Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-08-10
ror the DrxocRAr.
COLORADO LETTER.
Hnrsr,rN. Colo. July -

The "h-aied term seems the proper
expression {, use ~hsn Il is too hot for
working. too ho, for playing and quite
too bot fot losfas. In ,hi. par, Of the
world The mercury. for tso OF three
weeks. his been mp in the nsighbofhood
Of 95 : sLd il stay there s,long we be.
gin To fear !, e.nao, get down. When
1 lG., wrote 20 the DEMocRAr. the frcs'
king wU In the mids, Of bis reign
Throughout, the United States. l, seems
almost Incredible ,hs, since iha, time
winter hs. Completed IL. ronnd. the fs''
tive maple sugar season had IL day. May
flower. faded. AID tie crop. come 10 mid
gro~th. Judging from Newspaper re-
ports. | should say that, last winter Jack
Frost aud hi. good lady. Beautiful Snow,
pa, in slme II their bes, work in al parts
Of our country. Oae could almo-, fancy
be beard thu, jolly couple chueslina righ,
msrrily. - they beheld Maine Central
train three ~ four days on the road be-
tween Bos'oa ard Hanger, and orange
tree. md Nor,h,rn invalid. fresEing in
florid.. Well. you know we ATE always
Boosting ,hat everything In America IL
on q grand scale. Why ,hoc't there be
an exception in the case Of winters
let me tell you sbou, the winter here,
srd plsSe. gentle reader" do no,
doub, the eou,e,ne,. Of my rpor, be-
cause IL differs from the description Of q
Colorado winter a. given by some one
else. You rad doubtless Of the deep
SHOWS. intense cold. fearful blirzlrd'. and
the dreadful suffering Of man and beast,
in the wes, You thanked your stars.
psiebaroe. thu, you w,rc in New Egg
land. I. ZOO. teard ihsse same reports,
partly through Maine papers. and some
Of the account. were u the winter In
ColorsdI; Yet sisa, many times ! fsli
ihshkful that vas beneath the being.
nsn, ,kis. Of ~ P.so County. Colorado.
Allos me % remark that 1.-the West
!. quit large place. and farther ,hA,
ihi, one State !. nearly twice az large as
al Ne~ England. Again. the State !.
very much diversified 10 respee, TO elm
ate. on Aceoun, Of the different elevations
aud other circumstances The natural
r,sul, !. ,hs, While one part u the Cen.
ienhisl State j. enjoying balmy spring
weather. another may be 'is fee, under
.nos and ice. Ny description. therefore.
canno, be true OF the entire State.
A little before Christmas We were hav'
ing fine autumn days. ~hsn With Sigh,
warning the mereaiy a, slmos, a single
bound lssp,d down 10 ~ Q or IL . be-
low zero. and Coz three o. four week. We
had pretty steady winter weather Al,
the expiration OF thi. period our winter
was over February wA' one Of the mos,
dslighiful months ever saw IL seemed
like April OF May wi,hou, their rain.
There va. no snow Of any amount a,
any time. and did no, see a sleigh. In
many part. Of the State. and in some d.
rceiion. no, more than twenty five mile.
away. there "a. large amount Of snow
and very cold weather. Once OF twice
While Ne bad 20 snow and were enjoy
ing charming summer skies. our mail
failed and the report would come OF a
srea, ,ros blockade. A. rule. the
summer. are l,,. oppressive than in New
England The extreme heat We have
been having j. exceptional. Generally
there i. cool breeze from the mountains
md The nights ATE slmo', never ureom'
Portable.
The .pring. ate 90, 30 forward {. the
mildne., Of ihe .in,ef would lead one TO
EXPECT. Considerable sowing j. done in
March. bat ia May mo., vegetation is
little more advanced than in Oxford Go.
seed. especially small seed. starts slowly.
bui after /, !. veil started. the growth IL
rapid. II there be sufficient, moisture.
In ihi, and mo., part. Of the State the
amount Of rainfall il very small, and
uncertain a, that. No one depends up
on I, much. TO, the growth Of all crop.
and tree. and .hrubbery moisture !. sup
pli,d siii6eially. Thi. process. by which
water i. conveyed in bitches from stream
OF other source. i. called irrigation. foun-
tain, for instance. j. in valley fe~
miles vide and thirty or forty long,
through ~hich flow. a stream whose
source /. in the mountains and whose
cutie, !. into the Arkansas. The descent,
Of ihi. stream and the corresponding in
cllrs Of the valley !. forty OF fifty feet
plofe OF lees TO the mile. When u !,
desired to irriga,e any particular part OF
the valley. ditch !. extended from I,
up the valley and toward the stream APP
preaching /, just ss fAs, a. !, il possible.
while making the ditch Of such grade
that water will run 10 IL. OF course this
can be much les. than the grade Of the
stream, and % water carried out on to
land much higher than the bed Of the
stream Al the same distance down the
valley. The principal ditch in this town
TAKE. il. water from the stream five mile.
above here.
The mos, Of these irrigaiing bitches
are bull, and o~nsd by stock companies.
One can see thu, IL must cos, a consider
able ,um to build them. and there are
repair. 20 be made about all the season.
Ia the case Of company bitches each
owner /. entitled TO a certain amour, Of
water. according TO the amour, OF his
stock. md TO convey the water to hi,
land he has . branch ditch which SUBJ
divides as /, proceeds, carrying artificial
rain to each part Of tie land. In the
spring. before the crop is put in, the land
is flooded. tina, IL. by damming up the
small di,che. the water Is made 20 20
over the entire surface Of q field thorough
ly soaking il. This |, always the method
for grass and grain. but for corn and
similar crops the irisa,ing is done by
running small streams Of water between
the rows. l,rquire q good deal Of time
~ keep even a small farm supplied With
water. but not as much as one nigh,
imagine. when there IL no rain IL has
to be done once in every one or two
weeks.
The arrangements for giving TO each
one hi. proper share Of water are no, al.
way. perfect, and II one or tao men in