mercial value of silver mined in 1900 was $12,500,000. Colorado has for a number of years produced about one-fourth of the total lead output of the United States. The product steadily increased until 1883, when it was valued at $6,000,000; in the succeeding years the annual output approximated $5,000,000 until 1893, when it began to decrease. In 1898 it gave signs of revival, and in 1900 amounted to $7,700,000. Increasing quantities of copper and iron are mined, and the advantage of a proximity to fuel and flux is giving Colorado steel and iron the control of the entire trans-Missouri market. Coal-mines are also rapidly developing, the State ranking eighth in the value of her output of coal, and fourth in the amount of coke produced. Nearly one-half of the coal is mined in Las Animas County, in the south, while an equal proportion of the mineral production is credited to Teller and Lake counties in the central part of the State, including the famous Cripple Creek district (q.v.) .
Agriculture. Colorado, with its extreme elevation and aridity, was long thought to be fit only for mining and grazing. But it has been found possible to utilize many of the watercourses, which are distributed so liberally over the State, for purposes of irrigation, and by this means large portions of the State have been brought into profitable cultivation, the total area irrigated in 1900 being greater than in any other State. Fourteen and three-tenths per cent. of the land surface was included in farms in that year, and 3.4 per cent. or 2,273,968 acres were improved, of which 1,611,271 acres, or 70.9 per cent., were irrigated. During the decade ending in 1900 the actual irrigated area increased 80.9 per cent. The main canals and ditches had a total length of 7374 miles. The largest irrigated area lies to the east of the Rocky Mountains in the north central part of the State. The supply of water is here obtained from the tributaries of the South Platte River. The storage system is being adopted whereby the flood waters of this section are conserved. The Arkansas, Rio Grande, and the other streams are also drawn upon for purposes of irrigation, and every county contains some irrigated land. The eastern plain between the South Platte and Arkansas valleys is one of the least irrigated regions of equal extent in the State. By the application of improved methods, irrigation can be extended to a much greater area than has yet shared its advantages. Colorado is unlike California in that its irrigated area is devoted almost wholly to the less intensively cultivated crops. The value per acre of the product is therefore not so great as in the latter State, while the average size of the irrigated farm is much greater, being 354 acres, of which 91 acres are actually irrigated. Considerably over one-half of the crop acreage is devoted to hay and forage, the acreage of this kind of crop having nearly doubled in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Alfalfa constitutes nearly half of this amount, almost the entire acreage of alfalfa being irrigated. Its yield is very great, and in a large measure it is made to take the place of grain as feed for stock. The acreage in wheat exceeds that of all other cereals combined, and more than doubled in the decade ending in 1900. The flour manufactured from Colorado wheat ranks first in the market. Oats and corn, respectively, rank next in importance, the acreage of the former having decreased and the latter having increased during the last census period. Increasing quantities of barley are raised. Irish potatoes are a very prominent crop in the northern part of the State. Hundreds of car-loads of muskmelons are annually shipped from the Arkansas River region. They include the famous Rocky Ford cantaloups, named after the town of Rocky Ford. The production of sugar-beets bids fair to become an important industry. In the last decade of the century remarkable progress was made in fruit-culture. The apple-trees, which constitute 69.3 per cent. of the total number of fruit-trees, increased during that period from 77,790 to 2,004,890, and the per cent. of increase of other varieties was equally great. The western slope of the State seems to be especially well adapted to the production of superior grades of fruit.
Stock-Raising developed before tillage was attempted, and for some time had almost the whole field to itself. The introduction of mixed farming has not been detrimental to this industry, but, on the contrary, has resulted in an increase in the number of animals raised. What is more, the long-horned Texas steer has given place to one with a pedigree. Large herds receiving little attention are being supplanted by many small herds carefully looked after. For every decade since 1870 the number of cattle has more than doubled. Sheep-raising, which is largely confined to the southern counties, made large gains in the last decade of the century. Horses and mules are raised in sufficient numbers to supply the local needs. The number of dairy cattle is rapidly increasing, and dairying is becoming a prominent industry. The tables appended show the relative importance of the different varieties of live stock and crops and the tendencies in their development:
| Year | Wheat (acres) |
Oats (acres) |
Corn (acres) |
Barley (acres) |
Hay (acres) |
Potatoes (Irish) (acres) |
| 1900 | 294,949 | 120,952 | 85,256 | 21,949 | 952,214 | 44,075 |
| 1890 | 126,999 | 87,959 | 119,310 | 12,086 | 481,621 | 31,454 |
| Year | Dairy Cows |
Meat Cattle |
Horses | Mules and Asses |
Sheep | Swine |
| 1900 | 100,116 | 1,333,202 | 236,546 | 12,297 | 1,352,823 | 101,198 |
| 1890 | 76,948 | 640,913 | 156,170 | 7,139 | 717,990 | 64,358 |
Manufactures. Manufacturing yields precedence to mining and farming, although 4.6 per cent. of the population is engaged in this occupation. But manufacturing is growing, owing to a combination of favorable circumstances, chief of which is abundance of raw materials. This State produces more coal than any other State west of the Mississippi River, and, excepting Minnesota, three times as much iron ore as all of these States combined, consequently a large amount of coke, iron, and steel products is manufactured. The presence of coal makes possible the smelting and refining of copper and lead ores, which has rapidly developed, these ores being imported from neighboring States for such purposes. Further advantage is given the
