Oxford Democrat., 1908-02-18
Our Colorado Letter.

GREELEY, Col Feb. 8, 1908.
Editor Democrat
Nearly thirty eight years ago band
Of pilgrims, needing the call of n. Z.
Meeker in the New York Tribune, alight-
ed from a Denver Pacific train, upon the
spot to be known as Greeley, named
after the great editor. There were few
sod houses within few miles and trees
along the Poudre river. The earth was
covered with prickly pear, that tyrant OF
the plains, and the soil was declared by
many TO be utterly worthless for farm
ing. Same of the passengers who had
aRghted upon the pile of ties that served
as depot platform, decided that they
had been hOaxed, and lost little time in
returning to the places whence they had
come, telling sad stories of the way they
had been duped.
One of the men who believed in the
future of the colony was the renowned
Snowman, Il. L. Barnum. While waiting
for the train to bear him away he mount
ed the pile of ties and made little
speech. He said that there was great
future for Union Colony if the people
would only stick and not lose heart. He
rang the changes on that word stick. DE
did not belittle the trials and hardships
that were to come but he looked far
beyond them. The colony was to be
free of saloons and other organized vice,
and children were to be brought up
under good rather than evil conditions
and surroundings.
The writer arrived here with his
family late in the first year of the colony.
He has seen people going back to Gods
country" telling a wonderful tale of woe;
he has seen the grasshopper plague de-
scending out of the blue sky, pollutipg
the wells, devouring the vegetables out
of the earth and desolating grain fields
till the farmers saw nothing before them
but impending ruin. But taken as a
whole the Greeley pioneers were not
afflicted with the faint heart They
fought for their crops with fire and
water. merchant offered a suit of
clothes TO the man who should bring him
million grasshoppers and pretty soon
here comes a farmer with his great sack
of the pests that he had first driven into
his irrigating ditch and then collected in
sack set away down stream.
The great Salt Lake trail, on yonder
bluffs, was made broad and deep by tens
of thousands of wagons whose owners
had been hurrying still farther westward
for more promising country. Some OF
this very trail was plowed and irrigated
from waters brought out of the river in
immense canals built by the united
energies of the new settlers, and crops
raised from that sO-called desert soil
that were as surprising as they were
welcome. Little did any of us think
that the time would ever come when
globe-trotter like Dr. Pearson, mil
liOnaire, would volunteer the informa-
ton that this little garden spot of Col
orado is the finest agricultural section in
the whole world. Judge Whitehead,
man who has sunk much good money
in mining, made this remark to me
speaking of agriculture in general:
"Prospectors come to me with their ore
samples and tell me that they have dis
covered mine that bears gold from the
grasS-roots down, but | tell them that
there is more value from the
grass-roots up" Well, while Colorado
stands first of all the United States in
the production of the precious metals,
the vegetable products are still more
valuable.
During the discouraging grasshopper
times great farms were sold, when they
could be sold at all. for less than ten
dollars per acre; now they change own
ers at from 500 to $500 per acre. And
why should there not be a tremendous
rise in landed property when the gross
income from many an acre is from $50
to 500 year? And still this country is
but half developed with all its experience
- ha
will see much better gardening and
farming than heretofore. Men have at
tempted to cultivate too large farms,
thus failing of the relatively best results,
overworking their families as well as
themselves.
There is another thing that is forcing
farmers to cultivate smaller areas; that
is the help problem. When was boy
on our New England farm and We paid
an extra wage to a man, say in haying
time, the man took a pride in the conf
dence of his employer, and rose to the
occasion, doing exceptionally good work
for his exceptionally good pay, but to-
day, here in Colorado, aud l note that
the same complaint is heard from all
sections of our country, higher wages no
longer secure satisfactory help. l mean
that that seems the general tendency, to
demand exorbitant wages while render
ing a minimum of service.
When have stepped into hotel and
nave asked a man to come and haul
beets for US he informed me that he
wanted 50 % and his board. Our beet
growers have paid very great wages and
would make no objection only that many
of these laborers are not faithful work
ers. One of my neighbors tells the story
of having his teams working with potato
diggers and the ground covered with the
tubers that the machine had turned out
when one of his three pickers threw
down his basket and said: al am dOue;"
then the other two said the same. Then
the men drew their wages and before
night were drinking up all they had in a
certain saloon cursed hamlet. Mean
time the farmer was left with his idle
teams and his potatoes exposed.
Speaking of saloons reminds me to say
that the farmer has the best of reasons
for hating the saloons They inter
fere with farm work and they have got
to go from this country; for we have a
local option law that is bound to make
this country dry. So we see as the world
gets wiser, how state after state follows
the good old Prohibition doctrines Of
good old Maine.
City and country of northern Colorado
are forging ahead in wonderful fashion
Yonder beet factory turns out millions
of pounds of granulated sugar every sea
son, using up six hundred tons of beets
each twenty four hours. Colorado has
now sixteen sugar factories and more to
come. The farmers get five dollars per
ton for the beets and raise from ten to
thirty tons per acre. What mint of
sweetness from sunshine, water and soil
o. HOWARD.
The youngest citizen of Maine who
has had his eyes fitted and is wearing