2 BULLETIN 430, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The results obtained at Archer are applicable to a greater or less 
extent to northeastern Colorado, western Nebraska, a narrow por- 
tion of western South Dakota, and to eastern Wyoming. However, 
the climatic conditions in any particular locality should be compared 
carefully with those obtaining at Archer before the data are too 
widely applied. The elevation at Archer is as great and the climatic 
conditions probably are as severe as in the other districts mentioned, 
so that the results should be quite generally applicable. 
This bulletin contains (1) a description of the district to which 
the results apply, (2) a description of the Cheyenne Experiment Farm ~ 
and the scope and method of the experiments conducted there, and 
(3) the results of these experiments with different field crops and 
cropping methods. 
DESCRIPTION CF THE DISTRICT. 
The district here described includes the plains of southeastern 
Wyoming, western Nebraska, and northeastern Colorado. The re- 
sults presented in this bulletin are believed to be generally applicable 
to this district. 
HISTORY. 
The district was first used for stock grazing. It was the home of 
ranchmen who owned or leased large areas of land. The ranches 
were located on streams or springs, in order to have water available 
for stock during the summer months. 
When Wyoming was admitted as a State in 1890, 4,042,160 acres 
were granted by Congress for educational and other public purposes. 
By a provision in a law approved in 1891 no State lands could be 
sold at less than $10 per acre. As a result of this law, up to 1902 
only a little over 5,000 acres of State land had been sold. Mean- 
time numerous provisions had been enacted for leasing the State 
lands in order to secure some revenue from them. Leasing prices 
ranged from 24 to 25 cents per acre annually, the price depending 
on whether the land was accessible to water for stock or for irriga- 
tion. The land leased readily and ranchmen became prosperous. 
The high sale price of State lands and the large area leased, including 
practically all the natural watering places, have operated to keep 
out the small dry-land farmer. The opposition of the ranchmen to 
general farming is another factor that has retarded cereal production 
in Wyoming. 
As the population increased and land prices became higher in the 
Central States large numbers of people have continued to move 
westward. This western migration, which has been especially marked 
during the past decade, has resulted in the settlement or home- 
steading of large areas of the higher Plains region, formerly used for 
grazing, 
