, 1874-02-11

| receipt Of Hundry letters from holders Of North
character Of the country through which the road
has beou projected, but haye not had tho mato-
rial at hand for IN answer. That material ia now
furnished by O letter from Maj .-Gon. Hazen to
tho Now York Tribune, and gives ayory thorough
aud satisfactory answer. which must carry great
weight With 1t, us it comes from m Intelligent
and unprejudiced observer. Con. Hazen, 1t may
bo promised, il stationed at tho mouth Of tho
Yellowstone River, at the intersection Of tho
10Th meridian west with tho 48th parallel north,
and is. therefore, in the very midst Of tho
northern tropical bolt," tho heautioa aud ad-
vantagcs Of which have been hung out 80 tempt
ingly Us baiss for the unwnry bond-pnrchaaora.
| Tho most OF his lettor ia devoted to showing
| TINT this region is not valuable In an agricu-
| tural point Of Wow, md eau never bo developed
into populous or productive region, from
| the facs that tho torrib1o storms in winter and
the insufficient rains Of tho summers will always
prevent IL. Tic table OF temperatures for
aeries Of years shows an excessive cold In win
ter. and range OF tomporature from 190 to 1888
| degrees. Juno, July, and August were tho only
months Of last yoar ID which thero were not
| snow-storms, and temperature down to
10 ddgrooB. With rcgard to tho winter storms,
Con. Hazen Gays:
Tho ator1ns in Minnesota and Dakota 1ast winter and
spring. In Which hundreds Of people lost their lives,
fresh in the memories Of all. This cntiro North
western country is subject to these terrific winter
thoroughly protected. havc arcs OF country
twenty miles strewn with tho Of buf-
fato TINT must havs porfsled In OF these stormH,
Not winter Inns passed anco this post established,
in 1866, but poor solder Of a garrIRon as lost
life OF limb by froeziug.
Tho annual rainfall Is given as follows: 1866,
1.4o; 1867, 85s; 1903, 11.50; 1860, 9.74; 1870,
o.19; 1871, 1o.42; 1872, 1900; 1878, 21.11 aver
age, 1894. It will bo observed TINT tho rainfall
Of last year was unoxcoptionally largo, and yet
| it was insufficient for general agricultural pur-
| poses such agriculture in countries remote from
| tho sen requiring from 10 to 60 inches By dint
Of tho groatest caro- nud utilizing all the avail-
able season, Gen. Hazen succeeded in making
garden with the following results:
Potatocs, native corn, cabbage, esrly-Bown turnps
early peas carly heuns beos carrots parsnips, sasf
| oucumbers, lettuce, radtshcs, and asparagus hayo
| grown nbundnutly md matured. Afclous, pumpkins
| aud sauaahes have not matured. Tomatoes did not
turn red; American {eary} reached to roasting
! ears. Onions, with wheat aud oats, matured at Fort
| 1ertholl, D. T., $50 miles below. on tho Missouri
| River.
This garden, it should bo stated, was imnae-
diately on the river bau]. only two feet aboyo
high water. To ralse flowers II required daily
aprinkling OF tirco barrels Of water on q garden
10 feot by 40, for which ho WAS repaid with about
three weeks Of tlowors.
Respecting the agricultural value OF tho coun-
try, Gen. Hazen says:
After leaving tho excellent wheat-growng valley of
tho Red River Of tho NORTH, following westward LOCO
miles to tic sicrras, excepting the very limited bat
toms Of the small streams, ~ vol as thoso Of tho
| Missouri and Yellowstone. from few yarls In
broadtl to occasional water-wascd valley Of one
or two miles, and TIC narrow valleys Of tho streams
Of Montana already settled, aud small Of thu
herel country In Northwest Idaho {probab]y one.
hftieh Of tho whole, this country Will not produce
the fruits aul cero.H Of tho Elst for want Of mos-
turo, and In way bo urtlcally irrigated, md
will not, III Our day aud generation, sell tor pouny
aero except through fraud or igcosancv; aud mott
Of tic land hero excepted will haye to be irrigated
artiaeisi!y.
We have In theso facts the statement Of an
uuprejudicod army officer. himsolf o practical
farmer, who las had oightoon years' military OK
porionce OIL tue frontier, confirmed by tho aclon-
titlo explorations Of Gen. Warren, Of tho Engi-
neer Corps, mud Prot. Hayden. to Offset ngainst
the ontllusiAatic descriptions Of magazine.
J writer's, anl tho unpriucplel assertions Of bond
sollers. The public will 1layo little difti*ulty II
choosing betwoon tho two, and bonlholdera will
now roallzo, II they ueyor havo BEFORE that tic,
arc holding bonds secured by lands which art
not worth ponny an acre. swept b.
pitioss storms In winter, freezing mai
and beast, paychod and dried up !.
! summer, aud incapable OF cultivation excopt b.
irrigation. This iB the character Of tue countr.
, beyond tho Bod River, In which Jay Cooke