142 



COLORADO. 



term of $19,631. The total net charge above 

 earnings was $198,968. 



Valuations. The total assessed valuation of 

 the State for 1887 was $140,000,533, nearly 

 one third of which, or $45,753, 685, is credit- 

 ed to the county of Arapahoe, which contains 

 the city of Denver. The total valuation for 

 1 885 was $115,420. 1 93.90. In 1 886 this amount 

 was increased to $124,269,710.06. 



In 1885 the assessed lands and improvements 

 amounted to 3,926,782 acres, valued at $22,- 

 504,768 ; in 1886 there were 4,534,938 acres, 

 valued at $24,211,001. This is exclusive of 

 town and city lots, which in 1885 were valued 

 at $41,106,457; in 1886, at $i3,779,06S. The 

 valuation of railroad property in 1886 was 

 $23,508,367; in 1887 it was $23,696,666. 



Corporations. The Governor, in his message 

 at the beginning of the year, says: "During 

 the past two years 802 corporations have filed 

 their certificates in the office of the Secretary 

 of State. These nominally represent a capital of 

 $361.000,000, the Denver and Rio Grande Rail- 

 way alone representing $78,500,000 of the sum. 

 It is incredible that the legitimate course of busi- 

 ness can be healthfully promoted by any such 

 inflated capitalization. There must be hum- 

 bug, if not downright rascality, behind such a 

 pretentious array of figures. It represents 

 three times the total valuation of the State. I 

 therefore recommend that you guard the good 

 name of Colorado against a reputation for 

 bombastical finances by considerably increas- 

 ing the charge for every thousand dollars above 

 one hundred thousand of capital stock." 



Cereals. The production of crops for 1886 is 

 estimated as follows: "Wheat, 2,100,000 bush- 

 els; oats, 600,000 bushels; barley, 250,000 

 bushels; and corn, 175,000 bushels. The sea- 

 son of 1887 has been favorable, and an increase 

 over these figures is counted upon. 



Irrigation. As the constitution of the Stnte 

 declares all streams within its limits to be pub- 

 lic property, Colorado avoids at the outlet the 

 difficulties that have hindered irrigation in 

 California. The construction of canals ha, 

 therefore, progressed rapidly, especially in the 

 past two years ; but the system of ownership 

 has developed tendencies opposed to agricult- 

 ural interests. " A large percentage of the 

 earlier canals were built on the co-operative 

 plan, in which many farmers united, and 

 through their joint credit and labor, built the 

 canals to water their farms. This method was 

 not suited to large enterprises, and capital was 

 not slow to perceive that ditch enterprises 

 offered a safe and lucrative field for invest- 

 ment, and, as a result, the majority of the 

 canals constructed during the past two years, 

 or now being projected, are owned by corpo- 

 rations merely as speculative enterprises." 

 These corporations, holding no landed inter- 

 ests, have not hesitated to take advantage of 

 the monopoly that from the nature of their 

 business they must necessarily enjoy, to extort 

 from the farmers excessive rates for the supply 



of water. The Legislature has found it neces- 

 sary to take the question in hand, and by sev- 

 eral enactments of this year it gave enlarged 

 powers to the county commissioners to fix the 

 water-rates in any part of the county, on ap- 

 plication of any person interested, and pro- 

 hibited the exaction of more than the legal rate 

 so established, either by means of royalty, bo- 

 nus, premium, or otherwise. Any refusal to 

 supply water at such rate is made punishable. 



Stork-Raising. Official reports show that the 

 number of cattle in the State assessed in 1886 

 was 845,038, valued at $12,425,961. This is 

 an increase over 1885 of 66,443 in number, and 

 $1,1 32,937 in value. In 1884 there were shipped 

 out of the State to various markets, 54,874 

 head; in 1885, 75,579 head; and in 1886, 

 122,678 head. During 1886 there were con- 

 sumed within the State 66,300 head. Notwith- 

 standing these increased shipments, the indus- 

 try has not greatly prospered of late. The area 

 of cattle-ranges is steadily lessening by the set- 

 tlement of immigrants, the prices for beef have 

 fallen, and the cost of transportation increased. 

 Leading cattlemen, both outside and inside the 

 State, appreciating these conditions, have or- 

 ganized an International Range Association. 

 The second annual meeting of the association 

 was held at Denver in February, 1887. 



This year witnessed a practical abandon- 

 ment of the custom of driving herds northward 

 through Colorado to Wyoming and Montana, 

 for the purpose of fattening them on the rich 

 grasses of the northern plains. Immense herds 

 of Texas cattle'have in former years passed 

 through the State over what is known as the 

 " National Cattle-Trail," but so rapidly have 

 settlements been made that herders now 

 find their progress impeded by the fences and 

 farms of pioneer settlers. In a few years 

 these barriers will be entirely impassable, and 

 Southern cattle owners will be compelled to 

 ship their herds by rail to the North, or aban- 

 don the Northern prairies altogether. 



Mining. The product of metals for 1886 is es- 

 timated as follows : Silver, $16,450,921 ; lead, 

 $5,123,296; gold, $5,087,901; copper, $132,- 

 570; making a total of $26,794,688. This is 

 an increase of $4,294,688 over the figures for 

 1885. The production of the Leadville mines 

 alone aggregates $13,750,733, showing a gain 

 over the previous year of $1,393,071. Colorado 

 produced in 1886 over 65 per cent, of all the 

 lead mined in the United States. The product 

 of the Leadville and Red Cliff mines was nearly 

 equal to half of the output of the country. 

 Such is the prosperity of the Leadville district 

 that at the close of 1887 it contained over 150 

 distinct producing mines, the yield from which 

 during the year will reach nearly $16,000,000. 



Increasing attention is being given to the 

 rich coal deposits in the State. The productive 

 and partially-developed coal-fields of Colorado 

 embrace an aggregate area of over 1,000,000 

 acres, while the area of the coal-bearing forma- 

 tion is estimated by geologists to aggregate over 



