The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1908-09-03

for the Greeley potatoes are famous the
world over. The country around Greeley
is the best in Colorado, and we were
shown land which was held at from $3.50
to $500 per acre, close to Greeley, but
fair land four or five miles out can be
bought for $1P0 per acre, and out ten
miles they abs quoted at $40 to $50.
Aside from the 9otato crop in the
Greeley meighborhoCa there are, 1hous-
ands of acres in onions, peas, cabbage,
tomatoes and other garden trunk. There
is a big canning factory at Greeley
which we had the pleasure of inspect
ing, and while we were there they were
canning green peas, the peas being
brought in on hay racks, having been
cut off close to the ground and peas and
vines all brought to the factory where
the pea vines are fed into great hullers
which hulls the peas and then the
sorters take them and make several
grades of them, the smaller the peas
the bigger the price. An average yield
is ton of peas to the acre and they
are worth from $3.50 to $3.50 per hun
dred pounds. This has been a. very
poor year, there having been no rain
for many months and the quality and
quantity of the pea crop was away be-
low the average. A stroll through the
business section of the town and visit
to the newspaper Offices completed our
visit for we only had couple of hours
to spend in the city. At the Daily
Tribune Office we met the editor, G. Fl.
Wolf, and found that he had numerous
relatives back in Decatur county, Iowa,
being cousin of John f., l.. D., Frank
and Mike CARRIER.
Our train left Greeley at 1 o'clock
and an hour later we were back to Ft.
Collins. No sooner had alighted from
the train than Mccormick came rush
ing up and said we would start at once
for a two days fishing trip away up in
the mountains, so was bundled into a
big auto while Mrs. Hull and Dorothy
remained to visit Mrs. Mccormick. We
-haxla jolly party Of five, including the
driver of the car, Mr.. Perkins, who
formerly lived at Shenandoah, Iowa. OF
course / was the tenderfoot so far as
trout fishing was concerned, but to
make up for it we had Lawrence Night
engale, deputy postmaster of Ft. Collins,
the best fisherman in northern Colorado,
and Mic Roberts, the game warden of
Larimer county, also a fisherman of re-
nown, while Mccormick had had some
experience, and thought he would catch
more than any one in the party. My
friends had the auto we'll supplied with
tackle, trout baskets, wading boots and
a few cigars and pipes and we were
soon bowling over the roads at lively
clip in the 45 horse power auto. We
headed for Jack Bells ranch away up
on the North Poudre river, and say, the
way that fellow Perkins made the
wheels turn around was caution, but
the roads were fine, although in places
in going up the mountain the grade was
very steep and we made excellent time,
and about o'clock dropped down into
little valley and were at the ranch
where we were given hearty welcome
by Mr.. Bell and his wife. or course
everybody wanted to get to fishing, so
Nightendale took me in charge and we
started up the river while the balance
of the party went down. The first thing
this veteran fisherman did was to put
me through course Of sprouts showing
me how to cast for mountain trout, and
after few minutes of practice | had
mastered it enough to try and make
real cast. Trout fishing is different from
fishing in old Grand River for catfish.
In the first place you use little hook
not half inch long, on which is fasten-
ed few feathers to make it look like
fly. You use no sinker and must be
able to cast the hook and twenty-five or
thirty feet Of silk line up or down the
river, making the fly remain on top of
the water, for the trout comes up to it,
and there is no waiting for bite. Ii
there is a trout where you cast you
know it as soon as the fly strikes the
water. Showing me likely spot in
swift rushing water just below big
rock, Mr.. Nightengale told me to wade
out and make cast, and followed his
instructions, and made beautiful cast,
but he had forgotten to tell me what to
do after got the trout. Before l had
time to see where my fly had dropped a
big trout had made leap and was
hooked, and say, maybe it didn't take
me by surprise, for l had'no had time
to get firm hold on my pole and locate
the reel. Whiz went the reel and many
feet of line as the trout dashed up the
} stream, then down and had the end Of
the pole under water, while Nighten-
gale was yelling at me like an Indian
telling me not to let him have any slack.
But had an attack of trout fever, and
the first thing l knew Mr. Trout had
the best of me, had broken an $500 rod
eho ohOi Lhou0 AAo e3OCdWoy Wy SCUOluS
, slack line and tearing out the hook. I'll
, never forget my first trout, but ex-
perience is a good lesson and soon /
learned how to handle the game little
fellows. A couple of hours fishing and
} we had goodly number in our basket
/ and then trudged back to camp, where
we had ordered supper for eight o'clock.
| And such supper. Away up in the
mountains did not expect to get but
, scant fare, but Bell had jewel in old
} Alec, a colored cook, and we sat down
to supper fit for king. After supper
, | asked Jack how much land he owned
! up there and he said about eight or nine
thousand acres in that ranch and he
had another up the river few miles.
In reply to my question as to what it
was worth an acre he said ''all the way
from so cents to $40 and some of it is
not worth DAMN, and l agreed with
him for there were mountains of rock
where it would take q thousand acres