, 1904-04-28

The average altitude of the agricul-
lural land i'll Wyoming is about 6,ooo
feet above the sea. The larger part OF
this high altitude land is situated i'll
Southern Wyoming, along the line OF
the Union Pacific railway. During the
past thirteen years, since the United
| States Experiment Station was estab-
lishcd at Laramie. the possibility of a
prosperous and stable agriculture has
been demonstrated There are many
the streams and the adjacent uplands
which have been brought under canals
at attitudes varying from 5000 feet to
5000 feet. These ranches are large in
size-according to the last census the
land belonging to each ranch, including
the irrigated portion and the fenced pas
ture, averages over 1900 acres. These
ranchmen are dependent for their liveli-
hood upon the live stock industry, and
with the contraction OF the outside range,
due to the settlement of other ranches
and the development OF additional irri-
CATION enterprises, stockmen are forced
to practice a farming which will provide
sufficient feed to carry their stock
through the winter and put those which
are to be turned. in condition for market.
This vast area of land is situated SC far
from other farming districts and from
the corn growing States to the East, and
Transportation rates are SO high that it
is Improbable to ship i'll even sufficient
supplies Of concentrated stock foods.
Our farmers find that, under our con-
ditions of climate, it is impossible to
grow such long season crops as corn,
sorghum or millets, and that they must
resort to some such system of furnish
ing their meat for market as has long
prevailed i'll Scotland.
The crops which can be grown success
fully at the high attitudes in Wyoming
are. the native meadow and pasture
grasses, alfalfa and other forms of hardy
~clovers, field pease, English rape, tur-
nips and other root crops, fax and the
small grains. While the nutritive quail
tiles Of alfalfa, some of the meadow
grasses and most of the other food pro-
ducts, have been determined at lower
attitudes and in the Eastern States, no
studies have been made in America, at
least, of the digestibility and nutritive
effects of crops raised above 5000 feet
i'll altitude. 1t is we'll known that the
elements OF nutrition in plants vary
greatly, as the plants are grown under
different conditions, and it is reasonable
to suppose hat there will be found to
be marked differences in digestibility and
nutrition of even such a stable crop as
alfalfa when grown in a locality of un-
usually cold nights and short seasons.
Such is also true of all the crops we
produce. and the subject is one of vast
importance, not only to Wyoming, but
to every high altitude district through
out the arid region.
The Wyoming Experiment Station is
located on the Laramie Plains at an
altitude Of 7,I87 feet. The Laramie
Plains cover an area approximately one
half as great as Albany County, and are
covered with ranches located along the
streams. As a rule, each individual
ranch is irrigated by its own system of
bitches. diverting water from these
streams. There are a few larger canals,
however. the most notable of which is
the Pioneer Canal, about thirty miles in
length and carrying sufficient water to
irrigate approximately 2l,ooo acres. Upon
the stock ranches the principal crop is
native hay, but in nearly every instance
the owners are beginning to plant grain
and other things to produce concentrated
foods.
The Experiment Station has carried on
several feeding trials with lambs, to test
principally the value of alfalfa com
pared with native hay. During the pres
ent season a feeding experiment has been
carried out which promises results of
great importance. This experiment was
conducted with 800 lambs, in order to.
test the value of field pease for making
mutton. From the results, so far as
they have been computed, the indications
are that such a method of fattening
lambs will be highly successful, and if
so, it means millions of dollars to the
State. The contrast between putting
lambs in a pen and laboriously feeding
them with corn and alfalfa and turning
them into a field, where they can harvest
their WI roughage and concentrated
food and scatter their fertilizer over the
field at the same time, is great. The
investigation will be repeated another
year, but the results 10 far obtained are
most encouraging. We believe that feed
ing lambs on pease and other home
grown foods will prove to be pro6tsble,
and the great need at the present time
is sufficient means to carry such lines
of investigation to their logical conclu-
sion. Not only will we be able to pro-
duce high class mutton without shipping
foods from other places, but, we believe.
the best of beef and bacon a. well. Many
are taking an active interest in the work
and already we have assurance Of as-l
sistance in the work next season from
stockmen.