THE UNOCCUPIED LANDS OF COLORADO. 



THE CENTENNIAL STATE STUDIED AS A FIELD FOR FUTURE HOME- 

 MAKERS. 

 BY J. A. BRECKONS. 



THE presence of the official representatives of the 

 irrigation sentiment of the United States in 

 Co!orado during the first half of the month of Sep- 

 tember renders timely a discussion of the home- 

 making opportunities in the Centennial State. If the 

 hopes of the champions of our new industrial life 

 are to be realized anywhere, then Colorado will cer- 

 tainly have her share of the new developments. She 

 ranks second only to California in the number of acres 

 now under ditch, and in the number of people earn- 

 ing their living upon irrigated lands. She has con- 

 tributed her share to the literature, customs, judicial 

 decisions and practical examples of reclamation that 

 makeup the fabric of the irrigation industry as it ex- 

 ists to day. And although her fame has rested hitherto 

 rather upon her mines and silver kings than upon 

 her agriculture, the products of her soil have long 

 ranked above her mineral output in annual value, 

 and the time appears to have ccme when her water and 

 land resources arouse the enthusiasm among her own 

 people which they so amply justify. The mines of 

 Colorado will continue to be developed, and are as 



yet scarcely touched, in a comparative sense, but the 

 most interesting page of her future history will deal 

 with the gardens and orchards, the fields and farms 

 to be wrought out by human industry on deserts now 

 voiceless, by men who seek independence and pros- 

 perity through the cultivation of the soil. 



During the past six wfeeks the writer has made a 

 careful personal study of the newer portions of the 

 state. He has traveled hundreds of miles by train, 

 by carriage and on horseback, and has sought to make 

 the personal acquaintance of the subject with which 

 he deals. He was asked to look at everything from 

 the standpoint of the home builder and to give the 

 readers of THE IRRIGATION AGE truthful pictures of 

 the opportunities which exist in this direction. The 

 older agricultural district of Colorado, which includes 

 such well-known communities as Greeley, Fort Col- 

 lins, Longmont, Boulder and others, has often been 

 described in these pages and held up as an example 

 to progress elsewhere. This article deals designedly 

 with the newer fields in the imperial state of Col- 

 orado. 



I. IN THE VALLEY OF THE GRAND. 



Had Rasselas, when he went in search of the happy 

 valley, turned his footsteps in the direction of Grand 

 Valley, on the western slope of the Rockies, his quest 

 for I appiness would not have been in vain. For in 

 no other spot can be found a more complete com- 

 bination of the essentials for ideal and happy homes 

 or a perfect community. Soil, water, climate, loca- 

 tion ; all conspire to make it a region which needs but 

 the magical touch of intelligent human effort to make 

 it one of the delectable places of .earth. 



CHARACTER OF SOIL AND PRODUCTS. 



The soil is a rich sandy loam of great depth, highly 

 saturated with mineral salts, and adapted to all the 

 varieties of grain, grasses, vegetables and fruits 

 Although general farming is profitable the success 

 which has been attained in fruit growing and the 

 great profit fruit culture brings to the intelligent hor- 

 ticulturist has made it the leading industry of the 

 valley, and of the 35,000 acres under ditch fully 10,000 

 acres are planted in orchards. Additional acreage 

 is being planted in orchards each year, and fully 3,000 

 acres will be set out in fruit next season. 



Apples, pears, apricots, prunes, grapes and all 

 small fruits are grown with success, but the reputation 



of Grand Valley has been mainly made by its peach 

 crop, which both in early and late varieties surpasses 

 in quantity and quality that of any other locality in 

 the State. 



As the net profit on an acre of fruit in full bearing 

 is about $300 per annum, it can readily be seen that 

 with its rapidly increasing fruit acreage Grand Valley 

 is destined to be one of the most wealthy and pros- 

 perous communities in the west. 



EXTENT AND DEVELOPMENT. 



The valley contains 150,000 acres susceptible of 

 irrigation and cultivation. Of this 35,000 acres are 

 now under ditch and enterprises are perfected and 

 being put into operation for putting the entire valley 

 under ditch. Although much of the land now irri- 

 gated is under gravity ditches, yet it has been found 

 profitable, so productive is the land, to irrigate large 

 bodies of land by pumping plants, the power for 

 which is furnished by turbine wheels operated by the 

 volume of water in the Grand river, which has a 

 heavy fall through the valley and affords ample water 

 power for running the Largest pumping plants. Near- 

 ly all of the enterprises now contemplated for in- 

 creasing the acreage of irrigated land will employ 

 these means. 



