248 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



grow luxuriantly, the average yield per acre in the Territory being from 

 thirty to forty bushels. It is no uncommon occurrence for the farmer 

 here to cut an average crop of sixty bushels to the acre. Although a 

 large amount of corn is raised, and crops of forty and fifty bushels to 

 the acre produced, yet this cannot be considered a good corn-growing 

 country. And I may add that, so far as my observations have extended, 

 I have seen no really good corn section west of the rain-moistened por- 

 tion of the Mississippi Valley. That there are many places where toler- 

 ably good crops can be raised, and sufficient to supply local demands, is 

 true, but what I mean is that the corn of these Territories bears no such 

 comparison with the corn of the Mississippi Valley as the wheat does. 



Sorghum appears to grow finely, and, as I have heretofore stated in 

 regard to beets, I am inclined to the belief that in this dry soil, consist- 

 ing principally of silicates, and containing alkali, the production of 

 saccharine matter will be greater than in soil having a large proportion 

 of vegetable mold. And in this connection I may remark that the 

 plums grown here are the sweetest I ever tasted. The same variety 

 raised in California, although sweeter than those raised in the States 

 east, are inferior in this respect to those raised at Salt Lake City. But 

 in regard to pears the case is somewhat reversed as compared with Cali- 

 fornia, but not as compared with those of the States east of the mountains. 

 The same thing is traceable in apples but not in peaches. 



Such fruits as apples, peaches, plums, pears, currants, gooseberries, 

 grapes, &c, can be raised in Salt Lake basin and south with ease, but 

 apples and peaches, especially the latter, will be the chief horticultural 

 product. The average yield of peaches to the acre, as shown by the re- 

 turns, is over three hundred bushels. Last year a gentleman in Provo 

 City gathered three hundred bushels from the trees on a lot twelve rods 

 long by six rods wide. For the past three years the fruit has been se- 

 riously injured by the grasshoppers eating off the leaves of the trees, 

 but the injury was probably less than it would have been in a section 

 depending on rain to supply the requisite moisture. 



As a grape-growing region this Territory cannot compete with Cali- 

 fornia or even with Southern New Mexico, yet very fine grapes can be 

 raised, and the Rio Virgin section can produce a quality equal to any 

 part of the latter, but the area is limited. 



The potatoes are as fine in quality as any I have ever met with ; they 

 also grow large, and yield heavy crops. 



I noticed a number of fields of lucerne, which is used to feed the cat- 

 tle of the villages when the pasturage in the vicinity proves insufficient. 



Very few of the valleys, except those in the mountains, furnish any 

 timber of importance, but, as a general thing, a supply can be obtained 

 from the neighboring ranges, chiefly pine and fir. 



PASTORAL LANDS AND STOCK-RAISING. 



It is apparent to every one who has paid any attention to the supply 

 of beef-cattle for the principal markets of our country, that this must 

 come from the grazing fields of the West. Having recently traveled 

 by different routes over the States between the Atlantic shore and Mis- 

 souri River, I have been astonished to find so few beef-cattle upon the 

 meadows. No doubt the census returns will show heavy figures, yet 

 these are not made up from herds fed for beef, but mostly from the cat- 

 tle and oxen in use upon the farms. The lands of the States are becom- 

 ing too valuable to afford the room required for grazing cattle at a price 

 that will compete with the plains of the West and Southwest. 



