchards the present sea- 

 son ; and in this he confines himself strictly to such things as will 

 mature with ordinary care, not including those things which require ex- 

 traordinary care and protection : wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, (of 

 such varieties as are usually raised in Western I^ew York,) potatoes, (re- 

 markably large and of a superior quality,) onions, turnips, pease, beans, 

 tomatoes, melons, and cucumbers ; also such fruits as apples, pears, 

 plums, cherries, and the smaller kinds, these being now (August, 1871) 



