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<br />Mining 'nlthe study area started with the ,old tush in 1859-61. 'Ijarly
<br />minera 1 ...p, '.lOdUC t, ,i, on was concerned primar,ilY I wi th!"",t, h.e extr, ",a, c, tion; of igo 1 d,
<br />silver, !a d lead. However, sinc~ that ~ar~y ti,e. manyt~es of! EuelS,
<br />metals, in nmet,als, and constructlon materi~ls have becom,', e Ilncreal~nglY
<br />importa ,t The future of the area will pr9babl~be strpngly inf denced
<br />by the evelopment of its mineral resource$. More than 50 diffe ent
<br />mineral commodities,have already been prodpced and 21 m~neral pr ducts
<br />have be n processed in the area. The prin~ipal commodities prod~ced
<br />are mol, b4enum,coal, zinc, lead, gold, sand and gravel, limesto\1e,
<br />tungste , silver, fire clay, dolomite, feldspars, and perlite. ~ines
<br />in the tudy area in 1960 employed 3,239 p~rsons and produced com-
<br />modi tie having a value of $90.013 million~ This represented 26f23
<br />percent of the State total. ' I
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<br />60. !AGRICULTURE.-Agriculture in the base study area, lik~ that
<br />'in Colo ado as a whole, has been a major, ofcupation and source oj: in-
<br />come si cethe advent of irrigation and dryland farming at the time of
<br />themin~ngboom about 1859. ,'The'developmeht of large cattle ranches
<br />coincided with the cattle drives of about ~868. This development, in
<br />turn, IF.d"" t,o, the development of mountain V[' lleys for li,vestock grazing
<br />around ~he year 1880. Irrigated farms are located near water supplies
<br />in the ~alley of the Arkansas River and in the valleys of its tribu-
<br />tary stfeams. Highest agricultural produc ion and value are attllined
<br />on the ~rrigated land adjacent to the Arka~sas River below Canon'City.
<br />This ar~a is a large producer of alfalfa, ~orn, sorghum, small gr~ins,
<br />sugar b~ets, melons, and truck crops. Dryland farms are scattered
<br />throughput the area but are located princif'allY in the high plains
<br />region ~djacent to the stream valleys east,of Pueblo. The principal
<br />drylandl crops produced are wheat, sorghum,lcorn, dry beans, barley,
<br />and oatf',..,' ,Live,s,tock production includillg finishing is an as soci a", ted
<br />activit ,of farming and is an integral parf of the,agricultural irt-
<br />dustry. 'In the upper reaches of the valleys, the livestock indu~try
<br />utilize~'all of the pastureland arid.native!hay produced by irrigl1tion.
<br />Howeveri, ,most beef production is from the extensive ranges of the
<br />nearby plains, foothills, and mountains. !
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<br />61~ In 1959 the 13-county area conta~ned 5,741 farms or 17,2 per-
<br />cent of, all the farms in Colorado. Cash il'come from farm crop marketings
<br />in thatjyear amounted to $21 million. Thi income represents an fverage
<br />annual ~ncrease of 14.87 percent over the eriod 1954-59, but only a
<br />0.45 percent average annual increase for t e entire decade preceding
<br />1959. fhe value of all farm products soldlwas $84.2 million. Table 6
<br />gives albreakdown of the volume of product~on and the value of crops
<br />for thel study area, Colorado, and the United States.
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