Denver, May 19th, 1868.

The plains imperceptibly slope from the base of the mountains, which rise abruptly from them, to the Missouri river; presenting a smooth undulating surface, destitute of timber, save in the valleys of the water-courses, and upon the high land, which, near the mountains, divides the waters of the Platte and Arkansas Rivers.

The climate of this plateau, within the territory of Colorado, is peculiar. Owing to its altitude, remoteness from large bodies of water, and the proximity of the great mountain range, the fall of moisture is small as compared with that of the Atlantic and Mississippi Valley States, and almost wholly confined to the winter and spring months. The summer days are hot, the thermometer often rising to 90 deg., the nights always cool and dewless. The winters are, as a rule, delightfully mild, interrupted with occasional light falls of snow, followed by a few days only of severe cold. The great climatic characteristic is intense sunshine and absence of moisture.

The soil of the river bottoms is identical in fertility and depth with that of the Missouri, and yields, generally without irrigation, immense crops of small grain, hay, and such vegetables as are produced in the same latitude at the East. The uplands have a rich, warm, sandy loam, which produces, wherever irrigation is possible, even more abundantly than the bottoms, and are everywhere covered with buffalo and gramma grasses, affording nutritious feed for stock, which run at large, and grow fat without fodder throughout the entire year.

The innumerable herds of buffalo, elk, antelope, and deer, which have from time immemorial subsisted by pasturage alone, on these plains, suggest that they will not only be capable of furnishing the stock and wool needed for a dense population within the territory, but also for a large portion of the people of the continent.

Spring opens one month earlier here than in the same latitude at the East. Seed is sown in February and March. Teams, subsisting on grass alone, are able to leave the base of the mountains for the East; and, carrying, as it were, the grass with them, reach the Missouri River at the earliest period at which it is possible to travel westward. In short vegetation germinates earlier on the Great Plains, measurably in ratio to the increase of longitude.

Fruit trees, when planted upon the uplands and irrigated, live and grow finely. The soil and climate are identical with those of the Sale Lake Basin, which is--with the exception, perhaps, of certain portions of California--the best fruit-producing region in America, and there is every reason to believe that in time Colorado will, in this particular, rival her sister territory.

Black walnut, chestnut, and other American forest trees grow readily from the seed.

Colorado has richer and more extensive mineral deposits than California, and grazing lands as valuable as those of Texas. She has the peculiar excellences of both these favoured States, with the advantages of easier access and a nearer market.

The climate conditions are exceedingly favourable to consumptives who are not in the confirmed stage of the disease, to all asthmatic sufferes and to those having chronic bronchitis. To the latter two it affords instantaneous relief and rapid and permanent cure.

There is literally no disease peculiar to any portion of the territory, and invalids from abroad rarely fail to rapidly improve under the tonic influences of the climate.

Both to the invalid and voluptuary the contour of surface affords great facility for choice of temperature and density of atmosphere. A ride of two hours over the plains, always hard and smooth, and six hours of mountain travel, either by private conveyance or the six-horse coach, over roads pronounced the best of the kind in the world, and through the grandest of scenery, carries one from the summer heat of the valley, through the intermediate grades of climate, to an altitude where an overcoat is a comfort by day, and a blazing fire a necessity by night. Good inns are found on all the roads, and settlements with public and private houses, having the refinements as well as the comforts of life, hang upon the mountains ten thousand feet above the level of the sea.

Within convenient distance of the mountain settlements, cool streams fresh from the snow, half hidden by flowering shrubs and filled with trout, ripple and foam, and silvery lakes reflect the snow-capped mountains overhanging them. This region is a paradise to the angler and hunter, and it is impossible to do justice in writing to the purity of the atmosphere or to the scenery, in which no element of sublimity is wanting.

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Embraces all that portion of the Territory lying south of the "Divide," or separating ridge, between the waters of the Platte and Arkansas rivers, and includes the counties of El Paso, Fremont, Pueblo, Huerfano, Las Animas, Costilla, Conejos, and Sahwatch, the five first named lying in the valley of the Arkansas, and the three last in the valley of the Rio Grande del Norte.

All that portion lying south of the Arkansas River is what originally belonged to Mexico, and in the organisation of Colorado Territory was taken from New Mexico. It is mostly covered by Spanish grants, and a portion of which has been settled many years. Irrigation is an essential part of farming, and the labour is mostly performed by Mexicans. Very few farms are fenced, the necessity being obviated by the laws requiring stock to be herded during the growing season.

On account of the necessity of irrigation, the farming is confined to the valleys of streams and such table lands as water can be brought to from the streams in acequias or ditches. United States surveys have been made upon most of the lands north of the Arkansas River, and much of it is open to pre-emption and homestead entry, while south of the river the boundaries only of grants have been established by public survey, and the number of acres of each farm or ranche is limited only by the ability of those purchasing from the grantees or the ambition of those "squatting and taking the chances."

The climate is dry, mild, and healthy. Little snow falls in the valleys during the winter, and up to the present date--March 1st--house-flies have buzzed during every month of the past winter. Stock of all kinds graze and fatten the year round, with no other care or expense than herding, and as the range for grazing is unlimited, stock-growing will always be, as it is now, the most profitable business for agriculturists.

The soil is productive, wheat having been raised which yielded 50 bushels to the acre, and some 100. The average yield of wheat is from 25 to 30 bushels to the acre, and of corn 50.

The average price of wheat and corn is three cents per pound, estimates and prices being made altogether by the pound instead of the bushel.

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The Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division, has surveyed a branch road deflecting at a point about 100 miles east of Denver, so as to strike the Arkansas River at the mouth of the Las Animas, or Huerfano, and thence direct through Southern Colorado to Santa Fe and Arizona, to the Pacific. The time is not distant when a railroad will run parallel with the mountains, at their base from Denver, via Santa Fe to Mexico. Coal-fields skirt the base of the mountains from the northern border of Colorado to Trinidad. Few efforts have as yet been made to cultivate fruit, but of the adaptation of the climate to fruit culture there can be no doubt. Currants, plums, raspberries and grapes grow spontaneously in immense quantities. A superior quality of native wine is made from the wild grape, and the dryness of the atmosphere prevents the liability to mildew. Pueblo County alone manufactured last year from the wild grape over 100 barrels of native wine.

The following summary of the products of the southern counties exhibits the resources of that portion of the territory, and is as nearly correct as can be obtained. The data for the products of the northern counties were not attainable except by rough estimate, and are not therefore presented, but will probably nearly equal those of the southern counties:--