Stock raising has increased with the produc tion of feed, or vice-versa. The livestock in dustry of Colorado is characterized by a marked increase during the last decade. In 1915 there were 296,368 horses valued at $20,031,314; 23,284 mules valued at $1,999,800; 1,332,479 ranch cat tle valued at $38,230,231; 101,037 dairy cattle valued at $5,786,281; 1,823,491 sheep valued at $4,573,120. All other animals were valued at more than $2,000,000. This was full valuation for the purpose of taxation. The number and value of all kinds of stocic have had a remarkable increase, yet the quality has im proved more rapidly than the quantity. Many of the stockmen have devoted much time and attention to improving the quality of their stock. Dairy and poultry products are in great de mand. In 1910 there were 69 butter, cheese and ccuulensed milk establishments.
Geology and Mining.— The main ranges, particularly the east range, have a core of schist and gneiss with an occasional area of granite. These main ranges are flanked on all sides with sedimentary rocks. In many cases, these rocics show practically all the geological epochs from Cambrtan Quartzite to the Quaternary, while again the most recent is found resting on the most ancient. There are Large areas of purely eruptive rock, such as the San Juan Range in the southwest and the Spanish Peaks, near Walsenburg. The prairie land is so com pletely clothed with soil that it is difficult to follow the geological skeleton, but it is probable that nearly all geological periods are represented in its formation. Great coal deposits are found in the upper Cretaceous, and most of the metal lic deposits are found in igneous formations.
Colorado leads the Western States in mineral production. Total output (1903) $65, 224,009; (1904) $68,870,280; (1905) $89,309,861; (1909) $59,189,974. The output (1909) from the State's mineral resources was as follows: gold, $21,846,600; silver, $4,600,100; lead, $2, 522,036; zinc, $2,173,068; copper, $1,493,132; clay products, $2,049,024.
In 1915 there were some striking changes in the value of metals mined: gold, $22,425,518; silver, $3,517,972; lead, $3,223,583; copper, $1, 233,405; zinc, $13,660,040; tungsten, $5,000,000. The production of zinc worth $6,000,000 in 1906 and more than $13,00(3,000 in 1916 places Colo rado as the fourth State in the production of this metal. Boulder County is noted for its tungsten. Colorado's production of the precious and semi 14 recious metals in 1916 reached a total value of 9,200,675, an increase of 13 per cent over the gures of 1915. This mineral wealth was se cured from 2,699,243 tons of ore raised from 825 deep mines, and from 27 placer workings. LaIce County, which includes Leadville and the surrounding districts, held its former record of a much larger yield than any other portion of the State, with the single exception of gold, in which it was surpassed by Teller County, which includes the famous Cripple Creek dis trict.
The total yield was distributed as follows: gold (39 per cent), 926,506 fine ounces, valued at $19,153,821; zinc (37 per cent), 134,285,463 pounds, $17,994,252; silver (10 per cent), 7,656, 544 fine ounces, $5,038,006; lead (9 per cent), 70,914,087 pounds, $4,893,072; copper (4 per cent), 8,624,081 pounds, $2,121,524. Nearly the entire output was smelted in the 10 smelting plants of the State, and these plants also handled a considerable quantity of ore from Idaho, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Ken tucicy and from Canada also.
Iron sulphides are mined at Creede and other places from which sulphur is obtained in paying quantities. Uranium and vanadium are found in large quantities. There• is a vast quantity of oil shales in the northwest. The output of silver is steadily increasing. About three-fourths of the silver is from lead ores, and Colorado's lead product is one-sixth of that of the whole country. Lead is not only sold as a raw material, but is a most valuable flux for smelting gold and silver ores, there fore large quantities are imported from other states. The mines of Cripple Creek and Lead ville are among the best equipped in the country. Cripple Creek is the leading gold producing section in the State and Leadville leads in the production of silver, lead, copper and zinc.
As a coal-producing State •Colorado ranks ninth. Its greatest production was in 1910 when 12,104,887 tons were mined. The normal production, averages 10,000,000 tons per year, about one-half coming from Las Animas County in the central part of the State.
Marble, fuller's earth, potter's clay, fire clay, cement shales (the finest in the world), lime stone and abrasive§, petroleum and natural gas are valuable and abundant minerals. The Florence oil fields produce the finest oils in the world.
The chief industries of Colorado could be predicted from a glance at its raw materials—precious metals, copper and lead, coal and iron, wood, cattle and grain. These mean smelting, iron and steel and rail road work, lumber manufacture, meat-packing, flouring-mills and breweries. In 1909 there were 2,034 manufacturing establishments in the State; in 1916 there were 2,350; the capital invested amounted to $162,668,000; there were 28,067 wage earners, whose wages aggregated r80 5,560,000; the cost of materials used was ,491,000; and the value of the products was 130,044,000. The latest information, for the year 1916, on manufactures in Colorado places the numbcr of manufacturing establishments at 2,350 and laborers engaged in manufacturing 35,000, capital invested $189,000,000, the value of the product produced $150,000,000 and amount paid for labor and salaries $30,350,000, and the material used cost $95,000,000. The prospect for manufacturers in Colorado, particularly in Denver, is better than ever before in the history of the State.