passes that of any other state. In 1906 the
state produced 3,157,136 bushels of Indian corn, valued at $1,578,568;
8,266,538 bushels of wheat, valued at $5,373,250; 5,962,394 bushels of
oats, valued at $2,683,077; 759,771 bushels of barley, valued at
$410,276; 43,580 bushels of rye, valued at $24,405; and 1,596,542 tons
of hay, valued at $15,167,149. The value of vegetable products, of
fruits, and of dairy products was, relatively, equally small (only
$7,346,415 in 1899). Natural fruits are rare and practically worthless.
Apples, peaches, plums, apricots, pears, cherries and melons have been
introduced. The best fruit sections are the Arkansas valley, and in the
western and south-western parts of the state. Melons are to some extent
exported, and peaches also; the musk-melons of the Arkansas valley
(Rocky Ford Canteloupes) being in demand all over the United States. The
fruit industry dates practically from 1890. The dairy industry is
rapidly increasing. In the holdings of neat cattle (1,453,971) and sheep
(2,045,577) it ranked in 1900 respectively seventeenth and tenth among
the states of the Union; in 1907, according to the _Yearbook_ of the
Department of Agriculture, there were in the state 1,561,712 neat cattle
and 1,677,561 sheep. Stock-raising has always been important. The parks
and mountain valleys are largely given over to ranges. The native
grasses are especially adapted for fodder. The grama, buffalo and bunch
varieties cure on the stem, and furnish throughout the winter an
excellent ranging food. These native grasses, even the thin bunch
varieties of dry hills, are surprisingly nutritious, comparing very
favourably with cultivated grasses. Large areas temporarily devoted to
cultivation with poor success, and later allowed to revert to ranges,
have become prosperous and even noted as stock country. This is true of
the sandhill region of eastern Colorado. The grass flora of the lowlands
is not so rich in variety nor so abundant in quality as that of high
altitudes. Before the plains were fenced large herds drifted to the
south in the winter, but now sufficient hay and alfalfa are cut to feed
the cattle during the storms, which at longest are brief. An account of
Colorado agriculture would not be complete without mentioning the
depredations of the grasshopper, which are at times extraordinarily
destructive, as also of the "Colorado Beetle" (_Doryphora
decemlineata_), or common potato-bug, which has extended its f