Cañon City record., 1910-01-27

per acre. Wuiio tnero iS no exdCt uS-
ures available for irrigated land. a
conservative average estimate of its
production is at not less than S75 per
acre.
Taken on the basis of the yearly
production of the land being as much
as one-fourth of its value, and the
land is worth more than is shown by
that method of calculation, the aver
age price of irrigation land in the Ar
kansas valley will be at least $500
per acre once the land is developed.
1t is developed for general farm
ing purposes within a year after wa
ter is put upon it, and as it is devel-
oped for horticultural purposes with
in five years after it has water and
trees are set out, it is plain that
within five years lands in this valley
will be selling at an average of $500
per acre. That will mean that the
100000 acres of irrigated lands under
the big DeWeese system alone will be
worth approximately 100000, 100000.
while. with the Ambursen, Teller and
other projects in the vicinity of Pu-
eblo. bringing the total quantity of
newly irrigated land close to the 500.-
900 acre mark the value of farm land
in the upper Arkansas valley will.
within half a decade. increase by the
enormous sum of s150.ooo.oO0.
That means that an addition of over
$50. 100000 annually will be made to
the productiveness OF the soil. That
means that new towns will spring up
all over this section. That means. up
on a basis of an average size of farms
of 80 acres, which is large under ir-
rigation and intensive cultivation.
that the number of farms around Pu
eblo. Canon City and Florence will be
increased by over $4,000. and. assum-
ing an average increase of only five
to the farm means an increase in
the farming population of the imme
date future OF over $4,000 people.
OF course. the increase in popula-
ton will be greater than this. The
new towns that spring up to minister
to the wants of the farmers will add
thousands to the population. The
older towns now settled in this vicin-
ity, must. inevitably. increase larger
in size with the increased demands
that are made upon them and the
Increased prosperity which is certain
for them.
Pueblo. the metropolis of the valley.
and the great distributing point of
this section of the state. will. In all
long before the taking Of
the census OF 1920. pass the coveted
hundred thousand mark. and will be
both populous and prosperous. It
means a splendid material future for
Canon City and Florence.
The enormous annual yield from
the farms means that much more
wealth for the section. II means the
OF manufactures. ItI
means the having OF far more money
for distribution In this section. low
ering the interest rates and enhancing
the prospects of commercial enter
prises. II means new railroads. new
lines. new civic enterprise.
a general rejuvenation.
The very fact that the country will
be thickly settled will OF itself en-
hance property values. but waste land
will remain waste land and with the
OF the ranges. will be
hap tc
with irrigated land will make money
The man with a bare tract of land,
hard unsuitable to any purpose what
ever, will impoverish himself by pay
ing the taxes.
During the past week a number OF
members of the board OF governors OF
'he irrigation congress were In Pu-
eblo, and one of them, In discussing
the shortsightedness OF landhoiders In
newly developed sections. uttered
some pertinent truths. He said:
"It is a strange thing, but men are
grownup children and are harder to
teach than the little ones. In my sec
ton of the country there has been
much irrigation activity. All the water
has been put to use. Con-
orchard land is worth from
5000 an acre upward. and the owners
would laugh at offers OF less than
such a sum. But there remains good
deal OF land that is worth practically
nothing. That is the land for which
II