Rocky Ford enterprise. (Rocky Ford, Colo.) 1887-1950, 1902-07-18

and nearly all farm crops are
grown that can b@ raised In
this latitude. Orchard fruits. in
ciuding apples. peacii's. aprieots.
etc.. and small fruits. arr produced In
considerable quantities. Alfalfa is u
staple product. and In ls:s' In the basin
Of the Grand. the AREA Devoted Tn this
foras. crop was approximately T5.OlO
acres. with u production OF about 2iO.-
uCO tons.
The oan Juan River.
Flowing south from ths San Juan
mountains ARE n nunier of streams.
uniting nt the base of the range into
the San Juan, which flows westward
through n plateau region 90 the june
tion with the Colorado. In I'll. noun
tnins these streams have a rapid fall
which becomes greatly lessSnsd in the
| channel across the plateau. the grade
Of the river towards Its mouth b-ins
! very much less than that OF III. Colo
RADIO.
The valleys through which they How
are comparatively narrow, nnd Ill.
| ARIA Irrigated IL not large.
Very HUI. land is irrigated In Colo
RADIO In the valley OF the main stream
OF this river. irrigation being confined
to the basin OF the SamTa or Hear
river. in ltoutt county. aud To the
white river. In lilo lilnnc" county.
The Yampa, or Hear river. which
drains ltoutt county. In III. extreme
northwestern part Of the state. has It's
sources In Ercria park. with branches
rising In the Elk Head rnus- on III.
north, and the White River divide on
the south. Its valley varies In width
from onc.fourih Of n mile I" i've niles.
and IL inciosrd In canons Mt only a few
points in Its course OF 10 miles. The
entire valley was formerly covered
with n luSur!nnt growth of native
grasses. which extended TO the sum.
mlis OF the low ranges. hut of late. III"
ranges have been ovcrsiocE.-i and the
former rank growth Of lorns. has
been partially destroyed.
In this valley the chief Industry IL
cattle raising. and the principal crops
arc hay and forage. The Development
OF agriculture on any larI- scale has
been greatly retarded by the isolation
Of the valley nnd the lack of ,ranspor-
tation facilities.
The Irrigation ,lItchcs nrc. for the
most part. owned by the farmers or
ranchmcn. either individually or CO.
opcrativciy. and nrc simply construct.
| cd and comparatively inexpensive.
.hc total AREA Of all farms In the
valley Of the Hear river II 1HD.Si
acres. OF which 53DI7 acres were I'm.
provc,.. and 4i.5i2 acres were Irrigat-
cd In $50.
| The White River.
The White river rises In the timber
r,scrvc In the mountains on the east.
crn side OF the White River plateau.
North and South forks are fed by the
SHOWS on the same high peaks. though
they How In widely separated channels
for . long distance before Joining nj
Buford. The White river carries d
large amount OF water. Its capacity nj
Mcckcr avcrigin. 800 second feet n,
normal stage. This strcam and It's trib.
utarics drain all Of Rio Blanco county.
The drainage basin IN rough. and of
little value except for stock raising.
The valley is broad. and the cultivated
areas arc devoted TO hay and forage
crops. which are fed go the range
| stock.
The area Irrigated In 1850 was 81 .:lS1
acrcs. The district Is subject to early
frosis which sometimes ruin almost
! the entire grain crop. Coal IL found IN
| great abundance In this region.