GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 241 



water enough to irrigate the larger portion of the lands on this side; 

 but the fall is not sufficient to reach the higher margins of the sloping 

 plain. 



When these works are completed and the fresh water from Utah 

 Lake has permeated the soil for a few years, this valley, seen from some 

 neighboring height, will truly appear as one vast garden. 



The soil of the flat lands around the city, when the Mormons first 

 settled it, was so thoroughly saturated with saline matter that for 

 several years there were considerable areas upon which they could get 

 no crops to grow. But at length by experience they learned that by 

 sowing it in herd-grass and irrigating it freely it could be rendered 

 suitable for the culture of other crops. And Mr. E. L. Campbell, who 

 was for some years secretary, and is now, I believe, president of the 

 Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, informs me that lands which 

 were heretofore rejected on this account are now being rapidly occupied 

 for farms. 



It is impossible to give the exact number of acres that have been irri- 

 gated in this valley, as no returns, so far as I could ascertain, have been 

 made since 18G7. Omitting from the estimate the lands that may be 

 reached by the Jordan (Janal, which is not completed, I suppose the 

 number at present amounts at least to twenty thousand or twenty- five 

 thousand acres. 



Perhaps, before passing to the Utah basin, it would be best to include 

 the Tooele and Lone Bock Valleys, as they properly belong to this group 

 of arable tracts. 



The Tooele Valley is about sixteen miles long and ten miles wide, and 

 is probably the most fertile spot in the Territory. The small streams 

 that run through it afford sufficient water to irrigate the greater part of 

 its area, and therefore I estimate its agricultural lauds at one hundred 

 and sixty square miles, or the full extent of the valley surface. The 

 soil appears to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of the cereals, it 

 being no uncommon thing to cut from sixty to seventy bushels of oats 

 from an acre, and last year one field of ninety acres averaged sixty 

 bushels to the acre. It is already pretty well settled up, having one 

 woolen manufactory and five grist-mills, and some fourteen or fiiteen 

 thousand acres irrigated. 



Lone Rock or Spring Valley, which lies at the southwest corner of 

 Salt Lake, does not appear to have attracted much attention, and is not 

 so well known as the others in this region, probably, on account of its 

 locality. It is about twenty miles long and from eight to ten miles wide, 

 and, with the exception of its northern end, is well grassed over and 

 affords excellent grazing fields. A small area can be irrigated and 

 brought under cultivation around the southwest margin, but the central 

 portion is watered principally by springs, which render the surface 

 marshy in places. Ditching through the marshy parts would probably 

 draw off sufficient water to leave the ground firm and suitable for graz- 

 ing and, perhaps, for culture. The northern portion, as it approaches the 

 lake, assumes a more barren appearance, and in some places is frosted 

 over with saline incrustations, while the southern end is much like Tintic 

 Valley. 



UTAH LAKE VALLEY. 



Passing southward over the ridge at the upper end of the Jordan 



Valley, we enter the Utah Lake Basin. The principal portion of the 



arable lands of this basin or valley stretch along the eastern shore of 



the lake, extending back from its margin to the foot of the mountains, 



16 G 



