SURVEY OF COLOEADO AND NEW MEXICO. 145 



not cause wheat and oats to ripen evenly in tlie same field. I have fre- 

 quently noticed fields of these cereals where some spots were fully ripe, 

 while others were yet quite green. But as the grains do not appear to 

 shell out as easily here as in the States, this does not cause the same 

 difficulty here as it would there. 



In order to give some idea of the time of harvesting wheat through- 

 out the section over wiiich the expedition passed, I will give from my 

 notes the condition of the crop at several points, with the dates at v>^hich 

 we passed those points. 



July 2. Laporte^ on Cache a la Foudre. — Wheat in bloom. Harvesting 

 generally takes place here about the 1st to 10th of August. 



July 7 to 15, Fisher''s Bancli.i on Clear Creel', four miles from Denver. — 

 Along the valley of this creek and that portion of Platte Valley in the 

 vicinity, the farmers are cutting wheat, though the fields appear to be 

 ripening very unevenly. Crops'excellent in appearance. 



August 6. South h a nh of Platte, near the mouth of Plum Creel: — Harvest 

 just ended ; standing shocks indicate a very heavy yield. 



August S. On the north slope of the Divide near West Plum CreeJc. — 

 Harvest nearly closed ; some wheat and oats yet standing. 



August 9 to 13. Colorado City. — The farmers in the vicinity of this 

 place in the midst of the wheat and oat harvest, both these cereals ap- 

 pearing to ripen simultaneously here. 



August 16. On the hanlis of Arlcansas, five miles south of Canon City.— 

 Wheat harvest along the banks of this stream appears to have closed 

 at least two weeks past, the weeds almost hiding the stubble. 



August 17. A few miles west of the Arlcansas River, behind the first high 

 ridge. — Saw the farmers cutting wheat, 



August 21 to 23. Trinidad. — Wheat harvest in progress. 



August 24. Richard Wooton^s^ on Raton Mountains. — Farmers cutting 

 wheat. 



August 25. Rayada, New Mexico. — Wheat harvest is over, having closed 

 about a week ijrevious to our arrival. 

 . September 2 to 5. Las Vegas. — Wheat harvest in progress. 



September 17 and 18. Taos. — Wheat harvest in progress in this valley. 



September 21. San Luis, on the Rio Culebra, Colorado. — ^Wheat not all 

 cut. 



This record presents the strange fact that at the southern extremity 

 of our route, the harvest season comes in later than at the north 

 part of Colorado. But it should be borne in mind that this route was 

 limited to a narrow line along the immediate base of the mountains ; a 

 similar record of a line further east might present a veiy different state 

 of facts, but I have no data upon which to found a comi3arison. 



Oats are grown with ease, and yield abundantly wherever they have 

 been tried in the Territory; in fact there is no part of the Union where 

 heavier crops of oats can be iDroduced than here. Instances are reported 

 where as high as one hundred and twenty-five bushels have been raised 

 to the acre, but these are extreme cases. I have ascertained quite a 

 number of instances where the yield reached from forty-eight to fifty- 

 five bushels ; and these not little garden patches which received extra 

 care to report to fairs and societies, but crops taken from extensive 

 farms under ordinary culture : in one instance from an aggregate of 

 7,000 bushels, in another 5,000 bushels, actual measurement. "Volun- 

 teer" crops v/ill come up year after year from the seed scattered during 

 the previous harvest. 



The statistics gathered by Mr. Thomas give an average of thirty-five 

 bushels for 1868. The aggregate amount of this cereal raised in the 

 10 GS 



