The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-10-27
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
SACRAMENTO, CAL, Oct. II, 1891.

Leaving Washington on the 18th,
and arriving at Des Moins, Iowa, on
the 18th, | found the State bodies Of
both the orders well represented. The
meeting of both these bodies at the
same time and place, it is hoped, will
result in the consolidation of both in
closer and more fraternal relations and
co operation, since their objects and
purposes are essentially the same.
President Joseph, of Our Alliance, de
livered the able5t address which it has
been my fortune to hear, and l trust
the readers of THE PROGRESSIVE FAR
MER may have an opportunity of read
ing it. 1t will dispel the illusion that
plain farmers are not capable of doing
their own thinking.
At night Governor Bots had a big
reception at the hands Of his party
friends, and the two Alliances held a
joint meeting, at which several speeches
were made, and were well received.
The brethren of Iowa are hopeful
and enthusiastic, and should the union
of the two orders be effected, this
great State will be found in the front
rank of Alliance States.
Taking a seat at $50 a. m. on the
14th, on The Overland Flyer" the
fast train on the Pacific coast, on the
Union Pacific Road, [ was soon under
full Roadway for this point,
Nebraska is a beautiful and fertile
country, but as we proceed westward
themore sparse the population, Reach
ing Cheyenne in the early morning we
found a beautiful and stirring young
city, with all the push and activity
characteristic of this progressive and
enterprising Western people. From
Cheyenne we began to climb the
Rockies, and from that point to the
Sierra Nevadas, nearly 1900 miles,
there is a sameneSs hat makes the trip
intolerably mOnotonOus, and which
nothing can relieve ave pleasant and
c%OngeDial companions. Not a tree,
save a few specimens of scrub pines on
the apex of the Rockies, not a bird
but two small running streamS-nOt an
animal, except occasional punches of
and horses, out everywhere, on
all sides, as far as the eye could reach,
the naked plains and mountains, Gov
cred with the scrubby sage bush. The
villages seemed to have Oeen built and
by the road, and for the
most part consisted of small. uncOm-
Portable huts, and around which
IOunged indOlent whites and struggling
Indians. The broad, level plains.
broken by chains of towering rock, in
the rarified air, at an elevation of from
/, 900 to 1000 feet, wearied the on
slant, anxious gaze, in search for some
thing to relieve the mOnOtOny. Occa-
siOnally, for hundreds Of miles, a pic
ture of charming beauty breaks upon
the eye. Peering above the horizon of
a dull, ashen brown, stood pyramids
Of the eternal SHOWS, which glistened
and gIowed against the soft background
of the deep blue sky, like shafts of
in many of its physical characteristics
the Rocky mountains resembled the
Appalachian range. Especially was l
disappointed by the absence of any
vegetation, and the abruptness and
rugged grandeur which 50 charms the
artist and the lover Of nature in the
beautiful mountains of the Atlantic
SeabOard. Is it possible for this vast
and barren Countrywide ancient seat
of vOlcanOes-ever to be made subser-
Went to the demands of life and of
This question l fairly
well settled in my own mind, until see
ing at a station a small garden patch,
which was growing various vegeta
bles and Irish potatoes to great perfec-
ton 1t was irrigated by water which
had been conveyed to the station, a
distance of twelve miles, by the rail
road. Further on we were delighted
to run up on a beautiful park of green
grass, in which were various kinds of
fruit trees and white poplars, growing
luxuriantly. This, to my mind, opens
grand field of possible achievement
for Milbourne, the rain manufacturer.
By the way, l see that he has closed an
immense contract with some of our
Western people to supply them with
needed rain during the months of June,
July and August of next year, at ten
cents per acre.
Who knows but that the government
will establish in the near future a rain
system by which this vast
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