iRRlGATlOlsr IN KORTHERlir COLORADO. 



25 



and in 1917 was far above normal, it seems reasonable to assume 

 that the average consumptive duty is approximately 1.25 acre-feet 

 per acre.^ 



NONPRODUCTIVE AND WASTE LAND. 



With the object of determining how the farm land of the valley 

 is utilized and the proportion of nonproductive and waste land, 

 careful surveys were made of 7| sections of land at different points 

 in the valley. A summary of the data obtained by these surveys is 

 contained in Table 8. 



Table 8. — Utilisation of farm land in the Cache la Poudre Valley. 





3 sections near 

 (per cent 



jreeley 



3 sections northeast of 

 Fort Collins (per cent). 



IJ sections northeast of 

 Fort Collins (per cent). 





Aver- 

 age. 



Maxi- 

 mum. 



Mini- 

 mum. 



Aver- 

 age. 



Maxi- 

 mum. 



Mini- 

 mum. 



Aver- 

 age. 



Maxi- 

 mum. 



Mini- 

 mum. 



Cultivated 



89.2 

 .4 



2.3 

 .5 

 .9 



2.1 

 .0 

 .3 



3.0 

 .0 

 .0 



1.3 



92.8 



2.4 



2.4 



1.0 



2.6 



3.1 



.0 



1.6 



4.9 



.0 



.0 



2.5 



84.5 

 .0 



1.9 

 .0 

 .0 



1.4 

 .0 

 .0 



2.0 

 .0 

 .0 

 .3 



81.4 



4.4 



2.1 



.3 



.0 



2.0 



.4 



.7 



2.9 



1.6 



2.7 



1.5 



90.7 

 19.7 

 2.4 

 1.0 

 .0 

 3.7 

 1.9 

 3.6 

 5.4 

 16.8 

 14.1 

 4.6 



57.2 

 .0 



1.1 

 .0 

 .0 

 .8 

 .0 

 .0 



1.1 

 .0 

 .0 

 .6 



71.0 

 8.0 

 1.6 

 1.1 



.0 

 4.9 



.0 

 2.0 

 2.0 



.0 



.7 

 8.7 







Irrigated but not cultivated. 







Public roads 







Private roads 







Railroad right of way 



Farmstead 











Wood lots 







Canals 







Field laterals 







High land 







Seepage land 







Marginal waste 













The 3 sections near Greeley include some of the most highly de- 

 veloped land of the valley, with prices ranging from $300 to $400 

 per acre. It is smooth, gently sloping land, easy to cultivate and 

 irrigate. The water rights supplying it are excellent, and wet spots 

 which developed after years of irrigation have been drained. On 

 this land the nonproductive area is at a minimum. The 3 sections 

 near Fort Collins are less valuable, ranging in price from $150 to 

 $200 per acre. The land is more rolling and includes some high 

 spots or knolls not reached by the ditches and some wet spots which 

 have not yet* been drained. The section and a half northwest of Fort 

 Collins has been farmed by tenants for some years and shows the 

 result of neglect. A low percentage of the land is cultivated and 

 the marginal waste is particularly high. The high percentage of 

 land included under the head of farmstead was in this case due to 

 a number of pens for sheep feeding. 



The best farm practice requires that the percentage of land de- 

 voted to nonproductive use be reduced to a minimum, and that there 

 be no real waste of land. Public roads will require 2.3 per cent of 

 the area of farms in a section. Private roads should not require 

 more than 0.5 per cent. At present the roads are 12 feet wide and 



* This calculation does not take into account return seepage from Poudre Valley land 

 going directly into the South Platte. Taking this into account would reduce slightly 

 the quantity of water actually consumed. 



