4 BULLETIN 74 . 
fattening hogs. Corn is not grown to any extent in Colo¬ 
rado, except for fodder, and it is entirely reasonable that it 
will never be grown extensively because of existing climatic 
conditions. There is an occasional farmer that raises some 
corn each year, but they are mostly in favored localities 
where the nights are warmer than our average condition. 
It will follow then that our steers will continue to be ship¬ 
ped to the corn belt states to be fattened, and the demand 
for hogs to follow cattle in the feed lots will be small. 
Will it then pay to raise and fatten hogs for market in 
Colorado? If it will pay, will it pay better than some oc¬ 
cupation to which our farmers have access at present? Let 
us look first at the products of the farming or ranching com¬ 
munities. In the Cache la Poudre, Big Thompson, St. 
Vrain and South Platte Valleys, which constitute the irri¬ 
gated section of northeastern Colorado, alfalfa is the princi¬ 
pal product grown. Wheat comes next, with oats and po¬ 
tatoes following in succession. The raising of sugar beets 
is assuming remarkable proportions and may eclipse some 
of the former products in acreage and importance. The 
cultivating and harvesting of these crops occupy the sum¬ 
mer months. Lamb feeding is the principal winter occupa¬ 
tion and assumes larger and larger proportions each year, 
as it affords profitable disposition for the immense quantities 
of alfalfa raised, and earns a large percent for the skill of 
the feeder and the capital invested. Cattle raising is the 
chief agricultural industry of the whole state, and together 
with the raising of horses and sheep, doubtless must ever be 
foremost, because of the many million acres of semi-arid 
plains that grow nutritious native grasses, and which do not 
produce a paying crop under cultivation. Then there is the 
vast mountain region that supports on its precipitious slopes 
sleek cattle, horses and sheep. Together these two ranges 
maintain, according to the last statistics, 1,333,202 cattle; 
236,546 horses, and 2,044,814 sheep. As stated before, this 
stock is kept on the ranches only about two months each 
year, and it is only those that have the best of care that re¬ 
main that long where there is shelter and hay. So this 
class of stock would not interfere with hog raising in the 
least, and hog raising and lamb feeding would be mutually 
beneficial. The time spent in caring for a bunch of hogs 
would not interfere with the farming operations any more 
than it does in other places. 
The one consideration then should be whether capital 
invested in hogs would yield as good returns as in¬ 
vested elsewhere on the farm. This may be judged, in part 
