Of equal fame with the giant peaks and even greater beauty are the stupendous moun tain canyons through which its rivers cut their way. Western Colorado forms the eastern edge of what Major Powell has called the Plateau Province; and all the wonders and beauties of this remarkable region are found in Colorado. There are the terraced platforms, ending in rock faces dropping sheer upon other platforms hundreds of feet below, and ending in vertical gorges from 1,000 feet to a mile in depth, where the sand-laden currents with a steep fall have cut their channels through countless strata of brilliantly variegated sedimentary rock; here are barren mesas, and cool grassy forested levels and slopes above the plane of perpetual drought where the mountains bar off the vapors; rock headlands around curves or junctions of streams or gullies, fantastically carved in strik ing likeness to the work of human architects. The canyon of the Grand, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the Royal Gorge, a part of the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas, are famed for their beauty and their grandeur.
Climate and The dry, cool, thin air of mountainous Colorado makes its accessible eastern portions, especially the parks, widel) famed as sanatoriums for patients with asth matic or pulmonary diseases. Colorado Springs, the Rocky Mountain Saratoga, is built up by Eastern invalids. The summer days are some times hot, but the dry air and bare rocks cause so rapid a radiation that the nights are always cool and dewless. There is little severe winter cold, zero being rare; the frost season is short, and the seldom deep, soon melt, except on the mountains. The January mean tempera ture for the leading places is about 28.5°F.; the July 72° to 74°F. The average rainfall is 14.8 inches, fairly even through the State, though naturally much heavier on the higher levels, varying from nearly 30 inches at Pikes Peak to 12 inches at Las Animas in the Arkansas plains. Hence, agriculture can be carried on without irrigation in many mountain regions, though better with it.
Surface, Farming, Stock Raising and Irri There are about 16,000 square miles of forested land in the State, the trees being mostly conifers, with cottonwoods along the eastern streams. Of the 40,000 square miles of plain and parks, about one-third is arable, the rest being grazing-ground, to which, however, must be added many thousand square miles of grassy mountain slope. The pasturage in many parts lasts through the winter wild and the plains are covered with gorgeous wild flowers. The soil of the plains is mostly sandy loam, with some clay. Along the water-courses the soil is
rich, but the rainfall is not sufficient, and irriga tion is needed; but is scarcely feasible there except along a few large streams, or near the mountains. But the system of dry-farming promises to extend largely the area farmed. But there is an estimated irrigable area of 4, 800,000 acres, or 7,500 square miles, in the State; and in recent years an immense amount of energy has been turned to utilizing its pos sibilities. Irrigation is one of the outstanding enterprises of Colorado.' In 1889, 890,735 acres were under irrigation, but in 1910 there were 2,792,032 acres, an increase of 200 per cent in acreage irrigated. Colorado stands first in the arid region in irrigated area. In 41 of the 63 counties of the State more than half of the farms are irrigated. Three and one-half mil lion acres are devoted to dry farming, the 1915 income of which was $32,902,334. Sixteen mil lion acres are devoted to grazing. Stock feed ing, a very important industry, has developed in the San Luis Valley where field-peas grow luxuriantly. In addition to the large govern ment enterprises, there are 9,065 independent enterprises with a total ditch mileage of 22,570 miles. Of this amount over one-third is in a solid block along the South Platte, at the north east corner of the mountains in the State; the next greatest, nearly a fifth of the whole, in San Luis Park. There are lines along the South Platte and Arkansas blocics on the Grand in Mesa County, on the Gunnison in Delta and Montrose, and again in Gunnison County; scat tered sections on the White and Yampa, along the southern Arkansas tributaries, and indeed in every quarter of the State. In 1910 there were 434 wells used for irrigation purposes, an increase of 59 per cent in 10 years.
Colorado has become a great farming State, producing not only large quantities, but an excellent quality, of the staple products. The production for 1915 is as follows: The largest individual product of the irri gated farm is the sugar beet. There were 15 factories operated during 1916, with a substan tial increase in 1917. Over $25,000,000 are in vested in these factories.
Orchard, small fruits and grapes amounting to $5,078,654 were marketed in 1909. Most of the fruit-raising is in Delta, Mesa and Montrose counties, on the Grand and Gunnison, in Boulder County, on the South Platte, and in Fremont County, on the upper Arkansas. A valuable crop on the Arkansas is that of muskmelons, including the famed RocIcy Ford cantaloupes.