62 



III Idaho there are sixty-five laud aud water coinpauies reporttnl and there are many 

 hundred miles of canals and ditches, hub particulars are not published. 



In Montana there is a considerable but indefinite amount of irrigation by means of 

 the smaller mountain streams. One company in Yellowstone County has constructed 

 a main canal 40 miles long and ditches capable of irrigating G0,000 acres, and an- 

 other has a main canal 7.5 miles in length. 



The intimate relation of the forests to the water supply necessary for irrigation 

 will soon force itself upon the consideration of those living in the Rocky Mountain 

 region, and it is well set forth in a recent statement of Mr. Nettleton, State engineer 

 of Colorado, who says : 



*'It is estimated that 60 inches of water fall annually on the eastern slope of the 

 Rocky Mountains in the form of snow and rain;. 80 per cent, of this falls during 

 the winter and spring mouths. That which falls late in the autumn aud early in 

 winter is most available for irrigation, as it becomes solid, almost like ice, and melts 

 slowly under the summer's sun, affording a steady flow through the irrigating season. 

 Snows falling in late spring melt rapidly, and the waters run down the rivers unused. 

 Although about fifty mountain peaks iu Colorado reach an elevation of over 14,000 

 feet, yet the snow nearly all disappears every season, small quantities only reniaining 

 in small patches here and there. On this account there are at present no glaciers in 

 the Rocky Mountains. The cold mountains condense the moisture in the country ad- 

 jacent, thereby robbing the plains of their quota of moisture. 



'' Hence the necessity for irrigation. It is quite easy to foretell the probable 

 amount of water for irrigation purposes for the coming season by watching the 

 amount of snow-fall in the mountains. 



" Farmers living from 20 to 30 miles from the mountains, or where they can watch 

 the snow-fall on the main range of the mountains, have learned to gauge their crops 

 by the time the snow falls aud the quantity. If the snow falls early, they expect 

 water for late crops. If the snow falls principally in the spring months, they fear 

 short water in summer and fall, and plant or sow accordingly. 



"There can be no doubt about the influence that cutting or burning the timber on 

 the mountains has on the flow of our streams. They will on this account become 

 more intermittent in their flow, which is a drawback to the irrigation interests of the 

 State. The preservation of the mountain forests should be encouraged." 



Il^BUSTIlIES. 



AGRICULTURE. 



Agriculture is making rapid progress in this region, and is likely to 

 have greater proportionate developmeut than other industries. Utah 

 was the first of the mountain Territories to show adequately what could 

 be done in the way of systematic farming, aud the first to adopt proper 

 metliods of irrigation. Her example has been extensively followed, 

 whenever practicable, throughout the region of the mountain and the 

 plains. During the last year or two western Kansas and Nebraska 

 and eastern Colorado have received large accessions of settlers who 

 have opened new farms and grown crops without the aid of irrigation. 



Except upon the plains, broad areas adapted to a single crop are not 

 found. Great diversity of [)roduction exists by reason of differences in 

 soil, elevation, and climate. Colorado Springs, the home of the writer, 

 has an elevation of G,00() feet above the sea. The spring seasons of the 

 year are backward, and early vegetables, snuiU fruits, and other sup- 

 plies of a like nature are obtained in part from the warm valleys only 



