


95 

thrifty young Fir (red) and Cottonwood. No forest fires have occurred 
for a number of years. On a few timber-culture claims trees are grown 
with the aid of irrigation. 
BOISE COUNTY. 
(Total.area, 2,500 square miles; estimated forest area, 1,100 square miles.) 
Boisé county is situated in the central southwestern portion of the 
Territory. It has a rolling surface, and is watered by tributaries of the 
Payette and Boisé Rivers. Long Valley, about 75 by 15 miles in ex- 
tent, and Garden Valley, also of large size, contain rich farming lands. 
There are wide tracts of grazing land in different parts of the county. 
Some of the finest timber in the Territory grows here, covering from 
one-half to two-thirds of the area of the county. The predominant 
species are Yellow and Black Pine, Red Fir, and Balsem. 
CASSIA COUNTY. 
(Total area, 4,300 square miles; estimated forest area, 100 square miles. ) 
This county occupies acentral position upon the southern border of 
the Territory. Snake River bounds it on the north, and it is watered 
by tributaries of the samestream. Thesurface of the county gradually 
rises from the Snake River south to the Utah line, where it be- 
comes rough and mountainous, but interspersed with numerous valleys 
of greater or less extent. It is essentially a stock-growing county, and 
as such ranks among the first in the Territory. 
The winter climate is cold and changeable. The amount of snow-fall 
in the valleys is not very heavy, but immense quantities accumulate in 
the mountains, which afford vast stores of moisture for the growing 
crops when the hot days of summer come. There isa great deal of rain 
in the valleys during the winter season, or from about the Ist of No 
vember to the middle of April. During the remainder of the year rain 
seldom falls, except occasionally a shower about the 1st of July. Con- 
sequently no crops can ordinarily be raised without irrigation. 
The forest area is very limited and confined almost wholly to the 
mountains of the southern portion. Yellow and Black Pine and Balsam 
Fir are the principal timber trees. Good sawing timber, however, is 
getting scarce, although there is plenty of an inferior quality to furnish 
the county with rough lumber for a long time to come. The supply for 
fuel is inexhaustible. Cedar grows abundantly on the low mountains, 
and there are large bodies of Pine of small growth farther up on the 
mountains and in thecanyons. There is some Mountain Mahogany and 
Nut or Pinon Pine, both of which make superior fuel. 
CUSTER COUNTY. 
(Total area, 5,800 square miles; estimated forest area, 1,900 square miles. 
This county is centrally located in the Territory. It is broken by 
many low mountain ranges, The Salmon River, pursuing a zigzag 
