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White Pine and hard woods of the central, western^ aiul eastern 

 States are preferred. Sonthern Piue is extensively used for flooring. 

 Eedwood from the Pacific coast is used to a limited extent for some 

 I)ur[)oses. Red Cedar shingles are shix^ped 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 

 Eailway Company has recently made purchases as follows : 



Oregon Pine, 3,000,000 feet, B. M. ; Texas Pine, 500,000 feet, B. M. ; 

 Kew Mexico Pine, 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 and the streams and forests of the mountains, are nowhere 

 more apparent than in Colorado. It is estimated that the entire canal 

 system of the State embraces something over 800 miles of large canals 

 completed, about 200 miles projected, and about 4,000 miles of canals 

 of smaller size. The Del Norte Canal, in the San Luis Valley, is the 

 largest irrigating canal in the United States. "It is 65 feet wide on 

 the bottom at the head-gate, carrying water 5 J 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 200,000 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 j^ears, 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 

 I)eople 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 lias done a good work and is still 

 in active existence. In the winter of 18S4-'85, by legislative enact- 

 ment, the office of State forest commissioner was created, the duties of 



