16 SOILS OF THE SAN LUIS VALLEY, COLORADO. 



With the advent of extensive irrigation wheat became the domi- 

 nant crop, the yield being high and prices attractive. The farming 

 methods adopted were, however, unsuited to maintaining the soils 

 in a permanently productive condition. The farms were large, the 

 fields poorly prepared for seeding, and irrigation consisted in allow- 

 ing the water to seep from open ditches into the subsoils until a con- 

 dition of saturation was reached and the level of the water table 

 raised sufficiently to render the surface moist. This permitted the loss 

 of much water by percolation and led to the water-logging of exten- 

 sive areas of soils upon the lower slopes. Here excessive quantities 

 of alkali salts accumulated. The fields became infested with weeds, 

 and continuous cropping of grain exhausted the supply of organic 

 matter of the soil, reducing its power to hold moisture, and decreasing 

 its productiveness. Several years of unusual shortage in water supply 

 ensued, farms were mortgaged and passed into the hands of creditors, 

 and large areas of land lying above the more reliable sources of 

 water supply or occurring upon the lower water-logged slopes, some 

 of which lay within the older and more highly developed districts, 

 were practically abandoned. 



Owing to these circumstances, agricultural production has declined 

 in some extensive sections and the rural population is less at present 

 than a number of years ago. In other districts the introduction of 

 different crops, such as field peas and sugar beets, the adoption of 

 improved cultural methods, and the development of artesian water 

 have resulted in the revival of agriculture on a more permanent and 

 successful basis than could ever have been brought about under the 

 old regime. The most prominent of these successful districts are in 

 the vicinity of Monte Vista, Center, and Saguache. Still more re- 

 cently, attention has been directed to the settlement and development 

 of the northern part of the valley around Moffat. The valley was 

 for many years an important grazing region, and Moffat and other 

 small tow r ns scattered along the railroad have ranked among the 

 leading cattle shipping centers of the State. At the present day 

 the cutting of wild hay and cattle raising constitute the principal 

 industries of the valley, only a relatively small proportion of which 

 is actually under cultivation. Even in the more thickly settled dis- 

 tricts of prosperous farms, tracts of unbroken, wild meadow, desert, 

 or abandoned land are seen. Settlement and the development of 

 agriculture have been viewed with indifference or open opposition 

 by the cattlemen. This condition still exists, though to a less pro- 

 nounced extent, and the holdings of the cattlemen are being gradually 

 acquired and placed upon the market in tracts of suitable size for 

 farming. 



Little desirable land now remains subject to entry under the home- 

 stead or desert-land acts, but many tracts occur upon which final 



