The Kansas herald of freedom., 1859-11-19
DiscelIapeops.
From TIE WasAfagton Republic.

The Rocky Mountain Region.
From one of the descriptions of the
Pixies Peak region, We make the follow
ing extract:
"The valleys of the Platte, its tributa-
ries, and the prairie range on the eastern
foot of the mountain chain, are found to
be far more fertile than was at first sup
posed. Vegetables are plenty in the set
Elements, and there is little doubt that all
the cereals common to the temperate zone
will grow luxuriantly in those localities.
Gold is not the only mineral found, but
evidences ofsilVer, platins, and other ores,
are abundant. Salt, also, will be one of
the great staples"
We have had several recent instances
IN this country of the inaccufaoy of the
judgments pronounced, at first view,
against the capacity of particular sections
to support populations.
Michigan was once reported 10 be a
region worthless for agriculture by the
Government surveyors, and was SO gen.
orally regarded down to as late as the
year 1882. When General Jackson Of
fered to the State of Maine three millions
facres in Michigan for cession to Great
Britain of her territory north of st. John,
he was met with the responsibility not
offer US land IN the moon ?" And the
opinion OF Michigan which prevailed in
Maine at that time was universal in the
country. And although that opinion of
Michigan has since yielded to a better
knowledge of the subject, yet it is only
within half dozen years that the real
capacities of that State for agriculture are
beginning to be fully understood.
The first swarm of gold hunters pro-
nouncsd California to be an unmitigated
desert; and in more than one letter writ
ten there during the early period of Amer
lean occupation, it was said, and perhaps
truly, that there were thousands of persons
who had been lured thither by Colonel
Fremont's description of the climate and
productions, and that they would gladly
revenge themselves by lynching him, Il
they had him in their power. Those
doleful accounts were given by those who
saw and described the parehed fields OF
California in the dry season, when it has.
to inexperienced eyes, the aspect of a
desert, although even then it is not so in
truth, because the dried grasses of that
region are wonderfully nutritious. and
support animal life in teeming abundance.
Still another error of these descriptions
was the forgetfulness of the fact, that it is
sufficient if only a small portion of the
year is adapted to the culture and growth
OF artificial crops; and this forgetfulness
was the more remarkable, as large part
of the settlers in California were from re-
gions where the earth is locked up bv
frosts and covered by snow during the
long winters.
1t takes time to become accustomed to
new methods Of agriculture, and to Amer
leans irrigation is new, although practised
from time immemorial. Water is essen
tial to vegetation; but if it can be had,
1t matters little whether it is from bitches
or the clouds, with this difference, that
artificial irrigation is under the control Of
man, while he is subject to sad and fire..
quent misfortunes where he is dependent
upon the early and the later rain" The
valley fthe Nile, the land of corn, owes
all Its fertility to irrigation; and it is irri.
CATION which to-day makes Lombardy
the agricultural wonder of the world.
The great plains which stretch beyond
Kansas to the Rocky Mountains are pro.
nounced to be q desert. Yet buffalo
range, such as those plains notoriously
are, cannot be desert, and a country that
will support cattle will support men, 70,
the obvious reason that men can subsist
upon the milk and beef which cattle fur.
nish. These great plains may be uufil
fol. the plow, but they will doubles.
maintain great pastors, population.
1t Is one of the most singular preiudices
not ofmaukind, but of the American por
tlon OF mankind, that countries are only
valuable in proportion as they are arabic
This is theory which rejects the natura
fruits of tho earth as of no account. Sta
tlstics show that animals furnish greater
amount Of food, reckoned in this country
than all the cereals and all the root crops
And even of England, with its confineS
limits and wonderful tilth, it has beer
said by one who ought to know. tina
"hag tts tcedltb is on tie hoof" Ever,
housekeeper is aware that his butcher
bIll is larger than his bakers bill: ant
yet, strangely enough, countries which
will only support cattle are adjudget
worthless, the whole end and aim Of maj
being supposed to be the raising of whea
and corn.
In due time, we shall see millions o
people subsisting in comfort and opulenc
upon the mineral aud pastoral resource
Of that central region, which lies betweel
the arabic skirt of the Mississippi AN,
Missouri on the one side, and Caiiforni
and Oregon on the other; and it is thi
middle region, to be developed by rail
roads, which is to be the greatest futur
market of the. valley of the Mississippi
It is the men who will tend fiocks an,
herds in the parks of the Rocky Noun
tains, and in the great plains which lie a
their base, who will consume the whea
OF Iowa and Missouri, and Kansas an
Nebraska, as, in olden times, it was tn
shepherds Of Syria who went down t
Egypt to buy corn.