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<br />~lining in the study area started with the cold rush in 18S9-61. Early
<br />mineral production was concerned primarily with the extraction of gold,
<br />silver, and lead. 1I00;ever, since that early time, many types of fuels,
<br />metals, nonmetals, and construction materials have become increasingly
<br />important. The future of the area will probably be strongly influenced
<br />by the development of its mineral resources. ~Iore than 50 different
<br />mineral commodities have already been produced and 21 mineral products
<br />have been processed in the area. The principal commodities produced
<br />are molybdenum, coal, zinc, lead, gold, sand and gravel, limestone,
<br />tungsten, silver, fire clay, dolomitc, feldspars, and perlite, ~lines
<br />in the study area in 1960 employed 3,239 persons and produced com-
<br />modities having a value of $90.013 million. This represented 26.23
<br />percent of the State total.
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<br />60. AGRICULTURE,- Agriculture in the base study area, like that
<br />in Colorado as a whole, has been a major occupation and source of in-
<br />come since the advent of irrigation and dryland farming at the time of
<br />the mining boom about 1859, The development of large cattle ranches
<br />coincided with the cattle drives of ahout 1868, This development, in
<br />turn, led to the de\'elopment of mountain valle)'" for iivestock gra7.ing
<br />around the year 1880_ Irrigated farms are located near water supplies
<br />in the valley of the Arkansas I<i vcr "nd in the valleys of its trihu-
<br />tary streams. lIighest agricultural production and value are attained
<br />on the irrigated land adjacent to the Arkansas River helO\; Canon City.
<br />This area is a large producer of alfalfa, corn, sorghum, small grains,
<br />sugar beets, melons, and truck crops. Dryland farms are scattered
<br />throughout the area but are located principally in the high plains
<br />regien adjacent to the stream valleys east of Puehlo. The principal
<br />dryland crops produced are wheat, sorghum, corn, dry beans, barley,
<br />and oats. Livestock production including finishing is an associated
<br />activity of farming and is an integral part of the agricultural in-
<br />dustry. In the upper reaches of the valleys, the livestock industry
<br />utilizes all of the pastureland and native hay produced by irrigation,
<br />'"However, -most-beef-production~ is -from -the- extensi ve ranges of the- - -
<br />nearby plains, foothi lIs, and mountains.
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<br />61, In 1959 the 13-county area contained 5,741 farms or 17.2 per-
<br />cent of all the farms in Colorado. Cash income from farm crop marketing'
<br />in that year amounted to $21 million. This income represents an average
<br />annual increase of 14.87 percent over the period 1954-59, but only a
<br />0.45 percent average annual increase for the entire decade preceding
<br />1959. The value of all farm products sold was $84.2 million. Table h
<br />gives a breakdown of the volume of production and the value of crops
<br />for the study area, Colorado, and the United States.
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