272 GEOLOGY. 



ready attended the cultivation of the grape in southeastern Ne- 

 braska, at least, demonstrates that the State may likewise become 

 remarkable in this respect. For the cultivation of the apple, its 

 superiority is demonstrated. Nebraska, although so young in 

 years, has taken the premium over all the other States in the pom- 

 ological fairs at Richmond and Boston. Of course there are ob- 

 stacles here in the way of the pomologist as well as in other fa- 

 vored regions. But what is claimed is, that the soil, as analysis and 

 experience prove, is eminently adapted to grape, and especially to 

 apple tree culture. The chief obstacle is particularly met with in 

 the interior of the State, and results from the climate. In mid- 

 summer occasional hot, dry winds blow from the southwest. 

 These winds, where the trunks of apple trees are exposed, blister 

 and scald the bark on the south side, and frequently kill the trees. 

 It is found, however, that when young trees are caused to throw 

 out limbs near to the ground, they are completely protected, or if 

 that has not been done, a shingle tacked on that side of the tree 

 prevents all damage from that source. Many fruit growers also 

 claim that cottonwood and box-elder groves on the south side of 

 orchards is all that is necessary to protect them from these storms. 

 I mention this here to put any new settler, who may read this and 

 who has not learned the experience of fruit-growers in this State, on 

 his guard. 



Scenery of the Loess Deposits. 



It has been remarked that " no sharp lines of demarcation sepa- 

 rate the kinds of scenery that produce the emotions of the grand 

 and the beautiful." This is eminently true of some of the scenery 

 produced by the Loess formations. Occasionally an elevation is 

 encountered from whose summit there are such magnificent views 

 of river, bottom, forest, and winding bluffs as to produce all the 

 emotions of the sublime. One such elevation is Pilgrim Hill, in 

 Dakota County, on the farm of Hon. J. Warner. From this hill 

 the Missouri bottom, with its marvelous, weird-like river, can be 

 seen for twenty miles. Dakota City and Sioux City, the latter dis- 

 tant sixteen miles, are plainly visible. If it happens to be Indian 

 summer, the tints of the woods vie with the hazy splendor of the 

 sky to give to the far outstretched landscape more than an oriental 

 splendor. I have looked with amazement at some of the wonder- 

 ful canyons of the Rocky Mountains, but nothing there more com- 

 pletely filled me and satisfied the craving for the grand in nature 



