Unirrigated Lands of Eastern Coeorado. 
9 
• CROPS GROWN. 
Sorghum. Sorghum, including the sweet and non-saccharine 
varieties, is successfully grown without irrigation everywhere in 
the region except on adobe soil. The average yield per acre is 
about one ton, taking a series of years for a test. Only the earli¬ 
est varieties produce seed. Brown durra, Jerusalem corn, Yellow 
Milo Maize and some strains of Early Amber cane produce seed; 
bnt Red and White Kafir, Early Orange, Colman, Collier and all 
later varieties of cane and Kafir corn produce very little seed; bnt 
these all give good yields of fodder. We find more cane being 
planted each year we travel. The acreage of sorghum in a neigh¬ 
borhood where crop raising is attempted at all, is a fair index to 
the status of the cattle raising industry there. In 1900, very little 
sorghum was planted on the Vernon divide, but in 1902 I saw 
quite large fields of it. 
Millet. This crop is widely grown, and in some neighbor¬ 
hoods is more popular than sorghum. It is not nearly so sure a 
crop as sorghum, and therefore cannot be depended upon to give 
a crop every year in all localities. It may be just as sure as sown 
sorghum, but is not nearly so certain to produce a crop as culti¬ 
vated sorghum. The average yield of millet will not exceed one- 
half a ton, and it may not be more than one-fourth of a ton per 
acre, taking a term of years all over the plains upon which to 
base an estimate. 
Corn. Corn is grown as widely as sorghum, although it is 
somewhat unpopular in some localities. Over most of the - terri¬ 
tory a variety is in use which has been developed by the condi¬ 
tions peculiar to the region. It is a low-growing Flint corn. The 
ears often set on the stalks barely above the surface of the ground. 
This corn suckers bountifully, so that if the season is a wet one 
there will be quite a bunch of stalks from the two or three grains 
planted in one hill. The ears are long, and the cobs large. The 
grains are so hard that the corn should be either ground or soaked 
before being fed to horses or cattle. Hogs seem to enjoy grinding 
the grains, and do well on it, as it seems to be especially rich in 
protein. This variety, called Mexican corn, is generally grown in 
the region, except on the Vernon and Idalia divides, where they 
usually get better results by growing Dent varieties. Outside of 
the Vernon and Idalia divides, and the black sandy land, the yield 
of corn is hardly worth mentioning, although some years forty 
bushels per acre are produced. But the price of grain is usually 
so high that a very small yield will pay for the work of raising it, 
and they count upon getting fodder anyway. The average yield 
of corn on the Vernon divide is probably twenty bushels per acre. 
On the Idalia divide it will probably average fifteen bushels in a 
