The La Jara chronicle., 1910-07-08
OPPORTUNITIES IN COLORADO.
BY C. A. Lyman


The expert horticulturist may raise
magnificent grares in the New Mexico
valleys. He may raise peaches or
apples in any of the western val
lays. He will find an unsupplied de-
mand for ounces and such special
ties. If small fruits are in his line,
there are twenty valleys open for him
with good markets and good crops
assured. He can get land close to
one OF the larger cities and haul
his products to market in his own
wagon. or in the remoter valleys can
put them on the Rio Grande train
and have them whisked to quick
market in one of the mining camps.
The hog man may seek moder-
ate altitude, raise hogs on alfalfa
and finish them off on sugar beets
and native grains, or he may take
land in one of the higher val 'eys,
where field peas flourish. and raise
and fatten great droves of hogs on
acres which need hardly any attention
to perfect their crops.
To the dairyman the field is equal
ly wide Although milk cows do
better on alfalfa than on any thing
else, although the cool climate fayors
the butter maker. although there are
mountain slopes upon which herds
of dairy cattle can find free pasture
through the summer months, although
mn httf nd hui tor
limitations literally by the carload,
the dairying business in the state is
only in its infancy.
The same may be said of the
poultry business. Chickens and tur-
keys and ducks all do well in Colorado
Eggs are always high priced. chickens
always in demand All kinds of poul-
try food. alfalfa. roots, grains, etc.
can be produced cheaper on irrigated
farms. and what few chicken ranches
have been established are paying their
owners arge profits.
The horse breeder will find that
horses raised in the valleys of Colo
rudo. ranged on the mountain
sides, possess qualities of blood and
wind that mark their superiority
wherever taken. The federal govern
ment has recognized this fact, and is
spending $4,000 year in Colorado
in experiments designed to produce
"A typical American carriage horse.
The man whom fat stock delights
v III find conditions in Colorado pecu-
liarly favorab q for raising and fat
tening cattle and sheep. The grassy
slopes Of the mountains pasture i'm
menSe herds of cattle in summer.
The time was when Colorado cattle
sCrubby in breed and grass fed, were
shipped east to the corn lots to be
finished" Fewer and fewer go each
been improved until most Co orado
range cattle rank as high grader.
From the mountains the grown steers
90 to the feed lots, and there, with
alfalfa and roots. with peas and barley
and sometimes a little corn, with
beet pulp from which the sugar has
been extracted. and with wild hay,
they are finished into steers that
lake prizes both in fat stock shows
and in selling pens.
If the new conner wants to try somel
new thing, high altitude" potatoes
may interest him. 1t has been found
that potatoes raised under certain
conditions in high attitudes have
texture and avor which puts them
in an epicuiiaL class all by themselves
a business is being developed in
this line that promises as distinctive
results as followed the marketing of
junction peaches.
There is a demand for nurserymen,
for breeders Of thoroughbred stock
of all kinds, for men to open mills
and creameries and canning factories.
Each few miles of fertile valley has
to have its trading point, and the
development of the business of these
towns offers an inviting field to en-
terprise and capital
The land in the fertile valleys is
of several sorts and classes. First
are the government lands, still open
for settlement. either under the pre-
emption laws, in the case of the old
Indian reservations. or the home
stead law in the rest of the state
The open lands. for the most part.
are in the remcter valleys above
present irrigating canals. There are
some good claims still to be had
under irrigation. where water rights
can be purchased. Every once in