SURVEYOR GENERAL'S OFFICE, Salt Lake City, Utah, August 20, 1870. SIR: In compliance with your letter of instructions of March 30, 1870, I have the honor to submit the following information touching the agricultural, manufacturing, mineral, and commercial capacities of Utah: AGRICULTURE. The valleys of Utah, to which the agricultural interest is confined, have an altitude of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, and possess a soil well adapted to the growth of all the ordinary cereals, vegetables, and fruits. For several years the farmer has labored under one serious disadvantage in the growth of his crops, from the frequent ravages of the grasshopper. During the past and the present years, thousands of acres of promising fields of grain have been swept away by these insects, and every effort to preserve the crops has been unavailing. In the face of this difficulty, however, enough has been produced to supply the wants of the people at home at reasonable prices. Wheat is now worth $1 25; corn, 81; oats, $1 15; and barley, $1 25 per bushel, and flour from $3 50 to $3 75 per cwt.; and while the limited amount of tillable land and the expense of irrigation preclude the possi bility of Utah becoming a grain-exporting Territory, yet a sufficiency may be depended on for home consumption. The ninth agricultural fair held at Salt Lake City, on the 4th and 5th days of October last, awarded a special premium to Mr. Sudberry on the African bearded wheat, grown in Kaysville, Davis County, on bench land, without irrigation. The yield was stated to be 36 bushels to the acre, and the wheat produced 474 pounds of supertine flour to the bushel. Among the fruits on exhibition were figs, pomegranates, and other tropical productions from Southern Utah, and apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, &c., of an excellent quality, from other sections of the Territory, together with vegetables of every description. The estimated area under cultivation is 140,000 acres, of which 100,000 acres are planted in cereals and root crops, averaging as follows to the acre: Wheat, 23 bushels; barley, 30 bushels; oats, 31 bushels; corn, 20 bushels; potatoes, 135 bushels; beets, 265 bushels; carrots, 344 bushels. Meadow produces 1 tons; sorghum, 79 gallons; and cotton, 150 pounds per acre. There are about 1,000 acres in apple orchards, 1,200 acres in peach orchards, and 30,000 acres in meadow. Many thousands of acres of land, remote from streams of sufficient size to afford water for irrigation, may in time be reclaimed and made to yield bountifully by means of artesian wells and other agencies. The rapid increase in population will soon render it necessary to resort to means of this nature, that homes may be provided for the emigrant and the rising generation, without encroaching upon the rights of others. It is estimated that the expense already incurred in the construction of canals and ditches for irrigation amounts to $1,250,000, and the work in progress will swell this sum to $1,500,000. The Mormon authorities are introducing a coöperative system of farming, and design making it general throughout their organization. Coöperation in mercantile pursuits was introduced in the fall of 1869; but the results, save to the larger stockholders, are reported as unsatisfactory. The points advanced in favor of coöperative farming are: First. That by consolidating their capital, many will be enabled to supply themselves with the necessary implements, which a want of means renders it impossible otherwise to do. Second. That although it may not entirely destroy the relations between employer and employé, it will so adjust those relations that labor will escape the advancement and encroachment of capital, and capital will be compelled to recognize and concede the rights of labor. MANUFACTURES. The capital employed in manufactures is estimated at $1,250,000, mainly invested in flouring, woolen, cotton, saw, and paper mills, and iron furnaces. There are also establishments for the manufacture of leather, boots and shoes, pottery, furniture, jewelry, brushes, straw goods, and salt. The woolen goods manufactured, embracing cassimeres, doeskins, tweeds, linseys, flannels, and blankets, are equal in quality to those imported, and, at a slight reduction in the cost of labor, the manufacturers inform me that they will be able to compete successfully with manufactures, both east and west, in prices. Two additional woolen mills will be completed and in running order the present year. One of them is located at the town of Beaver, and will cost $20,000. The dimensions are 35 by 95 feet, and the walls are constructed of rock. The other is near E. T. city, size 49 by 89 feet, one story high, with walls of blue limestone. The spinning capacity of these mills is 360 spindles each. The manufacture of cotton fabrics will be insignificant for all time to come. The lands adapted to the culture of cotton are mainly limited to narrow patches along the Rio Virgen, and, unfortunately, last season a part of this land was washed away. The mountain streams afford ample water-power for manufacturing purposes, while the deposits of coal in the valleys and the timber on the mountains leave no scarcity of fuel. The price of wood in Salt Lake City is $8 per cord, and coal $11 per ton. IRON AND COAL. Among the numerous deposits of iron ore in Utah the deposit on Bear River, near the Union Pacific Railroad, and northwesterly from the town of Evanston, has, perhaps, the advantage in point of location at this time. The ore is a red oxide, assaying from 20 to 60 per cent. of iron; and, although somewhat refractory on the surface, it is believed that at a small depth beneath a superior quality of ore will be found. The coal fields in the vicinity of Rawling Springs, Wyoming, afford coal free from sulphur, admirably adapted to the smelting of iron ores, and it can be delivered by rail within a short distance of these mines of iron. In Iron County the manufacture of iron is receiving some attention, and it is now demonstrated to a certainty that a good article of gray cast iron can be produced. The ore is remarkably rich, assaying 72 per cent., and is reduced with charcoal. Machinery has been ordered from the East, and during the fall it is calculated that the works will produce from three to five tons daily of a superior quality of gray cast iron. The parties in interest claim the ability to compete successfully with other markets, and agree to obligate themselves to furnish a good article of iron, delivered at their works, for the price charged for freight from Chicago to Salt Lake City for a like quantity, with the addition of one cent per pound. The location of these works is 45 miles north of St. George. On the seventh standard parallel south, in range 12 west, the deputy reports the existence of a ridge of magnetic iron, nearly pure. The coal beds in San Pete County are situated 21 miles southeast of the town of Nephi. A specimen of the coal was sent to the Department in May last. The coal has been used for several years in the blacksmith's forge, and is pronounced equal in quality to the celebrated Evanston coal of Wyoming. Coal has also been discovered in Coal Creek, about 10 miles east of Cedar City, in Iron County, but the extent of the deposit is not ascertained. MINING. As mining districts, Little Cottonwood Cañon, Bingham Cañon, Tintic Valley, Rush Valley, Minersville, and Sevier are the most developed, although it cannot be questioned that vast deposits of the precious metals exist throughout the entire southern section of the Territory, and that Utah is especially rich in argentiferous ores. In Little Cottonwood Cañon several good silver mines are being worked profitably. The ores are mainly argentiferous galena, with carbonate and sulphate of copper and antimony entering into their composition. The mine most developed in this cañon is known as the Woodman, or Emma lode, distant 11 miles from the valley, and has an altitude of 6,000 feet above the sea level. During the year ending on the 30th of June last 600 tons of ore were shipped from this cañon to San Francisco for reduction, and sold at an average of $150 per ton, netting to the Territory $50,000. To show the rapid increase of these mines, I will state that last month the yield was $60,000. Seven thousand tons of ore will be shipped during the present season for reduction. The rates of transportation are as follows: From the mines to Salt Lake City, (25 miles,) $10. From Salt Lake City to Newark, New Jersey, (currency,) $26 50. From Salt Lake City to San Francisco, (coin,) $18 50. In the Sevier mines, Pi Ute County, several well-defined lodes have been found, assay. ing, per ton, as follows: Curry, $880; Miners' Relief, $160; Bully Boy, $132; Yankee Blade, $110. The locality is well supplied with wood, water, and a good quality of fire-clay for furnaces. The Tintic Valley mines are a recent discovery, located west of Utah Lake and 60 miles from Salt Lake City. The surface ore yields from $40 to $100 per ton in silver. In Bingham Cañon placer diggings exist, from which a considerable amount of gold has been and is now being taken, but I have been unable to get any figures. The ledges of silver-bearing rock are numerous and extensive. New discoveries of argentiferous galena are of almost daily occurrence in the Rush Valley mines of Tooele County. The width of the veins averages 3 feet, and the deepest shaft is 160 feet. One small furnace for the reduction of ores is completed near this city. A recent run of 36 hours was made and yielded 5,000 pounds of bullion, valued at $300 per ton. This furnace is capable of producing from 10 to 15 tons of bullion a week. Other furnaces are being erected in different sections of the Territory. MISCELLANEOUS. The Utah Central Railroad, connecting Salt Lake City with the Pacific Railroad at Ogden, is completed and in running order. The length of the road is 37 miles. Ground was first broken on the 17th of May, 1869, track-laying was begun on the 22d day of September, and the last rail laid on the 10th day of January, 1870. The cost of the road and rolling-stock is estimated at $1,500,000. The total value of real estate and personal property, as reported by the territorial auditor for the year 1869, was $11,390,606. Attention is being directed to wool-growing, and some excellent stock has been imported. The demand for wool is continually increasing. The culture of tea has not been attempted. Numerous experiments are being made in the culture of silk, and the country and climate are believed to be well adapted to its production. In the absence of the mul berry, in one instance, the worms were fed for two successive years on Osage orange leaves, and the cocoons reeled an excellent quality of silk. The silk department at the fair heretofore referred to exhibited three sacks of cocoons, twenty skeins of reeled silk, and large quantities of eggs. No profits have been made during the past year on capital employed in merchandising. This is attributed to the decline in the prices East and consequent decline here, and to the great competition in trade. I have already alluded to a cooperative system of merchandising, introduced one year ago by the Mormon leaders. The object was to confine the trade of the people to their own church organization, they being interdicted from trading, save with the brethren, and by a policy of non-intercourse, promulgated at the same time, to compel the Gentile element to leave the Territory. The tendency of this policy has been to create dissension in their own ranks, without attaining the object for which it was intended. The course pursued to retard the development of the mines is no less reprehensible. But time will revolutionize matters here, and the day is not far distant when the peo ple will think and act for themselves, regardless of the fulminations of a bigoted priesthood. Very respectfully, Hon. Jos. S. WILSON, Commissioner General Land Office. C. C. CLEMENTS, Surveyor General of Utah. vait assez de clarté pour colorer et montrer les nuages; le tonnerre roulait lentement dans le lointain. C'était une de ces heures solennelles où l'homme reste suspendu entre l'espoir et la crainte. L'heure de minuit est, dit-on dans ce pays superstitieux, l'heure des revenants. L'heure douteuse qui sépare le jour de la nuit est peut-être celle des départs; l'âme se sent prête à quitter la vie quand le soleil est prêt à quitter la terre. Les cloches achevaient leurs vibrations, et bientôt tout devint calme hors les nuées, qui roulaient toujours, surplombant la ville et laissant échapper un bruit sourd et prolongé. << Cathelineau promenait ses regards sur le ciel, sur la ville et autour de la ville; il était silencieux, sa pensée seule était active; il priait et se tenait calme sous l'œil de Dieu. «L'heure de la prière vint à sonner aux clochers de la ville, Cathelineau en fit donner le signal; ce soir-là, comme tous les autres, le chapelet dut se dire à haute voix, et pour mot d'ordre il ordonna de répéter d'heure en heure: « Dieu et le roi!» «Par ses soins ou par le hasard de leur marche, nos Vendéens entouraient Chalonne de tous les côtés, hors un seul, laissé libre apparemment à dessein. « Le chapelet commence, et cinquante mille voix graves et mâles se font entendre autour de la ville, avec un ensemble lent, prolongé, solennel, et quand il est fini : « Dieu et le roi !» répètent comme un seul homme les mêmes voix. Et d'heure en heure, dans le silence, quand on peut croire dans la ville que tout repose au delà des murs comme au dedans, sous cette voûte de nuages toujours amoncelés où la foudre grondait sourdement, retentissait de nouveau ce cri : « Dieu et le roi ! «Dieu et le roi ! » << Dans les chemins, dans les haies, dans les plaines, de loin, de près, ces voix s'élèvent et retentissent; elles entourent la ville comme un cercle de sons. « Cette unanimité, cette monotonie inexorable comme le destin, ce calme imposant, la nuit sombre, ce péril qu'on entend sans le voir, sans doute aussi cette divine puissance devant laquelle tombèrent autrefois les murs de Jéricho, impriment une invincible terreur dans l'âme des assiégés. - Où fuir? commencent-ils à se dire; où se cacher? » Ces voix les poursuivent partout avec l'accompagnement sourd de la foudre. « Une porte est restée libre. Ils s'en aperçoivent, et, sans se communiquer leur dessein, ils ont tous une même pensée : ils fuient, ils se dérobent dans les ténèbres. Soldats, gardes nationaux, bourgeois, décidés la veille à se défendre jusqu'à la mort, tous s'esquivent, lais sant leurs armes, leurs bagages, et jusqu'à leurs habits, pour mieux échapper aux regards des assiégeants. Les autorités militaires, averties, accourent; elles parlent d'honneur; les autorités civiles parlent des dangers communs, de la honte de fuir: rien ne peut les arrêter. Cet inflexible cri, ces voix calmes répétant d'heure en heure: Dieu et le roi! ce tonnerre qui roule sans éclater, tout leur semble un arrêt sinistre auquel il faut échapper à tout prix; et tout s'échappe au jour les chefs, ou militaires, ou autres, se trouvent abandonnés, délaissés; ils sont forcés de suivre les fuyards, et, par la même porte par où tout est parti, ils partent à leur tour. «Est-ce possible? m'écriai-je; votre imagination de poëte n'at-elle point arrangé toutes ces choses? << - Mon imagination colore quelquefois, mais elle reste toujours fidèle à la vérité, surtout quand la vérité se trouve être plus belle encore que la fiction. »> « Au jour, les habitants paisibles, en petit nombre, vinrent nous dire que la ville était vide, et nous y entrâmes en chantant des cantiques d'action de grâce au Dieu qui nous l'avait livrée sans combats. << Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, Mont-Jean, le Mesnil-en-Vallée, nous furent également abandonnés. « Voilà des faits que la postérité ne voudra pas croire. L'histoire les enregistrera pourtant, et ceux qui croient en Dieu diront que, quand il veut disperser ses ennemis, un petit souffle de sa bouche suffit pour les mettre en fuite. » « J'avais peine à croire ces choses si étonnantes, et pourtant je sus bientôt qu'elles étaient d'une exacte vérité. « Aussi les hommes qui les voyaient s'accomplir se sentaient-ils invincibles. >> Anna MARIE. (La suite au prochain numéro.) |