FRUIT INTERESTS OF THE STATE. 
5 
fruit raising must be confined to those districts which 
have a supply of water and the means of distributing it 
to the lands. 
In considering the present status of fruit growing, it 
will serve our purpose to divide the State into three dis¬ 
tricts : 
A Northern District—To include all territory lying 
east of the range and north of the divide. 
A Southern District—To include the territory east of 
the range and south of the divide. 
A Western District—To include the territory west of 
the range. 
The Northern District embraces the basin of the 
South Platte and its tributaries—Bear Creek, Clear Creek, 
Boulder Creek, St. Train, Big Thompson, Little Thomp¬ 
son and the Cache la Poudre. 
So far as we are informed, fruit growing within this 
district is confined to the counties of Arapahoe, Jefferson, 
Boulder, Larimer and Weld. The conditions of altitude 
and climate prevailing in this district are such as to pre¬ 
clude the possibility of success with the tender kinds of 
fruit. Peaches have been grown in Jefferson and Boulder 
counties, and Black Hamburg grapes have been ripened 
as far north as Fort Collins. We must, however, consider 
these as exceptions due to a favorable season, or to favor¬ 
able local conditions of soil and exposure. Past experience 
reveals nothing that would warrant planting the fruits 
mentioned. The restrictions of climate arise, not from ex¬ 
treme low temperatures, but from the great range of temper¬ 
ature and the sudden changes which take place. Occasion¬ 
ally injury may result from late frosts which come after 
trees have been encouraged to bloom by the warmth of 
early spring, but this difficulty occurs less often in the 
Northern District than it does further south. 
