10 
and toward the cutting up of the old and larger farm- into smaller 
tracts of 80 acres and less. This tendency lias grown in the last two 
years, and the land has become more valuable with the prospect for 
and the building of a beet-sugar factory at the town of Loveland. 
The year L901, the first in which beets were extensively planted, has 
proved the suitability of the soil and climate to the cultivation of this 
plant. 
In the future probably few farms here will exceed 4<» acre- in 
extent; every acre will be under cultivation and be made to yield 
something more nearly approaching the capacity of the land. Indeed, 
it appears that the district is incapable of increasing its acreage very 
much, as practically all the land between the ridge on the north, sep- 
arating the Cache la Poudre and the Big Thompson rivers, and that 
on the south, separating the Big Thompson and the Little Thompson. 
is now under ditch and under cultivation. More than this, tin 1 water 
discharged from the canyon is barely equal to the demand. In dry 
years there is grave apprehension of a shortage of irrigating water, 
and the utmost economy has to be practiced. Indeed, the very effi- 
cient reservoir systems, which will be spoken of later, are the results 
of the necessity for more and later water. 
The storage capacity is almost equal to the excess run-off over and 
above that needed for direct irrigation. Very little water escapes 
from the district except in seasons of unusual flow and during short and 
very heavy storms. In the year 1900 every reservoir in the district 
was full early in the storing season, which is generally in June, and 
some water passed into other districts: this, however, was exceptional. 
During the spring of 1901 many of the reservoirs were practically 
empty until late in the season; copious rains, however, came, and a 
good run of water was had. tilling the reservoirs to nearly their full 
capacity, and to the end of the season there was no complaint of the 
water supply. 
Another consideration in selecting the Big Thompson was that its 
waters are used almost exclusively for agricultural purposes: there is 
no mining in the district, with its attendant waste and contamination 
and with its conflicting interests. In some districts of the State the 
slimes" from the stamp mills above, together with the sand and gravel 
of the placers, cause trouble in keeping the ditches in good condition. 
The slimes in particular are annoying, as they do not settle readily, 
and so find their way onto the fields and gardens, where they leave an 
almost impervious sticky coating of scarcely any fertilizing value, but 
very deleterious to such fruits and vegetables as come in contact with 
it. There is likewise no use of water for manufacturing purposes, so 
that in distribution only agricultural uses are considered. 
"T\w technical term applied t<« the fine powdered rock, mostly in suspension, 
coming from the Btamp mills and closely resembling that carried by glacial streams. 
