Within the last
few years the cultivation of the Chinese sugar-cane has been introduced,
and has proved successful. In Salt Lake City considerable attention is
paid to horticulture. Peaches, apples, and grapes grow to great size, at
the same time retaining excellent flavor. The grape which is most common
is that of the vineyards of Los Angeles. In the vicinity of Provo an
attempt has been made to cultivate the tea-plant; and on the Santa Clara
several hundred acres have been devoted to the culture of cotton,
but with imperfect success. Flax, however, is raised in considerable
quantity. The fields are rarely fenced with rails, and almost never with
stones. The dirt-walls by which they are usually surrounded are built by
driving four posts into the ground, which support a case, ten or twelve
feet in length, made of boards. This is packed full of mud, which dries
rapidly in the intense heat of a summer noon. When it is sufficiently
dry to stand without crumbling, the posts are moved farther along and
the same operation is repeated.
The country is not dotted with farmhouses, like the agricultural
districts of the East.
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