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White Pine and hard woods of the central, western, and 2astern 
States are preferred. Southern Pine is exteusively used for fiooring. 
Redwood from the Pacific coast is used to a limited extent for some 
purposes. Red Cedar shingles are shipped to Colorado from both the 
east and west. Long timbers for bridges, railway construction, etc., 
are not easily obtained here, nor are they equal in strength and dur- 
ability to those procured at outside points. The Colorado Midland 
Railway Company has recently made purchases as follows: 
* Oregon Pine, 3,000,000 feet, B. M.; Texas Pine, 500,000 feet, B. M.; 
New Mexico Pino, 2,500,000 feet, B. M. 
It is hoped that when more direct railway communication is estab- 
lished between this region and the heavily timbered portions of the 
Pacific coast the lumber supplies of the latter will be more freely drawn — 
upon, lessening to that extent the demands upon the scantily timbered 
districts of the mountains. 
The agricultural interests of the State are rapidly increasing, and 
have become of the first importance. The dependence of farming op- 
erations upon irrigation systems, and the important relations existing 
between them ani the streams and forests of the mountains, are nowhere 
more apparent than in Colorado. Itis estimated that the entire canal ~ 
system of the State embraces something over 800 miles of large canals 
completed, about 200 miles projected, and about 4,600 miles of canals 
of smaller size. The Del Norte Canal, in the San Luis Valley, is the 
largest irrigating canalin the United States. ‘It is 65 feet wide on 
the bottom at the head-gate, carrying water 53 feet deep, with side 
slopes 3 to 1, making the top width at water-line 98 feet. Four miles 
from the head it is divided, the larger branch being 42 feet wide on the 
bottom, and the smaller branch 38 feet wide. There are about 50 miles 
of main channel, It carries something over 2,400 cubic feet of water 
per second and is calculated to irrigate over 2U0,000 acres. The extent 
of territory in the State covered by the entire distributive system is, ap- 
proximately, 40,000 square miles, constituting the bulk of the arable 
land. The system has cost in construction about $12,000,000. 
In mileage of canals and acreage irrigated, Colorado more than 
doubles any other State; its works are the greatest, the most perma- 
nent, and the most rapidly extending. 
This State is the only one which has a constitutional clause requiring 
the enactment of laws to prevent the destruction of forests and to keep 
them in good preservation. Until within the last three years, however, 
but little heed has been paid to that provision. In the summer and 
autumn of 1884, by a series of published articles, the attention of the 
people was drawn to the urgent need of protecting the forests of the 
State and enlarging their area. In November of that year a State for- 
estry association was formed, which has done a good work and is still 
in active existence. In the winter of 1884~’85, by legislative enact- 
ment, the office of State forest commissioner was created, the duties of 
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