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The arable lands of the Rocky Mountains are mainly in the valleys, which, like 
basins, have gathered the detritus of the mountains for ages. The soil is therefore 
very deep and fertile, yielding much more than the same area in the East; and in the 
southwest two crops a year from the same soil are very common, so that this land 
is equal to twice or three times the same area in the East. 
Another writes: 
Nothing is more surprising than the material for supporting a population which 
continues to be developed in all this region of mountain and plain, which twenty 
years ago was considered an inhospitable desert, capable of supporting nothing but 
Indians. 
The State of Colorado, and the Territories of New Mexico, Wyoming, 
Montana, and Idaho, have collectively an area of 553,604 square miles, 
which is more than three times the area of the Middle and New Eng- 
land States. 
The extraordinary mining development of this region and its immense 
grazing resources are widely known and appreciated, but its agricult- 
ural possibilities are, as yet, but little known to the general public, 
Inesome localities in the mountains, farming operations are carried on 
to a limited extent without the aid of irrigation, but such instances are 
exceptions to the generalrule. For the growing of crops recourse must 
usually be had to artificial water-supply. The extensive irrigation 
systems, fully inaugurated in Colorado, and partially so in the adjacent 
territories, have already reclaimed for agricultural] uses millions of 
acres once deemed barren and worthless. The only limit to progress 
in that direction will be the amount of available water. Could the 
sources of water supply be adequately protected, and storage reservoirs 
constructed in suitable places, thousands of square miles in this region 
could be gained to agriculture, homes provided for multitudes of people, 
and the aggregate wealth of the country greatly enhanced. The capac- 
ity of the land to produce crops and the fitness of the seasons to mature 
them are no longer unsettled questions. : 
Nore.—More particular statements in regard to irrigation, as practiced in the Rocky 
Mountain region, are given in the descriptions of the several divisions as they 
occur in this report. The following summary will bring the whole matter into view 
at one glance, and on that account it has been inserted here. It will be understood 
of course that minute accuracy in such a case is impossible. Approximate estimates 
only can be made. But it is believed that the estimates are in no case exaggerated. 
Colorado has from 950 to 1,000 miles of main irrigating canals, 3,500 miles of second 
class canals, and 40,000 miles of ditches, constructed at a cost of $11,000,000. More 
than 1,000,000 acres of otherwise useless land havethus been brought under successful 
and profitable cultivation. 
Wyoming, in 1884, had seventeen incorporated irrigation companies, chiefly in two | 
counties. One of these had under its control 60,000 acres of land, and has constructed 
a canal 66 miles in length. Another company has begun the construction of a canal 
calculated to irrigate 270,000 acres. 
Utah, in 1885, had 2,810 miles of main and 7,750 miles of tributary canals, and 
656,000 acres under cultivation by this means. 
New Mexico is estimated to have irrigating canals and ditches equal in extent to 
those of Utah. Two canals are now projected capable together of watering from 
3,000,000 to 4,000,000 acres. 

