Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1878-02-19
NUMBER 6.

and leave the young wheat blades unin.
juired. In spite Of q great hailstorm
that destroyed or greatly injured many
fields OF wheat the yield in tho whole
country has been very great. cannot
tell how many hundred thousand bushels
in this valley alone.
1t may not be uninteresting to sketch
the rise and gcowth Of one of our farm
ing communities. Business called me 10
q particular locality. where, i bad sup
posed. the antelope, prairie dogs. owls.
and wolves held sway undisputed, except
by the occasional incursion OF herder
or huntor. As journeyei there wss no
sign that any one bad ever crossed this
portion Of the Great American Desert,
If the old trail to Q distant mountain city
be excepted. Presently mounted hunt
er hove in sight with freshly slsught-
cred antelope strapped behind his saddle.
and further on, from an eminence. great
dark patches of cultivated land appeared.
and piles OF straw. and unthreshed
stacks. loomed up strangely in the hori.
zon 4: and the smoke curled upward from
many settlers house, where. only few
months ago sll was seemingly as barr en-.
as any old worn out hillside pasture In
Maine. The people are as intelligent
and cultivated as any in the United States.
They are all from older states, and have
come here 10 make homes, or TO get reliet
from asthma or other lung troubles.
From yonder break in the white shin
ing mountains emerges the stream which
supplies the icrigatipg water without
which this good wheat bearing soil would
never be plowed. Far, far away up the
stream the surveyor locates ditch and
allows the water to fall only Eve feet in
q mile. when, perhaps, the parent stream
falls fifty or more. The general slope Of
the land is toward the bed Of the stream.
hence, all tue land that is lower than the
bed OF the ditch may be watered from
the ditch il the water supply be sutici-
ent: provided furtner that thst specimen
of dishonest man, locally known as the
"water hog" does not obstruct the even
flow of the water with planks ard dams.
and divert the precious fluid from its
legitimate destination. to enrich bis own
lands. The usual course Of things is that
the water hog gets damned in due sea-
SOD, by some hope-sick farmer from be-
low. Where says in the surface OF the
country admit OF It, nice lakes have been
formed, when water was superintendent.
and in these beautiful lakes gress num-
bers Of wild ducts and geese were sport
ing. Cottonwood trees have been plant
ed, and in lime will lend pleasing sp-
pesrauce to the lardscaOe, and grateful
shade to the people. In due time the
lakes will swarm with the common var
Ieties of fish, a. well as serve as reser-
voirs of water for dry aud busy seasons.
Fair wooden houses, built of mountain
lumber, are fast taking the place OF the
pioneer claim shanties. and, the sulky
plows are rapidly changing the face oil
the country. Oar Colorado farmers use
only the best plows and hsrrows, seed
drills, mowers, reapers and threshers.
1t is the best that pay best and are con-
sequently cheapest in the end. Here are
schools taught by cultivated women.
Every one ia hopeful on general princi-
Piles, and the value of ditch stock jdcrea-
ses steadily. We tarry to tslk with one
of these farmers, and learn that he had
25OO bu. of wheat last year, and has
st.'l 1000 bu in his granary. (now worth
80 cts that he will sow three hundred
acres next spring. Although the amount
of land that can be watered in Colorado.
is of necessity small, the present outlook
Tor the farmer is not entirely hopeful, 10
my thinking. since our Oft Wanted secure
markets are liable TO DO crowded IL next
season should Prove es fl aitful as last.
Colorado, VIII yet have goodly pop
ulstion il only one in tea OF the people
who are now looking this way, ever come.
am constantly asked my opinion oil the
country. OF its material prospects, its
climate and whether Mr.. A. who has no
means should remove at once to Colora-
do, answer thus: If you are well and
doing reasonably well, stay where you
are. If yol have asthma, or weak lungs.
come to Colorado. Nowhere does q man
need money more surely, TO make q start
in lie than here. The omnipresent,
devouring tramp Is here as elsewhere
and labor is difficult to obtain except ia
the summer time. y. d.
A New IDKA OF CosJUGiL FIDKLIrY.-
The following dialogue is reported 70
have taken pace in q lawyers ONCE
somewhere between Maine and Calitor'