The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-12-27


be sixty miles IN length and VIII re-
I claim 28. 900 acres.
Applications have been received at
/ the Office Of the state engineer for a
/ permit to appropriate water as follows.
/ The French & Brush creek canal,
+ thirty miles in length frrigates 10000
i acres near Saratoga; the Saratoga ca
! nal. siXty-three miles in length. viii
take water from the North Platte
above Saratoga and VIII water $4,000
/ acres Of land on the east side of the
I river. the Platte Valley & Encampment
! canal, twenty-five miles In length viii
/ take water from the North Platte, If
/ teen miles above Saratoga, and irri-
/ gate 10000 acres near the mouth Of
I Grand Encampment creek
Application For sos Canals.
The records of the state engineers
| Office show that since Jan. l. 1903 ap-
| propriatiOns have been filed for sos ca
( mails and bitches. which viii have
/ total length of 712 miles The esti-
/ mated cost Of these canals is 81, $50, 552,
| and they will irrigate 324,307 acres.
! These figures do not include the en-
4 largement or extension Of canals al
/ ready in existence. During the same
/ period 157 reservoir applications have
/ been filed. The reservoirs vary in size
/ from one acre to 5000 acres
/ The demand for agricultural lands
( in Wyoming is increasing and a new
/ era has undoubtedly dawned for agri-
/ culture in this state. During the past
1 few years the price Of agricultural land
/ has risen from 81 and 50 per acre to as
/ high as $50 and $50 per acre, and the
| prospects are that desirable farm lands
/ cannot be had in Wyoming for less
! than $40 or So an acre from now on.
1 The success of the Wheatland col
l Ony has probably done more to dis
| credit the belief that prevailed for
many years that Wyoming land was
not suited for agriculture. that. the
altitude Wass too high etc. than any
other one thing. In the Wheatland
/ colony the value Of uuimproved lands
4 has increased from SO per acre in 1880
/ to $50 in the present year. while inn
proved land sells at from $40 to $50 per
| acre.
] It has been demonstrated at Wheat
/ land. Saratoga, Lander. Sheridan and
/ in other localities where the altitude
/ is below 5000 feet that all kinds Of
] crops common to this altitude can be
/ successfully grown. and that the future
! possibilities Of agriculture IN Wyoming
| are practically unlimited. Like Colo
/ RADIO, Utah and other states of the
/ Rocky mountain region it was thought
\ for many years that the desert-like
! wastes. sparsely-grassed uplands and
| sagebrush fats were NJ only for the
4 grazing Of sheep, cattle and horses;
/ but sentiment has changed, and now
4 that the possibilities of the future
I have been demonstrated in a small
way, the people are going ahead and
I are taking advantage Of the Opportu-
/ mites.
During the year the geological sur
\ vey made exhaustive examinations Of
/ prospective reservoir and irrigation
/ projects on the Platte and ShOshOne
rivers. Probably nothing win be done
with the latter project, but &c IS al
/ most certain that the government VIII
/ construct a reservoir near Alcova, q
l cam being built in the Grand Canyon
! of the Platte. This, it is said, viii be
| the largest reservoir in the world when
/ completed. even larger than the great
/ AssUan reservoir in Egypt.
Fruit Culture Profitable
wyoming viii not only soon become
| as great a state in agriculture as she
! has been in livestock growing and the
| mining of coal and iron, but she is des-
/ tined also to become great IN fruit
/ growing. for in the Lander, Sheridan
and other valleys all kinds Of fruits
/ common to this latitude have been and
| are being successfully grown. Near
/ Lander Ed Young planted an orchard
! many years ago, being the pioneer III
Z fruit culture IN the state Today he
/ supplies the town Of Lander and the
neighbOring settlements with apples
and other fruits. The farmers of Sher-
/ idan are successfully growing fruit
4 and not only supply the home demand,
! but annually ship many carloads Of
/ berries and other fruits to other towns.
I At Wheatland. and also in some Of the
/ Big Horn basin colonies. fruit trees
planted a few years ago are beginning
: TO bear luscious fruit, and the success
! of fruit growing is already assured.
! The farmers Of Wyoming are awak-
ening TO the present needs of the live
( stock industry, which, owing 10 the
( crowded condition of the ranges,
/ scarcity Of range feed and the neces-
/ sity Of putting up feed for winter use
has created a sharp demand Tor al
4 falfa, meadow hay and other feed for
( their stock. Farmers for several years
/ have found it very profitable to raise
| large quantities Of hay, which finds
/ ready sale ct home at satisfactory
/ prices. The raising of oats, which are
! grown successfully in the lower DOr-
! tions Of the state, has also been very
/ profitable.
/ The farmers are also turning their
/ attention to the growing Of sugar
/ beets for stock feeding and an expert
! ment in preparing for the coming or
! the sugar factories. The Wheauand
! colony is promised a sugar factory for
/ the near future. and the Mormon set
! tiers in the Big Horn basin are ar
/ ranging to put in a sugar plant. Tests
/ have shown that the soil Of Wyoming
! IS unsurpassed for the growing Of
] sugar beets, and the climate here, with
( its cool nights and bright sunshiny
! days. could not be better for the ma
/ turing OF sugar beets.
Livestock Retrogression.
For the first time in many years. or
I since the boom days Of the range bust
I ness iu the sos. the livestock industry
/ Of Wyoming refrigerated during the
year lust closing. but the decrease in
I production Of mutton. wool and beef
was no fault of the growers, for. the
! same conditions that prevailed in this
/ state-shOrtage of feed and severe win
! ter storms-Obtained ia every state and
/ heavy and unprecedented losses were
( universal.
! Conservative estimates place the loss
| to the cattle industry at a million and
a quarter dollars, the decrease being
/ caused by the storm losses and the low
I price paid for beef cattle.
In 1902 Wyoming produced 34,61O,000
/ pounds Of wool. valued at S5.693.345
/ while I'm 1903 the wool clip aggregated
I Is, 200 900 pounds. valued at S4,50O.160.
/ decrease in tonnage Of wool Of over
/ 5000 900 pounds. and a loss of over half
a million dollars. The number Of sheep
I in Wyoming in 1902 was 4.614.750 while
l in 1903 the number was reduced to a.
/ 100000, a loss Of a little over half
/ million sheep. or a loss in value Of
! about S1.500,000, which, with the loss
| on the wool clip, gives a total loss to
I the sheep industry alone Of over
/ 50 .OOo O00
During the year the fockmasters and
] l.