188 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 
Junction they begin to lose some of their picturesqueness on account of 
their distance from the observer. The red cliffs on the south become 
more prominent and are much more dissected into fantastic forms 
than they are south of Grand Junction. About 11 miles west of 
Grand Junction the pillars, towers, buttresses, columns, and domes 
become so striking that an area including them, opposite Fruita, 
has been set aside by the Federal Government as the Colorado 
National Monument. By this means they will be preserved and 
made accessible to the general public. One of these picturesque 
forms is shown in Plate LX XVIII. Fruita, as its 
name implies, is the center of an extensive fruit- 
osteoma 510 feet. raising district, but the best part of this district is 
Denver 461 miles. 0M the terrace north of the town. Much of this land 
is devoted entirely to the raising of fruit; but, as 
shown in Plate LXXVIT, A, other crops are raised between the 
trees while the orchard is Mattes: 
Just west of Fruita the railroad crosses Little Salt Wash and Salt 
Wash, two streams that head at the base of the Book Cliffs, about 
Fruita. 
forests, and by irrigation and power | bed at the gage, as determined by 
companies at critical periods, espe- | soundings made at several points in 
cially during low water. a line across the stream, the area of 
In determining the flow of a river | the cross section at the point of 
the height of the water is first meas- | measurement is computed. The veloc- 
reading. Ifthe record at the station is | of water flowing past the gaging sta- 
likely to be of great value, or if the | tion can be determined. As the cur- 
Station is in a remote place, it is de- | rent strikes against the cups of the 
sirable to use an automatic gage, which | meter it causes them to revolve, and 
draws a curve on a chart showing con- | the revolutions in a given time are 
tinuously the height of the water, in- | counted by means of an_ electrical 
cluding every fluctuation. In May and | make-and-break contact to determine 
June the warm days and cold nights | the velocity of the current in fee 
second. 
at ae headwaters of streams that head In low water the meter is held on a 
ak 
; 
distance downstream the highest stage 
may be reached during the night and 
the lowest during the day 
gage height ‘ae the con- 
tour or cross section of the stream 
