width at its base. This includes a uniform 
system of spurs or wings thrown out on each 
side as if for support, and sloping down to 
timber in the course of eight or ten miles, 
something like, to compare grcat>things with 
small, the rafters from the ridge-pole of a 
house. 
Its ridge is broken in outline, often ser¬ 
rated like a saw (whence the name Sierra) 
sometimes exhibiting tho native granite of 
the earth’s crust in huge masses, terrible 
from their gigant ic- dosolatenesa and uncouth 
shapes, but in good part it is smoothly 
rounded and grassy, accessible and passable 
in any direction during July, August and 
September. Stretching itself like a huge, 
gorged anaconda, five hundred miles from 
northwest to southeast, enveloping the great 
parks in its folds and hiding myriads of 
smaller ones, suspending Alpine lakes with 
lilies all their own. on its rugged sides, often 
breathing liken leviathan of the deep, and 
shaking storms from its angry mane, 
A peculiarity of tho range is ils tortuous 
course. A direct line connecting Its northern 
and southern points in tho Territory of Col¬ 
orado, is not quite three hundred miles in 
length, whereas, following itR windings, the 
measurement is over five hundred miles. 
Adding to this the. great lateral spurs—those 
terminating in Pike’s L’oak, and tho Spanish 
Peaks and Raton mountains on the east, and 
the Elk and Uncornpagro mountains on the 
west—the aggregate length of the range in 
Colorado, is from ten to twelve hundred 
miles. 
Rising gradually from tho Laramie Plains, 
in latitude 13 degrees, JO rain, north and lon¬ 
gitude 30 degrees, 80 min. west (from Wash¬ 
ington), the range has an average altitude of 
12,000 feet. Upon crossing the 41st poralul, 
it pours oil', north-eastward, the waters of 
the North Platte, and westward, those of 
Green and Rear rivers, R, soon changes its 
course a trifle, striking east southeast for 
about seventy miles, dividing tho North and 
Middle Parks, and abutting squarely on the 
plains in Long’s Peak, Here, it breaks 
sharply to the south southwest, shedding 
from its eastern slope, the numerous affluents 
of the South Platte, and from its western, 
tho Grand River fork of the Rio Colorado, 
Pursuing this course, perhaps thirty miles, it 
suddenly makes an ox-bow curve, forty or 
fifty miles in length, to the west, round tho 
more immediate heads of Clear Creek. 
Thence, it resumes its southerly course for 
twenty or thirty miles, starting eastward, 
Rear Creek and the north fork of the South 
Platte, and westward the Snake and Swan 
rivers, affluents of the Blue, tho latter a 
tributary of the Grand, about sixty miles in 
length, and emptying into that stream just 
before it escapes from Middle Park. Here, 
tho range breaks suddenly to the west, pre¬ 
senting in a distance of twenty miles three 
wagon road passes—tho Georgia, the Broek- 
enridge and the Uto—and culminating soon 
thereafter in Mt. Lincoln. Tills is the grand 
focal point ol' primary mountain chains, 
primary rivers and parks. It is In tho same 
latitude as St. Louis and San Francisco (JO 
degrees), is about one thousand miles from 
each, and in the center between thorn. 
From Mt. Lincoln, a spur called after a 
little town on the Platte at its head, tho 
“Montgomery Spur,” shoots oil' directly 
southward about twenty-five miles, where it 
ends in tho Rullalo Peaks. Beyond this, it 
is a low, serrated, wooden range, and it soon 
curves eastward and Anally northward, 
meeting a range from the opposite direction, 
iu Pike’s Peak, directly facing Lincoln, east 
southeast, and one hundred miles distant at 
the foot. It is as though the great spur thrown 
off from tins range at the northeast corner 
of the Park, had opened for the first hundred 
miles of its course, the two halves removing 
sixty or seventy miles asunder to make room 
for the Park ; then becoming one again, but 
displaced forty or fifty miles northward from 
Pike’s Peak, hud pursued its descending 
course until it was lost in the bank of tho 
Mississippi River. A series of similar spurs 
accompanies this mother of mountains 
throughout Its course, forming water-sheds 
between Hudson’s Bay and the great Jukes, 
between the Missouri and the Yellowstone, 
and in regular succession, tho Platte, Arkan¬ 
sas, Red and Del Norte. 
On the west they are more irregular, pre¬ 
senting us with the Columbia and the. Col¬ 
orado, tho latter having several largo tribu¬ 
taries—the Green, Grand, Gunnison, Pnereo 
and Gila—which show it muro especially. 
The range bears off westward from Mt. Lin¬ 
coln for twenty or thirty miles, in which dis¬ 
tance it sweeps round the head of the Arkan¬ 
sas. Thence it strikes southward for* per¬ 
haps, seventy miles, shedding off into the 
Arkansas on the east. Tennessee, Lake, 
Clear, Pine, Chalk. Cottonwood and South 
Arkansas Creeks, all of considerable size, 
and exposing, by the immense furrows they 
have cut in the- heart of the mountain, in¬ 
numerable and rich gold-bearing quartz 
veins; and into Gunnison Fork of the Rio 
Colorado on the west, a succession of 
streams, not yet so well explored as the 
others, but still known to open and make 
accessible an auriferous and argentiferous 
region of bewitching extent. 
The “Parks” enfolded within the wind¬ 
ings of the. mountains are, perhaps, the most 
distinctive and remarkable features of the 
whole formation. Valleys of rich fertility 
and exquisite beauty, mortised, as it wore, 
into the. nigged mountains, and lifted aloft 
thousands of feet above the sea, they are as 
marvelous ns they aro unique. They open 
upon the traveler, says Mr. Bowi.es, at fre- 
queut intervals, in ebarming miexpectcdness, 
rich with grass and water, with trees and 
flowers, with soft beauty of outline and 
warm beauty of color, in most admirable 
contrast to the rough rooks and white snow 
of the high ranges around. 
THE SOU. 
The soil, for a considerable distance east of 
the. foot-hills, appears to be made up for the 
most part, of material similar to that of the 
mountains. It is largely composed of disin¬ 
tegrated rock which, through countless ages, 
has been broken up into more or less minute 
particles. To most eastern men it would not 
at first have the appearance of being a rich 
soil, there being a less proportion of humus 
or decayed vegetable matter than iu most of 
the soils of New York, but t hat it is rich in 
fertilizing elements, the abundant crops of 
wheat, barley, oats, guess and vegetables, of 
all kinds, very clearly demonstrate. 
Mr. Geohgk Vu.ee, the French Savant, in 
his experiments, has shown that pure sanrl, 
freed from all organic matter by means of 
intense heat, can be converted into a soil ca¬ 
pable of growing crops to perfection, by add¬ 
ing eertaiu elements in certain proportions, 
viz. : Phosphate of lime, carbonate of po- 
tassa, quick lime and nitrate of soda, and it 
would seem that the soil of Colorado is es¬ 
pecially rich iu all tho mineral elements re¬ 
quired for growing crops, and in the most 
available form. Water is necessary for the 
growth of plants, and it is water which acts 
like magic in developing the wonderl'id for- 
"tility of Colorado soil and adapting it to the 
growth and perfection of crops. Fortu¬ 
nately, the mountains furnish innumerable 
streams that are unfailing and afford inex¬ 
haustible supplies, and at an altitude which 
renders them easy to he used for irrigating 
the broad sloping plain, stretching away 
from the foot of the mountains. The system 
of irrigation now commenced in Colorado, 
and that contemplated, promises to be de¬ 
veloped into one of the grandest works of 
tho world. Irrigation among Eastern farm¬ 
ers is but little practiced, and but little un¬ 
derstood. Much is yet to be learned concern¬ 
ing it, even in Colorado, but the. first princi¬ 
ples have been matured and progress from 
year to year must be rapid. The Colorado 
farmers claim that the lack of vain-fnll in 
tho country is rattier an advantage than 
otherwise, since by irrigation, the crop is 
under control, is more certain with no dam¬ 
age or loss iu harvesting. The wholo expense 
and trouble in irrigating, they say-, is much 
less than the average loss at tho East for any 
given crop, on account of rain iu harvest 
time; but we shall discuss this question 
further on. 
CLIMATE. 
The climate of Colorado in summer is dry 
and comparatively cool, especially during 
tho night, and ;us you approach the foot-hills 
and the mountains. Tin altitude ol' Nit 
Carson, a town on t he plains, 150 miles east 
of Denver, is 4,101 feet above the son level. 
Denver is 5,317 feet, and the range of country 
along the foot-hills, north and Bouth, and for 
twenty miles or more wide, east of tho 
mountains, is from 5,000 to 0,000 feet above 
the level of the sea. The altitude of the 
par ks and canons is much higher, being from 
7.000 to 8,000 feet and more. 
The winters of Colorado are mild and the 
absence of deep snows, together with the 
dryness of the climate, prevents the decay 
of grasses and allows them to cure on the 
grouud, retaining all their nutrition and ena¬ 
bling stock of all kinds to live and fatten by 
grazing the year round. Old stock men with 
whom we conversed, claimed that the mild 
climate during winter, especially in central 
and southern Colorado, obviated the neces¬ 
sity of artificial protection to stock during 
any season of the year, while others thought 
it more advisable t o provide places of shelter 
with some storing of fodder in ease of storms 
which occasionally occur, and when it is dif¬ 
ficult for stock to pick their living from the 
plains. 
It is evident that a*country having a cli¬ 
mate like that of Colorado, where stock, at 
most, require but little artificial protec¬ 
tion, and but a small quantity of food stored 
up, above that which is obtained from grow¬ 
ing, to carry it through from one end of the 
year to the other, must have, great advan¬ 
tages over the East where I, ho cost of raising 
and storing a supply of winter fodder is a 
most serious drawback on the farmer’s in¬ 
come. 
GRASSES. 
The most esteemed grasses on the plains 
aro the Buffalo grass, the Mcgquit or Gama 
grass of the West (Uoutclonu) and the Bunch 
grass. Nearer the mountains there is, in ad¬ 
dition to the Mcsquit, a kind of grass which 
has t he local name of “ blue grass,” and an¬ 
other called “blue joint,” both of which are 
very nutritious and arc highly esteemed. 
Mr. Stone of Pueblo, whom we met on 
the way to Colorado Springs, assured us that 
timothy, red-top and clover, wore indigenous 
to the country, and that large patches of 
these were found growing wild in the canons 
and parks. It is true, in our subsequent 
journeys in the canons, we saw patches of 
timothy grass ingrowth, and we saw it grow¬ 
ing above Wilson’s near Bergen Park, but we 
were not satisfied that this grass is indigen¬ 
ous, blit suspect that wherever it is found 
growing without cultivation, if indeed if 
does so grow, the seeds must have been in¬ 
troduced by teamsters in traveling over the 
mountains. 
CURIOUS FACT ABOUT RED-TOP. 
Red-top grows with great vigor and yields 
enormous crops both in Colorado and Utah, 
especially on irrigated grounds, and it is a 
curious fact, at least curious to us, that these 
alkaline soils seem particularly well adapted 
to the growth and perfection of this grass. 
At Salt Luke we saw very heavy crops of 
Red-top on the lower benches of land with¬ 
out any special irrigation, though tho land 
received moisture from the waste water used 
in the culture of crops on higher land. In 
tho instance referred to, the lands had never 
been broken up, but Red top seed had simply 
been scattered on the surface of the ground 
in its natural state, and yet it had taken root 
and was yielding enormous crops. The 
Mormons told us that the alkaline lands 
seemed specially adapted to the growth of 
Red-top, and the crops which we saw seemed 
to prove that statement. 
NUTRITIVE VALUE OF NATIVE GRASSES. 
Tho native grasses of Colorado, whether on 
the plains or at the foot of the mountains, 
aro very nutritious. This is proved by the 
sleek, thrifty condition of the numerous 
herds feeding upon her natural pastures. 
The testimony of every stock-man and 
farmer of whom we inquired, and they were 
numerous, was, that the native grasses were 
more nutritious and hotter relished by stock, 
than the cultivated grasses of the cast. Men 
of undoubted integrity, who were brought 
up farmers in Now York, Pennsylvania and 
the New England States, anil who had been 
living in Colorado for some time, engaged iu 
cattle-raising and other kinds of farming, 
all seemed to agree ujion th is question. Some 
farmers who were raising the cultivated 
DAIRY NOTES ON COLORADO 
AN OLD NOTION CONCERNINO DAIRY SOILS. 
The idea that tho dairy business can be 
successfully prosecuted only in a few fa¬ 
vored localities and upon a certain land of 
soil, has for some years been gradually giving 
way, as knowledge and experience have, 
from time to time, abundantly demonstrated 
the fallacy of this notion. Before t he fac¬ 
tory system was introduced, and when the 
art of making fine, butter and cheese was 
confined to a comparatively few people and 
to certain sections of the country, the failure 
to produce a good article in new localities 
was naturally enough attributed, for the 
most part, to the soil or some defect in the 
food which it produced. It is true, tho food 
which the cow cats has something to do in 
the quality anil flavor of the goods made 
from her milk : but it has been found that 
good milk can be produced from a great 
variety of grasses and other foods, and is 
not confined within the narrow limits which 
it was at one time supposed. 
it was Mr. Hakding, the great exponent 
of Cheddar cheese making iu England, who 
first announced the proposition, we believe, 
that good cheese eould he made from the 
milk of cows pastured on any kind of soil 
that would grow good grass. He was em¬ 
ployed by tho Scotch Agricultural societies 
to go into Scotland and introduce the Ched¬ 
dar method of cheese manufacture, and he 
found that quite as good cheese could bo 
made by this process iu Scotland ns in Som¬ 
ersetshire, England, although in some in¬ 
stances, the milk required skill and a wide 
difference in its handling. He concluded, 
therefore, that good cheese could be made 
from the milk of cows pastured on a diversity 
of soil by skill in manipulating the milk, 
and that the not unfrequent failures ex¬ 
perienced by old dairymen in making a fine 
product, when changing from one locality to 
another, were due, in a great measure, to 
want of variation in the handling of milk, 
and in not adapting tliclr process of manu¬ 
facture to meet circumstances, or the new 
conditions of the locality where they were 
placed. These views are, without doubt, in 
a great measure correct; and they are to be 
kept in mind in what wo have to say con¬ 
cerning Colorado as a dairy region. 
The New York Agricultural Editorial Ex¬ 
cursionists, leaving Kansas City, July SJfith, 
passed through Kansas and Colorado to Den¬ 
ver, by the Kansas Pacific Railway. Tho 
road strikes the Territory at about, half way 
between its Northern and Southern bound¬ 
aries, and running in a northwesterly direc¬ 
tion, paases through Greenwood, Douglas 
and Arapahoe counties, thus traversing Col¬ 
orado for more than two hundred miles to 
Denver, where it terminates. From Denver, 
our party wont south on the Denver and Rio 
Grande Narrow Gauge Railroad to Colorado 
Springs and Pueblo ; over the Colorado Cen¬ 
tral Railroad via Golden and Clear Creek 
Canon to Idaho and Central; with two 
weeks excursion in the mountains, visiting 
Georgetown, Black hawk, Coriboo, Bergen 
Park, Boulder, etc., and then north from 
Denver to Cheyenne. Thus, we had oppor¬ 
tunity to see a considerable portion of the 
Territory and to take note of much of its 
agricultural and mineral resources. 
TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES, ET0. 
Colorado, as will be seen on referring to 
the map, lies between the 25th and 32d de¬ 
grees of longitude, and between tho 37th 
and 41st degrees of latitude. Kansas and 
Nebraska are its eastern boundaries, Now 
Mexico lies at the south, Utah at the west, 
Wyoming at the north. The Rocky Moun¬ 
tain range, running north and south, divides 
the Territory nearly in the center. Mr. 
O. J. Huuustkr, in his work on the mines 
of Colorado, says To realize a true con¬ 
ception of the Rocky Mountains, the reader 
must divest himself of the idea of one 
straight, continuous series of peaks or emi¬ 
nences, for the whole system is remarkably 
intricate and complicated. Of its western 
side, comparatively little is known, on ac¬ 
count of its inaccessibility and its barren and 
forbidding character, Viewed from the 
east, it consists, in brief—first—of the Main 
or Snowy range, with its curious system of 
parks and its innumerable spurs, and, sec¬ 
ond —of a lower series of mountains known 
as the Foot-hills. The main bulk of the 
Snowy range is the immediate crest of the 
North American Continent, and forais the 
great “Dividu” of its waters, shedding its 
rivers westward to the Pacific and eastward 
to the Atlantic—lies between the 28tli and 
30th meridians. It is about twenty miles in 
