USA > Utah > Salt Lake County > Salt Lake > Utah gazatteer and directory of Logan, Ogden, Provo and Salt Lake cities, for 1884 > Part 5
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June 1 .- Owing to the unusual fall of snow in the Winter of 1883-4, streams are higher than for twenty years. Bridges swept away in different parts of the Territory and great danger exists.
AGRICULTURAL UTAH.
ARABLE LANDS.
IN 1867 about 130,000 acres of land were in cultivation in Utah; over 80,000 were devoted to cereals, some 2,000 to sugar cane, about 6,000 to root crops, nearly 200 to cotton, 900 to apple orchards, 1,000 to peaches, 75 to grapes, 195 to currants, and some 30,000 to meadow. Of this land close on 94,000 had to be irrigated. During the year mentioned, 1867, the cost of irrigating this land, including the making of canals, dams, cleaning out ditches, aggregated $247,000. The surveys of public lands in Utah, up to June 30, 1878, showed that 8, 178, 819.97 acres had been surveyed. This amount is divided into arable, timber, coal and mineral lands. It is assumed that not less than 2,000,000 acres were surveyed for agricultural purposes. Statistics collected under the direction of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory, in 1875, showed that 223, 300 acres of land were then under culti- vation, 77,525 acres requiring no irrigation; 35,706 acres required watering once or twice in the year to secure satisfactory productiveness; 87, 774 acres, three or four waterings; 21, 761 from four to ten irrigations during the season. According to the statistics then gathered, 10,000 acres were reclaimed that year. There were in use 2,095 miles of large or main canals, and 4,888 of minor canals or ditches-6,983 miles in all. The census returns show that there were 9,452 farms in Utah in 1880, with an acreage of 655,524. Of this amount, 416, 105 was tilled. The value of the farms, including buildings, etc., is placed at $14,015, 178, and the value of machin- ery at $946,753; while the value of all farm products sold that year is estimated at $3, 337,410.
Whatever the amount of land under cultivation in Utah may be, at the least calculation 25 per cent. of it lies idle, or is summer fallowed the year round. The figures given include also the amount cultivated by what is known as the "dry farming" process-that is, without irrigation-and con- sequently fails to give a fair idea of the productive capacity of the Territory, were anything like a high state of cultivation the rule. The agricultural productiveness of the Territory is much more than enough to supply the local demand; and, possessing no market outside for a surplus, the occasion for greater exertions in agricultural directions does not exist. It may not gen- crally be credited, but the belief is firmly entertained by many intelligent persons, conversant with Utah's agricultural history and opportunities, that, with the higher state of cultivation of which the ground is capable, the pro- duct on the same number of acres can be made at least double. This too, with practically the same amount of water, and but a trifling increase in the percentage of labor. There has been a disposition to belittle the agricul- tural capacity of the Territory, by asserting that capacity had reached its maximum. In the years gone, naturally enough, men chose the most favor-
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
able spots for farms, so that the less desirable locations have been left for later comers. Notwithstanding this fact, however, the acreage increased each year with astonishing rapidity, and land that in early days was viewed as almost worthless, has proven to be as desirable as could be wished for. There are millions of acres of the finest kind of farming land to be seen in different parts of the Territory, in the most desirable places, untouched and almost unthought of, because of an absence of immediate water opportuni- ties. Juab County is a striking illustration of the truth of this assertion. The section of country in and below this county contains valley after valley of the fairest farming land to be found anywhere. The eye rests on it cov- etously, but it remains unused, save for ranges, because of the reason men- tioned-lack of easily available water. The proportion of arable land under cultivation has not been estimated, but cannot possibly be over one-eighth and is perhaps even less than a tenth. In the arable land is included in this estimate all that could be farmed were there water-or land that is not min- eral, mountain nor absolutely desert. The census statistics show that over 600,000 acres are under cultivation, but that two-thirds only are productive. This 400,000 acres, farmed properly, would produce an equivalent to 800,000 acres by the present process. Apply the same rule to the 200,000 under cul- tivation, but non-productive, and we would have in all 12,000,000 acres capa- ble of being farmed were other probable conditions satisfactory. But to be absolutely certain, reduce the amount one-half of what it could be, and instead of 400,000 acres producing $3, 500,000 worth of products, the amount would be $7,000,000; 600,000 over $8,000,000 per annum, and 6,000,000 over $80,000,000 in farm products per annum. It is true this is merely spec- ulation as to productiveness; but there is no speculation as to the number of acres of land capable of being farmed, provided water could be obtained. As Utah is unsurpassed in the extent and variety of her mineral resources, so also has she an agricultural capacity that will prove equal to all the demands of the colossal industries yet to be founded upon these unlimited resources. It may be a question how this land shall be brought into use; but, as nature never tolerates a waste, there is undoubtedly some means by which the land now lying idle can be made productive, and the necessities that arise will point out a speedy and infallible remedy for what at present may seem to some an insuperable obstacle.
IRRIGATION.
There are few places in the world where irrigation has been brought to such perfection as in this Territory. That this method is an advantage rather than a detriment to farming, is susceptible of easy proof. The objec- tion to irrigation, and the only objection, is the cost of making canals and ditches, and the expense of maintaining them. These obstacles once over- come, and the certainty of crops, resulting from irrigation, is a ten-fold com- pensation for the labors and difficulties it imposes. Rust and smut are almost unknown, while the production per acre is much greater. Irriga- tion is conducive to industry and energy, for the reason that a man waters his crops when they require it. When he sees the grain developed and ready for the sickle, his rest is unbroken lest a rainy spell should ensue and rob him of the results of months of toil, at the very hour when he hoped to realize the reward. The certainty of results is the greatest incentive to labor; hence it is that irrigation, being the safest method of farming, is pro- ductive of the greatest energy. Moreover, irrigation greatly enriches the soil. To the melting of snow in the mountains is due the existence of the streams. The water collects from all directions and, coursing down the mountain sides, carries with it the fine, rich and unimpoverished particles of soil, which, by means of irrigation, are deposited on the cultivated land.
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45
UTAH GAZETTEER.
Thus the land is constantly being renewed. For the quantity and quality of cereals, and for the continuous period the land will yield, the like is unknown in countries where agriculture depends upon rains. During cer- tain months in the year, the water supply for irrigating purposes is inade- quate to the demand. To this, more than to any other cause, is due the idea entertained by some that Utah has reached her agricultural capacity .. This belief is not the product of reason. A sane person, who knows any- thing about the Territory, knows also that enough water runs to waste in Utah during the winter and early spring months to irrigate twice the amount of arable land in this Territory the year round. It resolves itself simply into a question of saving the water. Hydraulic engineers admit nowhere in the world are natural opportunities for the storage of water more plentiful than in Utah. The building of reservoirs and dams requires money; but money thus invested is money well invested. The millions and millions of money put into canals in this Territory, added to with each year, pays a larger interest than any other money in the Territory, in whatever direction it may be utilized. The same results would be true of reservoirs and dams-a fact already patent to many, as people are moving determinedly in these direc- tions. There should be for Utah Territory an hydraulic engineer, whose knowledge, by study and experience, is specially adapted to a community in which irrigation is necessary. This engineer should be paid by the com- monwealth. The office should impose upon him the duty of visiting all parts of the Territory, with a view to ascertaining the opportunities of each section for reservoirs and dams. He should draw up plans, estimate costs, and give to the people the benefit of his best judgment, his large knowledge and his practical experience. That such an office, even at an exhorbitant salary, would be an investment for the Territory without a parallel, there can be no question. Another method of securing water that has been tested in later years, is by artesian wells. The success so far attending efforts made has awakened an unusual degree of interest in this direction. There is no tangible reason why artesian wells should not be a success in many, if not in all parts of the Territory, and the next two years will thoroughly demonstrate the practicability and the utility of this method of irrigation. The confidence had in the water capacity of Utah, if successful saving and developing methods are introduced, amounts to a conviction. Statistics of the coming ten years will show an increase in the acreage of land farmed, in the number of persons employed, and in the production, so disproportionate to years past, as to render earlier efforts-not considering the adverse con- ditions which can never be experienced again, and which were then and have been powerful opposing agencies to material development-seemingly insig- nificant. However, with the same acreage, the same irrigation facilities, Utah is still capable of supporting a population three, and even four times that of Utah to-day.
CEREALS.
With the exception of Indian corn (which does not thrive so well because of cool nights) all the products of the same latitude as Utah thrive remarkably well. The soil and the climate are peculiarly adapted to the raising of wheat and kindred cereals, and to the growth of all kinds of fruit. In Southern Utah semi-trophical fruits and vegetation are cultivated with marked great success. With the exception of perhaps one or two years since 1868, Utah has always had a surplus of wheat, and there is reason to believe the ensuing year will see even a greater surplus than usual, as all con- ditions are favorable to such an end. The following statistics were compiled and published by order of the Legislative Assembly in 1876, as showing the material condition of the Territory the year preceding:
46
UTAH GAZETTEER.
KIND.
ACRES.
TOTAL YIELD.
YIELD PER ACRE.
Wheat, .
72,020
1,418,783 bls.
20
bush'ls.
Barley,
13,847
359,527
25
Oats,
[19,706
581,849
30
Rye,
447
8,987
20
Corn,
16,452
317,253
20
Buckwheat,
II
243
22
Peas,
1,701
30,801
18
Beans,
127
3,176 "
25
Potatoes,
10, 306
1, 306, 957
130
Other Roots,
1,433
278, 1 12
125
Seeds,
125
49,501 lbs.
396
Broom Corn,
200
713 tns.
333 tons.
Sugar Cane,
1,432
103, 164 gals
72
gals.
Meadow, .
81,788
112,529 tns.
172 tons.
Lucern, .
3,587
13,189
-
33/3
Cotton,
113
31,075 Ibs.
275
tbs.
Flax
5
1, 250
250
FRUITS AND FLOWERS.
The Basin of the Great Salt Lake is pre-eminently a fruit raising sec- tion. All the fruits of the temperate clime grow in this region to unusual size, while the flavor is unsurpassed. It has become an industry and is the source of much wealth in an unostentatious way. Utah fruit, dried, is a lux- ury elsewhere, and thousands of pounds are shipped away annually. The care of fruit, as a rule, falls to the lot of women and children, the work not being heavy, nor the orchards very large, though they are great in number. The result is that dried fruit constitutes an unrecognized source of wealth which annually brings thousands of dollars into the Territory, and by which the thrifty housewife is enabled to add many comforts to her home, without which she would otherwise be obliged to content herself. Southern Utah, below the rim of the Basin, is peculiarly adapted to vineyards, and to the manufacture of wine. Vine growing, however, does not flourish as in former years, and for two reasons: there is no market for the fruit and none for the wine that is worthy the name, because of the proverbial opposition of the Mormon people to intoxicating liquors in all forms. Shrubbery and flowers and shade trees abound and are growing in numbers and excellence yearly. There is no estimate of the value of the latter, but when a sale or purchase of land is meditated the number and the kinds of flowers and lawns and shade trees mark a vast difference in the commercial values of a place. Millions of dollars, unaccounted for in the material value of the Territory, exist, observed only as they please the eye and gratify the taste of the beholder. The following table from the same source as the above-for 1875 -will not be uninteresting:
KIND.
ACRES.
TOTAL YIELD.
YIELD PER ACRE-
Apples,
3,935
358, 277 bls.
90 bushels.
Pears, .
128
10, 560
75
Peaches,
2,687
330, 535
I 20
Plums,
259
43,585
165
Apricots,
305
44, 160 "
145
Cherries. .
62
4,661
75
Grapes,
544 3.409, 200 lbs. : 6, 260
"
Ibs.
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
STOCK-RAISING.
Next to mining, stock has brought more interchangeable weath, or money into the Territory than any other single resource. The pasturage for cattle is yearly decreasing, two causes being at work to produce such a result: first, land once common for grazing is now being taken up and used for agricultural purposes, pure and simple; second, and by far the more powerful reason, is the wonderful increase in sheep. Sheep, at present, are much cheaper to keep and give far greater returns, by reason of their rapid increase and because of the wool clip which grows in proportion with the numerical strength of the animals. They ruin ranges for cattle; hence, when the latter are introduced, the former must give way. Moreover, the large stock corportations formed in the past few years, as well as the great demand for cattle, has run the price up to a maximum point, beyond which it is unlikely ever to go. The result has been the disposition of Utah cattle at a high figure and they have been shipped to other localities. Utah con- sequently has fewer cattle to-day than for some years. However, the losses arising from these causes are in all probability counterbalanced by the better quality of the cattle that remain, while the vast sheep herds and the immense wool clips, as compared with former years, mark a clear gain. Not only are the people inbreeding a higher strain into their cattle, but the desire to intro- duce finer blood into horses has grown with astonishing rapidity and is bear- ing the most pleasing fruits. There is foundation for the assertion that Utah is singularly a country qualified to produce a fine and healthy race of horses. The reason is to be found in the altitude, with our fine and brac- ing air, which is pre-eminently calculated to produce a healthy and large- lunged horse. The excellent range is an additional reason. The bunch grass growing along the low foot hills and high in the canyon ravines is admitted to be as nutricious as any grass known. It produces large limbs and superior muscle. These two elements, producing large lungs, powerful limbs and strong and elastic muscles, are winning for Utah an envi- able reputation as a horse-breeding section. Horses, as well as sheep, are a rapidly increasing source of wealth in the Territory; and the desire for a better and still better strain of blood is so general as justify the belief that Utah will soon boast as fine a quality of horse flesh in general, and in par- ticular, as the most favored section of the United States. The appended table shows the stock condition of the Territory in 1875:
Name.
Number.
Stallions,
108
Mares,
1,349
Mules,
4,727
All others not horned,
39,022
Thoroughbred Horned Stock, .
510
Graded
3,511
All other
103,447
Thoroughbred Sheep,
15,620
All other
288,608
Goats,
1,578
Graded Swine,
1,397
Common
25, 143
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One thing that has contributed largely to the success of stock-raising in Utah, by making feed cheap and abundant, was the introduction of alfalfa, or lucern. Thousands and thousands of acres of land, worthless for meadow, are seeded down with lucern. The yield is astonishingly prolific, ranging from three to four tons on inferior land and with poor water facilities, to ten
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48
UTAH GAZETTEER.
tons per annum under more favorable conditions. It is an excellent food for cattle, largely increases the flow of milk in cows, and is a substantial and fattening feed for work horses. It is the best friend to the stock and dairy industries of Utah yet discovered.
TIMBER.
Utah holds an intermediate position, with respect to its supply of tim- ber, between the Atlantic and Prairie States. Its arable lands are not inter- spersed with forests, nor yet is it without an adequate supply of timber within its own limits for building, fencing, mining, and fuel. The valleys or plains are destitute of forest growth, and in early times willow brush was resorted to for fencing, adobe bricks for building, and sage brush for fuel. But the mountains are generally more or less wooded, almost wholly with evergreens, however. The best trees furnish lumber not technically clear, but the knots are held so fast that they are no real detriment, and the lumber is practically clear. The red pine and black balsam, indigenous to the moun- tains, make a fence post or railroad tie that will last ten years. The white pine is not so good. More than half of the forest growth of the Wasatch is of the white or inferior variety. On the Oquirrh the trees are chiefly red pine. Scrub cedar and pinon pine are quite common in the south and west. They are of little value for anything but posts, ties and fuel. In 1875 there were perhaps 100 saw mills in existence, if not in operation, in the Territory. and while the people are not enabled by law to acquire title to timbered lands, nor authorized to appropriate the timber on other than mineral lands, nor that save for domestic uses, the fact remains that they do so appropriate it, always have, and always will, as it is reasonable and right that they should. Ordinary rough building and fencing lumber ranges in price from $20 to $25 a thousand. Wood is obtained from the canyons for fuel, and soft coal of good quantity can be had for $6 to $10 a ton in all Northern Utah. When the coal deposits of the Territory shall have been developed and made accessible by railroads, the price should be less by one-half, for there is an abundant supply and it is widely distributed. *
NOTES.
The first furrow turned in Utah was done by Willian Carter, now of St. George.
There have been held in Utah fifteen Territorial Fairs under the auspices of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society. The last was held in October of 1881. Inability to secure permanent grounds and buildings, and the personal risks involved by the members of the Society caused them to suspend exhibitions.
In December, 1870, 60,000 pounds of dried peaches were shipped out of Utah by Z. C. M. I. alone.
A pomological exhibition took place at St. George on the 29th of December, 1870. Fine samples of wine from local raised grapes were exhibited, as well as raisins.
During 1869 William Jennings shipped to Idaho, Montana and else- where, about 200,000 pounds of Utah butter. We cannot, or do not, now begin to produce enough for local consumption. Here is a field for the enterprising dairyman and for the establishment of creameries. Cache Valley is already unitedly taking hold of the enterprise. The Territory no where affords a better field for such an investment.
The agricultural products in 1875 were $4, 393, 222.07: horticultural, * Resources of Utah.
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UTAH GAZETTEER.
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$1, 170, 248.50; animals, $6,642,798.59; animal products, $1,219,094.56; total, $13,425,363.72.
Cache County produced over 15,000,000 pounds of cereals in 1873.
The soil, formed to a very large extent from the mountain washings, consists mainly of a gravelly loam, and is peculiarly adapted to the growth of wheat and other cereals and to fruit.
Wheat is the staple product of the Territory. Over eighty bushels, in instances, have been raised to the acre. Oats, barley, rye and flax are culti- vated with success. All kinds of vegetables grow astonishingly large, and of superior quality. The same is true of fruit.
Cotton has been cultivated successfully in Washington County. The cost of manufacture is so great as to render cotton raising unprofitable. Madder, indigo, figs, grapes, and other tropical fruit can be raised in this county.
The estimated production of Utah's cereal crop per annum is roughly placed at 2, 500,000 bushels.
It takes about 900,000 to 1,000,000 bushels of wheat per annum to bread the people and furnish seed for the succeeding year.
It is estimated that the population of Utah, all told, requires from six to six and a quarter bushels of wheat per capita for bread.
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UTAH MANUFACTURES.
CONSIDERING her economic resources, Utah has made less progress in manufacture than in any other direction. The showing is not satisfactory. There are, however, extenuating circumstances in this connection that should properly be set forth. Up to date the railroads have been of benefit to Utah only so far as inflexible commercial laws compelled them to help the Territory materially. As compared with Colorado, we fail to be her super- ior in two respects only: in the amount of mineral wealth produced annu- ally, and in the establishment of internal industries upon economic resources. This admission is the more painful because of the absence of any legitimate reason why it should be so. We have mines equal in capa- city, richness and extent to any in Colorado. In the materials for manu- facture no section of the west can approach Utah. Colorado, however, has had the advantage of railroad efforts looking to her upbuilding. It has been exactly the opposite with Utah. The history of the only road by which for years communication could be had with the east, if written, would show unfailing opposition to the material welfare of the Territory; a ten - dency to crush inherent independence, and a determination to choke the life out of home enterprises. The effect of such potent influence has been to kill opposition to its policy by the perpetual dread of ruin which stared men incessantly in the face when home industries were thought of. It also begot a lack of self-reliance, cultivated a dependence on external forces, and inculcated a slavish habit of looking to the wrong source for what was needed. The same evils exist to-day, aggravated by an additional through line that pursues the same policy. Nebraska and Colorado are being built up at the expense of Utah, Idaho and Montana, the Union Pacific repre- senting the Nebraska interests, the Denver and Rio Grande those of Colo- rado. There are, however, internal reasons for the unfortunate conditions of Utah in manufacture-though they would probably have been unknown had the railroad evils failed to exist. Men of wealth, permanently residing in Utah, have made their accumulations slowly; they are proverbially cau- tious, and the fire and ambitious desire to have the prosperity of the country they inhabit linked inseparably with the history of their personal pecuniary aggrandizements is by no means as pronounced as it might be, taking, as examples, instances to be found in territories equally as young and less stable than Utah. It is true this caution has not been without good effect. Nothing so engenders a lack of confidence as the precipitate inauguration of industries destined to fail for the reason that existing conditions are not ripe for the industry. It is the absence of failures of any magnitude that inspires such perfect confidence in the founding of local enterprises, looking to the utiliza- tion of the vast resources that meet the gaze of the thoughtful on every side, and which constantly suggest to the energetic and the enterprising opportunities never dreamed of by those of less active temperaments. The success, also, of such industrial enterprises as have been inaugurated after mature deliberation and proper preliminary steps have been taken, is an additional and a certain assurance that similar operations in other directions
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