NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2265 



beans, tomatoes and the like, but the pea is by far the 

 most important. 



Another horticultural crop that gives promise of 

 future importance in Colorado is cauliflower. This 

 vegetable, like the cabbage-, thrives better as the alti- 

 tude becomes higher, and is grown to perfection at 7,000 

 to 9,000 feet. Growers in the high altitudes frequently 

 grow individual "flowers" weighing from six to ten 

 pounds, perfect in every way, and many growers claim 

 that a yield of 20,000 pounds an acre is not difficult to 

 obtain. 



The florist and forcing industries of the state are 

 limited for the most part to the growing of flowers and 

 vegetables for local trade only. Each city or small town 

 has one or more greenhouse plants and the larger cities 

 of Denver, Pueblo and Colorado Springs have extensive 

 forcing and greenhouse establishments. 



The larger part of the flowers and shrubs common to 

 the northern sections of the United States must be 

 included in the list of outdoor plants for Colorado. 

 Their use, however, is limited largely to the home and 

 town or city parks. Most biennials and herbaceous 

 perennials that are grown in the North grow well in 

 Colorado at the altitude of Denver and in many cases at 

 much higher altitudes, though some shrubs need more 

 or less winter protection to prevent killing back to the 

 ground. Many ornamental shrubs and trees that are 

 native to the mountains of Colorado are used as orna- 

 mentals both in Colorado and elsewhere. The arid 

 lands of the plains and mountains abound with many 

 beautiful trees, shrubs and plants which would be of 

 value for transplanting as ornamentals but for their 

 tendency toward slow growth, which has made it 

 possible for them to exist under the arid conditions of 

 that climate. 



Most vegetables, fruits and flowers that are adapted 

 to a cool climate are at their best in the larger part of 

 the irrigated sections of Colorado. Eighty-five per cent 

 of all the days of the year are cloudless and in the cool 

 dry air, fungi are not generally troublesome as compared 

 with the more humid parts of the United States. Plants 

 that require a warm climate or a long season, as the 

 tomato, cucumber and sweet potato, are grown suc- 

 cessfully in the warmer parts of the state, but for the 

 most part such crops have not made the marked show- 

 ing that has been made by the fruits and vegetables 

 adapted to a cooler climate. 



Few individuals stand out prominently as having 

 been especially instrumental in the development of 

 Colorado horticulture. Jesse Frazier, of Florence, was 

 one of the first men of the state to plant apples exten- 

 sively. In 1864 he brought trees from Missouri and his 

 orchard still bears evidence to the care and skill with 

 which it has been handled. Capt. B. F. Rockafellow, 

 of Canon City, whose orchard of apples and cherries, 

 planted about forty years ago, is still producing profit- 

 able crops, was also instrumental in the development of 

 fruit-growing in that district. J. S. McClelland, of Fort 

 Collins, was one of the earliest and most successful 

 nurserymen and orchardists of the state. His trials of 

 varieties and methods of culture did much to make 

 fruit-growing a success in that region. W. S. Coburn, 

 of Paonia, who was for several years president of the 

 State Horticultural Society, was one of the first of the 

 West Slope growers to plant heavily, as was also Mr. 

 Steele who planted one of the first orchards in the Grand 

 Junction district. 



Public-service agencies for horticulture. 



The development of all the different horticultural 

 activities in a climate totally different from that of the 

 older parts of the country, necessitated the solution of 

 many new problems. From time to time public-service 

 agencies have been created to take care of these prob- 

 lems. In 1879 an act of the State Legislature created a 

 Board of Agriculture whose duties were largely to 



organize and control a State College of Agriculture. 

 The same year, the College was established at Fort 

 Collins in northern Colorado, according to the Land- 

 Grant Act of Congress of 1862. The College, together 

 with the State Agricultural Experiment Station which 

 was organized in 1887 and established at the same 

 place, has done much for the horticultural interests of 

 the state. The numbers of the horticultural staff of the 

 College and Station has varied with the support given 

 the institution by the state. At present it comprises 

 four men, all located at Fort Collins. Up to the present 

 time fifty-six bulletins have been issued by the Experi- 

 ment Station that relate to or have a direct bearing on 

 the horticultural problems of Colorado. 



Instruction in horticulture is given among the farmers 

 of the state through the agency of farmers' institutes, 

 and one-week short courses in horticulture are held in 

 the various horticultural centers of the state. Horti- 

 culture is also taught in many of the graded and high- 

 schools of Colorado. 



A State Horticultural Society was organized in 1880 

 which is still active. In 1903 a bill was passed by the 

 Colorado Legislature establishing a Board of Horticul- 

 ture, the object of which was similar to that of a State 

 Horticultural Society. The 1913 Legislature abolished 

 this Board and created in its stead the office of State 

 Horticulturist. By the provisions of this act, the 

 Horticulturist of the State College is State Horticul- 

 turist and his duties are to assist the horticulturists of 

 the state by giving them advice or investigating such 

 problems as may arise. 



An act of the Legislature of 1909 made the Ento- 

 mologist of the State Agricultural College, ex-officio, 

 State Entomologist. The duties of this office are to 

 inspect all nursery stock grown or shipped into the 

 state and to destroy or reject all found infested with 

 injurious insects or fungous diseases. 



Statistics (Thirteenth Census). 



The approximate land area of Colorado is 66,341,- 

 120 acres. Of this area, there are 13,532,113 acres in 

 farms, or 20.4 per cent of the land area; 31.8 per cent of 

 the farm land, or 4,302, 101 acres, are improved; 891,698 

 acres are in woodland, and the unimproved land in 

 farms totals 8,338,314 acres. The number of all the 

 farms in 1910 was 46,170. The average acreage to the 

 farm was 293.1. [The total area is 103,948 square miles.] 



The leading agricultural crops are cereals, hay and 

 forage, sugar crops, and broom-corn. The acreage of 

 cereals in 1909 was 1,057,905, as compared with 525,299 

 in 1899, showing an increase of 101.4 per cent. The 

 value of the cereals in 1909 was $14,787,519. Hay and 

 forage in 1909 occupied 1,285,064 acres, as compared 

 with 952,214 acres in 1899, an increase of 35 per cent. 

 The value of hay and forage produced in 1909 was 

 $17,282,276. Sugar crops are significant in that the 

 acreage has shown an increase of 9,615.7 per cent in the 

 period from 1899 to 1909. The acreage in 1909 was 

 111,251; in 1899, 1,145. The value of the sugar crops 

 in 1909 was $6,104,672; in 1899, $27,818, showing an 

 increase in value of 21,844.8 per cent. The acreage of 

 broom-corn in 1909 was 5,631; in 1899, 1,241, showing 

 an increase of 353.7 per cent. The value of forest prod- 

 ucts from the farms in 1909 was $305,719; in 1899, 

 $113,055. 



The leading horticultural crops of the state are fruits 

 and nuts, vegetables, including potatoes, sweet pota- 

 toes and yams, flowers and plants and nursery prod- 

 ucts, and small-fruits. The value of all fruits and nuts 

 in 1909 was $4,680,142, or 9.2 per cent of the total value 

 of all crops grown; vegetables in 1909, including pota- 

 toes, sweet potatoes and yams, were valued at $6,058,- 

 939, or 11.9 per cent of the total value of all crops. 

 Flowers and plants and nursery products in 1909 were 

 valued at $540,775 as compared with $264,415, their 

 valuation in 1899. The acreage of small-fruits in 1909 



