FORESTRY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 25 
don a country to desolation which Mexican peons have found capable 
of cultivation ? 
Answers in the negative are not wanting. Not to speak of the won- 
derful success achieved by the Mormons at Salt Lake, the scene of which 
is outside of the region which is properly to be discussed in this re- 
port, there may be cited what was once known as the “Greeley ex- 
periment,” which is an experiment no longer. Saying nothing of the 
success in the direction of farming and gardening which has made the 
Greeley community one of the most’ prosperous in the United States, 
the growth of trees has been enormous. The cottonwoods planted in 
the early days of the colony are giants in size now, and other trees are 
growing finely and will eventually take the place of the “ pioneer tree.” 
Not far from Greeley is Fort Collins, the seat of the agricultural col- 
lege of Colorado, and of the success of tree culture there, P. M. Hin- 
man, the secretary of the college, writes: 
In regard to the growing of trees in this region, I will say that-ethere has been a 
large growing interest taken in the past few years, and trees are being put out very 
extensively ; I know of some walnuts in bearing and others being planted. Should 
think that the next ten years will find a very rapid increase both in amount of land 
devoted to the growth and the kinds planted. 
This is but one case. At various points in Colorado and ian Wyoming 
irrigating ditches, to be in some cases 60 miles in length, are in course 
of construction. Wherever these ditches run, trees will grow trans- 
forming the face of the country. it has been noticed, too, that in 
abandoned ditches young cottonwoods spring up by thousands, the 
presence of water the year before seeming in some manner to promote 
their growth. 
At Garden City, Kans., near the borders of Colorado, on the line of 
the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railroad, irrigation has been begun 
on a scale which bids fair within a few years to be the most extensive 
within the limits of the United States. The source of supply here is 
the Arkansas River, and the fall is so great that the water taken from the 
river twenty miles above Garden City, when it reaches that point, can be 
carried over the high plateau known as the “Second Bottom,” and so 
an immense area is embraced within the possible limits of irrigation. 
With the first beginnings of cultivation trees were planted, and their 
growth has been surprising. This much has been demonstrated, that 
there is nothing in the character of the soil to prevent a tree growth as 
luxuriant as can be found anywhere within the limits of the United 
States. 
The theory that the high plains were once covered with forest, and 
that at-@ not remote period, is sustained by some remarkable facts. It 
is certain that the trunks of large trees are found in the bluffs or hills, 
miles from the water courses, and that not many years ago these giants 
of acentury’s growth were quite numerous. 
Long before the settlements had encroached upon these plains, the 
Arkansas, the Platte, and other streams were skirted with timber which 
