IRRIGATION IN COLORADO. 



BY JOEL SHOMAKER. 



Colorado is among the largest and most important irrigated divis- 

 ions of Arid America. The state occupies a central position, amidst 

 the grand Rocky Mountain sentinels, and stands without a peer in the 

 vast resources of gold, silver and useful metals and minerals. 

 Agriculture, through the medium of irrigation, has been developed 

 until about 2.000,000 acres are under cultivation and over 1,200 miles 

 of irrigating ditches carry water from the perpetual snow fountains to 

 the fertile fields, orchards and vineyards. The present farm products 

 reach an aggregate annual valuation of 125,000,000, yet not half of 

 the tillable area has been reclaimed from its desert condition, by the 

 modern science of irrigation. 



The present state was made a territory Feb. 28, 1861, and admitted 

 into the Union Aug. 1, 1876, hence bears the very appropriate title, 

 "The Centennial State." It contains 103,645 square miles, or 66,332,- 

 800 acres, of which about 4,000,000 acres can be irrigated and culti- 

 vated. There are seventy -two noted mountain peaks within the state 

 borders, reaching an elevation of between 13,500 and 14,300 feet, being 

 everlasting glaciers for filling the irrigation reservoirs and streams 

 with an abundance of soil moisture for every acre that can be culti- 

 vated. The Rocky Mountains trending north and south, create an 

 eastern and western slope, and supply the sources of the Arkansas, 

 Platte and Colorado rivers and numerous smaller streams and creeks 

 rushing from every canyon in the great chain. The natural rainfall 

 for the state does not average fifteen inches annually, ranging from 

 seven inches on the deserts to thirty inches in the mountains, there- 

 fore irrigation is essential to successful soil cultivation. 



The last official census report shows that, in 1890, there were 

 16,389 farms in Colorado valued"at$85,000,000;the first cost of a water 

 right averaged 87.15 an acre and the annual cost of distribution was 

 79 cents per acre. Since that date the number of small farms has in- 

 creased very rapidly and the acreage planted to fruits, melons, vege- 

 tables and alfalfa has been more than in all the previous years of the 

 state history. In 1882 less than 200 acres had been planted to fruit 

 trees and the general belief was entertained that Colorado could not 

 produce fruits, but today over 50,000 acres are covered with the most 

 productive orchards, vineyards and small fruit tracts growing in the 

 Rocky Mountain dominions. The fruit and horticultural products of 

 the "Centennial State," for 1898 will reach an estimated valuation of 

 *4. 000, 000, while other agricultural productions are worth probably five 

 stime that amount. 



