USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 53
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In 1870 the railroads first came to Denver and with them came the colonists. bodies of men organized for settlement purposes. Agriculture and its kindred pursuits were strengthened greatly by these newcomers and the land in the vicinity of their settlements soon began to flower.
AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS
Colorado contains about 66,500,000 acres of land, 20,000,000 acres of which are included in the plains of the eastern part of the state. The western slope, the Rio Grande and San Juan valleys and the various parks are, in addition to the plains, excellent lands for the production of crops-cereals and fruit. The soil of Colorado may be said to be deceiving; at least, in the earlier days this was true. This soil is of granitic origin, has an abundance of potash, phosphoric acid and organic matter, elements which go to make up the ideal ground for cultivation. However, the general absence of quantities of water rendered this soil bleak and bare in appearance, although the necessary qualities were yet there, waiting to be developed by the addition of sufficient moisture. The soil of Colo- rado is also of many kinds, due to the different rock formations from which it is derived. It ranges from the sandy to the heavy loam, the latter known to the pioneers as "adobe." Each of these soils requires a different treatment or process of cultivation in order to make it valuable. Colorado has a wonderful system of natural drainage and irrigation, but notwithstanding this has had to
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be supplemented by extensive irrigation, a subject treated fully in another chap- ter of this work.
Generally speaking, all the land lying at 6,000 feet altitude or above requires irrigation, while that below the 6,000 foot level may be tilled without artificial irrigation. The land upon the eastern slope of the state, including the acres first drawing the attention of the colonists, along the Arkansas and South Platte rivers, comes within the class of ground at the 6,000 foot level requiring irriga- tion. Similar land is also to be found upon the western slope, near the Grand, Gunnison and Umcompahgre, also in the southwestern part of the state in the valleys of the Rio las Animas and the Rio San Juan. From Canon City to Pueblo the Arkansas River irrigates a very rich farming area along its course; the Fountain River, which joins the Arkansas at Pueblo, also supplies water to ex- tensive farms along its shores. This vicinity is largely devoted to the cultivation of vegetables, while Rocky Ford, in the Arkansas Valley, has become nationally famous as a producing ground for melons. The sugar-beet industry has also become an important one in the Arkansas Valley, in fact, at this time, ranking first among the products.
Northern Colorado, east of the range, is in the drainage basin of the South Platte River, also the Cache la Poudre. This triangular district has been ap- propriately named the richest agricultural region of Colorado. Irrigation has been introduced extensively into this area and has added incalculable value to lands already rich in productivity.
During the year 1917 every district in the Poudre Valley, which includes the counties of Larimer and Weld, centering around the cities of Fort Collins, Gree- ley, Loveland, Berthoud, Windsor, Eaton and Evans, has enjoyed unequaled pros- perity. In Weld County alone farmers received over twenty million dollars for the irrigated and dry land crops. Sugar beets, potatoes, pinto beans, wheat, al- falfa and seed beans are the main agricultural products of this county.
The farmers of the St. Vrain Valley, north, east, south and west of the City of Longmont, easily had the best season of history in 1917. Sugar beets was the principal money-maker during the year, followed closely by wheat. Alfalfa, beans, potatoes and peas were also extensively raised.
The Valley of the South Platte, about two hundred and twenty-five miles in length, extends from the Platte Cañon, southwest of Denver, to the northeastern corner of the state and in width is from three to six miles. In the vicinity of Denver vegetables are raised principally, due to the large market in the city for this produce. In other parts of this fertile valley cereals, fruits, sugar beets and hay are raised with equal facility.
The western slope of Colorado is the great fruit-producing section of the state. The principal fruit is the apple, while great quantities of peaches, melons, potatoes, all kinds of grain and various vegetables are also raised here.
Northern Colorado is essentially the home of the potato. Potatoes are, of course, raised in all parts of the state, but the district of which Greeley is the market center has become noted for the cultivation of tubers. As many as 800 bushels of potatoes have been raised upon an acre of Colorado soil, with- out artificial fertilization, and a yield of 400 bushels per acre is not at all un- common.
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THE SAN LUIS VALLEY
The principal district over the 5,000 foot elevation where agriculture is car- ried on extensively is the San Luis Valley, between the Sangre de Cristo Range and the Continental Divide. Here the elevation averages about seven thousand five hundred feet and the plain itself, one hundred by forty miles in dimensions, includes over two million five hundred thousand acres of tillable ground. Owing to conditions, however, this land is almost wholly dependent upon irrigation, which is supplied by the waters of the Rio Grande River and smaller streams of the southern part of the state. Small grains and nearly every kind of vegetable are produced in this remarkable section. Something of the condition of the San Luis Valley during the year 1917 is to be shown by the following excerpts from the description by a recent writer :
"It was a long year of hard work and worry for all hands. Urged by the Government to increase production, stockmen and farmers bent all their energies to obey orders. Seed and feed were scarce and labor could not be had at critical times. An acre of potatoes cost the farmer this year $100 as against $30 and $40 in normal times. An acre of peas that formerly cost $6 or $7 cost this year from $12 to $15. High prices during the year have resulted in large selling. In wheat production the valley shows a marked increase over former years. It is estimated that 900,000 bushels were raised. Much of this was of the Marquis variety. Oats and barley yielded well also. This class of grain is all fed to valley stock now instead of being shipped as in former years. Field-peas made an average yield this year. They are mostly fed by turning sheep into the fields where they were grown and later hogs are turned in to clean up any grain that the sheep have lost. In the southern part of the valley many peas are cut, threshed and shipped to Chicago buyers. They make a first class soldier's ration and last year the British Government bought large quantities. Alfalfa is grown with good profit in all parts of the valley. Two and sometimes three cuttings are made, averaging two and a half tons for the first cutting and one and a half tons on the second cutting, which sold this year at $20 in the stack. All alfalfa is fed at home, but large quantities of native baled hay are shipped from the low- lands in all parts of the valley to Colorado Springs and Denver markets.
"The potato crop of the valley last summer was the largest ever known. In Rio Grande County, where the crop has been featured for many years, there were 485 growers, with a total of 11,028 acres planted and a production of 3,605 carloads valued at $4,000,000. Conejos, Costilla and Alamosa counties also produced large quantities of potatoes, but unfortunately an acute car shortage prevented loading and probably a fourth or more of the crop was lost by frost and overheating in crowded cellars."
Northeast of the San Luis Valley lies the Wet Mountain Valley, between the Wet Mountain Range and the Sangre de Cristo, having a length of about thirty miles and a width of seven miles. This section is drained by the Grape Creek, a tributary of the Arkansas River. Notwithstanding the fact that stock raising is the principal industry of this valley, superior crops of potatoes, alfalfa and timothy hay, wheat, rye, barley, oats and the sturdier kinds of vegetables are produced here.
Agriculture also flourishes in the Arkansas Valley which lies in Chaffee and
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Park counties, in the Plateau Valley lying in Mesa and Delta counties and in the Gunnison Valley after the emergence of that river from Lost Canon. The Valley of the Eagle River for a distance of forty miles from the confluence with the Grand, although narrow, is a valuable producing ground for wheat, rye, oats, barley, vegetables and forage crops. The valleys of the Roaring Fork and Crystal rivers constitute another agricultural section, with an elevation of from six thou- sand five hundred to eight thousand feet. The product of this district is similar to that of the Eagle River Valley. In the Montezuma Valley, in Montezuma County, which is drained by tributaries of the San Juan River, agriculture is growing rapidly. Irrigation is being developed extensively in this valley, for the production of various crops, the principal one of which is alfalfa. In La Plata County, adjoining Montezuma, are the valleys of the Las Animas, Los Pinos and other tributaries of the San Juan. This section is rich in agricultural possibilities and is being developed with Durango City as the market center.
NORTHWESTERN COLORADO
Northwestern Colorado is one of the sections which will, in time, be one of the greatest agricultural districts of the state. This district is made up properly of the counties of Routt, Moffat, Rio Blanco, Grand and Jackson, a "veritable empire of resources and wealth." Stock raising has been the chief industry of the northwestern part of the state, but agricultural improvements have steadily increased the crop production of these counties. One writer describes the ter- ritory in the following words:
"The crop value of northwestern Colorado soil can scarcely be estimated. It will never 'wear out.' How deep it is no one knows. For ages the disintegration of the mountains poured unchecked tons of sediment into the valleys, building up a silt and rich loam strongly impregnated with iron oxides, nitrates, phosphates and potash, elements which contribute to the record crops of the section.
"Hay is the staple crop of the country. Native grass, timothy, alfalfa and clover are grown extensively, yielding from three to ten tons per acre. Oats, wheat, rye and barley are also grown extensively, all far surpassing the yields of the Eastern States. Potatoes and other vegetables give abundant yields and are of superior quality. Small fruits are becoming of extreme importance, Steam- boat Springs strawberries having established a name throughout the country.
"Hundreds of new settlers have come into the country during the past year (1917) and there is room for thousands more. There are still thousands of acres of Government and state land open to entry, as fertile and productive as any in the world."
Northwestern Colorado land is drained by the White and Yampa rivers and their tributaries. This facility of irrigation, together with the present railroad advantages and others to come, insures a future of prosperity for this part of the state.
MOUNTAIN PARKS
The North Park, east of Routt County, with an elevation of 8,000 feet and bounded by the Continental Divide and Medicine Bow Range and constituting Jackson County, is a mountain valley sixty miles long and thirty miles wide.
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Cattle raising is the chief occupation of the farmers herein, but as the streams carry bountiful supplies of water for irrigation, crops of hay, field-peas, oats, sugar beets and other products are annually raised here.
Crossing the Divide at the Nork Park, one comes to Middle Park, a mountain valley of greater size than North Park. However, owing to the topography of the land here less crops are produced, the ground being used chiefly for grazing.
The high mountain parks of Colorado, though, are becoming more valuable as they are being intelligently developed. It has not been so many years since these lands were recognized only for their grazing uses, but now this same land is being developed either by dry-farming methods or by irrigating systems. This change has been accomplished by the knowledge, recently gained, that these parks are ideal for the production of potatoes, cabbage, small grains and hay. Such products from these mountain parks not only top the open market, but have been found by numerous experiments to be ideal seed, when taken to the lower parts of the state and to other states. It is along these lines that the parks should, and no doubt will, be pushed.
EASTERN COLORADO
The eastern part of Colorado gives us an example of the great movement to reclaim the land of Colorado. Here is a vast extent of valuable ground which, until a few years ago, was considered fit only for grazing purposes. Through the many years until the close of the year 1911 eastern Colorado was considered a failure, but in 1912 new methods were introduced in planting and cultivating the farm area and a good crop was obtained. The extensive cultivation of non- irrigated land in this district was begun in 1893, but the season was one of drought and the succeeding months of 1894 were likewise failures, consequently the belief became general that cultivation of non-irrigated land in eastern Colo- rado was impossible. Many of the farmers moved away and for years the land was used only for grazing. In 1912 methods of strictly scientific farming were evolved by agricultural experts and the farmers were encouraged to try again. As a reward, those who had remained on their farms through the hard years became prosperous and happy agriculturists, having learned the methods of cultivating their hitherto arid land. The annual report of the Department of Agriculture for the year 1905 states:
"The bitter lessons of the 'rain-belt' failure lasted for years, but its sears at length healed. Another wave of settlement is sweeping over the plains, includ- ing eastern Colorado. Other settlers are buying the abandoned farms. This latest attempt is not a repetition of the first. New methods are being tried. Much has been learned in the past twenty years. Practically every settler who re- mained in the semi-arid belt has been an experimenter in developing a kind of agriculture suited to the local conditions. The United States Department of Agri- culture has searched the world for drought-resistant crops, and it and the State Experiment Stations have conducted extended experiments to determine their value in the semi-arid sections of America, including Colorado. Independent investigators have been working many years to adapt old varieties to semi-arid conditions."
In order to provide some sort of assistance to the new farmer upon Colorado
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soil, the Department of Agriculture established two demonstration farms in the eastern part of the state. One is adjacent to Akron and the other near Eads. These farms were started for the distinct purpose of determining the proper kinds of crops to grow upon the land, and principally the kind of crops avail- able to the farmer who used no irrigating system of any kind. Dry farming is the main subject of interest to the eastern Colorado agriculturist at this time and every year new ideas are put into effect and the general crops-in quantity and quality-are thereby greatly benefited.
PINTO BEANS
One of the crops of Colorado which has made rapid strides during the last few years is the bean. Ten years ago the production of dry beans in the state was so small that Colorado was not given a place in the Government reports in the statistics of bean production. Five years ago the value of the dry bean crop of the state was perhaps less than $100,000. Yet in 1916 the value of beans grown in the state reached approximately $1,700,000 and in 1917 it stands at about $6,500,000. Colorado now has a place in the Government reports as a great bean-producing state, and the principal buyers of beans throughout the country have established connections in the state. This rapid development in bean production has been due to the introduction of the Mexican pinto bean and to the war demand for beans, which has brought the pinto into favor where it was formerly unknown. This bean is well adapted to the soil and climate of Colorado, especially in the eastern or non-irrigated section. In some parts of eastern Colorado it was well established and was high in favor so far as pro- duction was concerned before the beginning of the war. But there was only a limited market and prices were so low as to make its production unprofitable. A partial failure of the navy bean crop in 1916, together with the heavy war de- mand, gave the pinto bean a chance before the large bean buyers, including agents of the United States Government. The result is that the pinto bean is now selling at a price but little below that commanded by the navy variety and the production is steadily approaching a point equal to that of the latter.
COLORADO LAND
Colorado is making a stupendous effort to encourage settlement upon the un- cultivated lands of the state, which comprises over two-thirds of the whole area. Of the land values in Colorado and the possibilities of settlement many facts are given by Edward D. Foster, commissioner of immigration, (Rocky Mountain News, January 1, 1918) :
"Forty years ago the assessed valuation of the entire state of Colorado, rep- resenting one-third of the actual value, was $44,130,000, indicating an actual valuation for the state of $132,300,000. In forty years' time, as shown by the abstract of assessment for the state in 1917, its total valuation has grown to more than $1,300,000,000, or approximately ten times its valuation forty years ago. Assessment figures, moreover, are conservative beyond question and represent the lowest possible estimate of value.
"But the marvelous advance which the last forty years have seen Is as nothing
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compared to the increase which the next two decades may bring if the settle- ment and development of Colorado are pushed scientifically and energetically. Today we boast of our vast areas of irrigated land and consider Colorado one of the leaders among the irrigated states of the West, yet only 3,000,000 acres, or less than 5 per cent of the total area of the state, is being cultivated under irrigation today. Only 7,000,000 acres at the most is under cultivation at all, and that figure includes all lands devoted to hay as well as those devoted to the crops demanding a higher degree of cultivation. In fact, it is probable that ex- cluding lands which lie idle one year or another in the process of crop rotation, there is not at any one time more than 5,000,000 acres actually under cultivation within the state.
"With a total assessed valuation of more than $1,300,000,000, Colorado is farming but little more than one-third of the territory within her boundaries which is capable of cultivation. Conservative 'estimates made within the last few weeks show that there is now at least 6,000,000 acres of privately owned land suitable for cultivation, which is used for no purpose other than grazing and that there are 2,000,000 acres of government land subject to homestead, and an equal amount of state land subject to purchase, making a total of 10,000,000 acres capable of intensive cultivation, but now used only as pasture or open range.
"Taking $40 per acre as an extremely low estimate of the possible average crop production of all land now open for settlement, it is apparent that the land still going practically to waste in the state is capable of producing annually no less than $400,000,000 in crops, or an amount approximately one-third as great as the total assessed valuation of the state for 1916.
"But production is not the only direction in which the settlement of unoccu- pied lands adds to the wealth of the state. The land itself will increase in value from its present average of about $15 per acre to an average of anywhere from $50 to $150 per acre, adding hundreds of millions of dollars more to the total of taxable property within the state. Moreover, a comparison of the records for 1916 shows that with approximately 23,000,000 acres of land devoted to agricul- ture (of which 17,000,000 is classed as grazing land and is not highly improved), the total valuation for improvements and livestock was approximately $206,000,- 000, or nearly $10 per acre. At the same ratio the 10,000,000 acres of land now not devoted to agriculture, but capable of cultivation, would add another $100,- 000,000 to the total valuation of the state.
"The establishment of cities and towns follows inevitably in the wake of agri- cultural development. Elevators, flour mills, creameries, condenseries, sugar factories, canning plants-these and hundreds of other industries come naturally and necessarily to communities that are producing the raw material and add hundreds of millions to the total of the state's wealth.
"The possibilities which reveal themselves as one studies the future of Colo- rado are enough to stagger belief, but they are no greater than that which has already been accomplished in the forty years in which Colorado has grown from nothing to a wealth of over $1,000,000,000.
"Two problems-settlement and transportation-present the only means by which the vast possibilities of the state may be realized, and in reality the two problems are but one, for transportation facilities will follow as the settlement of
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the state progresses and freight tonnage is produced from the lands which now produce nothing.
"Irrigation, which now admittedly can be developed but little more in the thickly .populated valleys of the state, offers tremendous opportunities in the northwestern, southwestern and eastern sections. In Moffat and Rio Blanco counties, in northwestern Colorado, there are still large volumes of water which may be diverted for direct irrigation and which wait only on settlement to be- come realities. The same condition exists in Montezuma County and neighboring vicinities of the southwest, but there, as in the northwest, the transportation prob- lem is an element of vital importance. Liberal colonization work will result in the settlement of the lands to such an extent that railroads will be tempted to spread their tentacles into all parts of the district regardless of cost of construc- tion and operation. In eastern Colorado the problem possibly can be solved only by the development of reservoir storage to an even greater degree than it has attained at the present time, but even without irrigation the lands of eastern Colorado, farmed under modern and scientific methods and with a knowledge of the needs of that variety of agriculture, are paying well today in comparison with their cost and the cost of farming. They are capable of more intensive cul- tivation and of subdivision into smaller tracts, but these things are matters which must and will work out slowly and surely as the settlers learn by experience.
"The progress of immigration is well demonstrated by the fact that within the past year settlers have filed on more than 4,000,000 acres of government lands within the state, and have purchased more than 131,500 acres of state lands. Year by year the possibilities of Colorado's soil and Colorado's unexcelled climate are becoming known in less favored parts of the United States and the intelli- gent, progressive young men of the East and Middle West, searching for cheaper lands where their own efforts may count for more, are turning by hundreds to Colorado. Land which but ten years ago was considered of no possible use save for grazing, is coming under the plow and being made to produce and to add millions to the nation's storehouse of wealth."
PRODUCTION OF 1917
The total output of Colorado farms and orchards in 1917 was the largest on record. The area cultivated within the state was immeasurably larger than in any previous year. The total value of farm products, exclusive of livestock, poultry and dairying, was $145,562,450, an increase of more than 59 per cent over any previous year. The national agitation for increased production has been the stimulus for this remarkable growth, a strong desire to do everything possible to win the war against the Germanic empire. No state has shown a greater percentage of increase in the area cultivated. The total area given over to crops of various kinds in 1917 was about five million acres, an increase of 13 per cent over any previous year.
This record was made despite the fact that conditions were not favorable for the maximum agricultural production. In some sections the rainfall was un- usually light after June 5th and crops grown without irrigation were below the average.
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