Unirrigated Uands of Eastern Coeorado. 
11 
series of years. Some years yields .are much higher than these 
figures, and some men may have attained yields averaging much 
above this for a long term of years, but for the whole district 
these figures are not far from correct. Some men, single-handed, 
are cultivating one hundred and fifty acres of corn by the use of 
improved machinery and a good supply of horses. 
Wheat. Wheat growing as a specialty is almost a thing of 
the past in Eastern Colorado. Men have learned that planting 
wheat after wheat continuously does not pay. This year we found 
that wheat following corn yielded about double what wheat follow¬ 
ing wheat was yielding. This has made corn growing more popu¬ 
lar, reduced the acreage of wheat, and has forced people to diversify 
their crops and engage more and more in general farming, with 
stock raising as a basis. The yield of wheat on the Vernon divide 
averages about ten bushels per acre. On the Idalia divide the 
average is about eight bushels. In the remainder of the territory 
wheat is so seldom threshed that it would be unfair to publish any 
estimate, as as high as forty bushels per acre have been harvested, 
and many years the wheat has been cut for hay when very fair 
yields might have been obtained. In fact, during the past five 
years, wheat has been sown more for hay in Kit Carson county 
than for grain. 
Oats. Oats are sown for hay in eastern Kit Carson county, 
and more or less in all other neighborhoods, except the Vernon 
and Idalia divides. On the Vernon divide oats average about 
twenty-five bushels per acre, and on the Idalia divide about twenty 
bushels. 
Barley. This crop is not sown much anywhere in the region 
studied. The variety raised is one used for feed. Very little is 
sown outside the Vernon and Idalia divides. There, the yield is 
usually a little better than the yield of oats. 
Rye. Some early varieties of spring rye seem to be gaining 
favor as a hay crop. There was more rye grown in 1902 than in 
any other year we have traveled on the plains. 
Spelt. This grain is gaining favor also. In July, 1902, I 
saw a field of fifteen acres of spelt near Vernon. 
Trees. Honey locust, black locust and ash are the trees 
which do the best on the Plains, although elms seem to do quite 
well if planted among other trees. The hackberrv is a native on 
the Plains, but I have never seen any growing except near streams, 
or where water was close to the surface. Nearly all the timber 
claims planted in the early settlement of the country have been 
abandoned. Just enough trees are alive to show what trees can be 
