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Show UINTAH BASIN IS RICHEST ! UNDEVELOPED LAND IN WEST But One-Fourth of 550,000 'Tillable Acres in Valley Now Under Cultivation; Many Opportunities Available. Special to The Tribune. VERNAL Dec. 29. The Uintah basin, in northeastern Utah, is the biggest and richest umle-i umle-i vol oped count ry in the west. 1 and offers the homeseeker and investor the most flattering- opportunities. Land ! is cheap, according to its crops, and. in J comparison with other sections, water . is plentiful and climate is perfect. I Mountain and plain hold untold mineral j wealth. The fame of the pilsdnite, ela- terite and sand asphalt, oil, gold pla- cers and other natural resources, developed de-veloped and undeveloped, has spread abroad. The timber iu the forests is abundant and valuable. Coal is present, pres-ent, of good quality and in great abundance. abun-dance. Enormous deposits of phosphate i owned by private interests and not, subject sub-ject to withdrawal by the government (as has been done with the remaining phosphate deposits of the west), occur within fifteen miles of Vernal. The tillable area of the Uintah basin ba-sin is estimated as approximately ."ioO,- 000 acres, of w hich over one-quarter is ; now under cultivation. The generai slope of the country is casr and south-cast, south-cast, with sufficient grade for easy cultivation and perfect drainage under irrigation. The character of the soil varies according ac-cording to location, consisting largely of a red samly loam, while the river bottoms are composed of silt deposited by the rivers and washed from the surrounding sur-rounding hills, of great deptii and fertility. fer-tility. 9 Is Self-Supporting. It has been well said that if the Uintah basin were rut oft' from all the rest of the world, with no means of communication, it would -be self-supporting. The basin will produce everything every-thing required by its inhabitants with the exception of ' tropical products. The main crops are alfalfa, sweet clover, oats, wheat, barley, rye, fruits of all kinds apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches and all small' fruits, melons, garden truck of all kinds and sugar beets. There is a good market for good seeds in the Uintah basin and especially espe-cially in the Ashley valley. Those who specialize in seed "growing are receiving receiv-ing most generous compensation. The aver-inereasing area of grain crops causes the demand for good seed, and inquiries are now being reecived from Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and far-awav far-awav Montana, as well as from parts of our own state, for seeds grown in the Ashley valley and the basin. Particularly Par-ticularly do these inquiries concern alfalfa al-falfa and white blossom sweet clover seed. The Uintah basin is the best watered country in the west. The rivers and creeks' rising in the mountains flow in all directions throughout this section. Private canals have been supplying water wa-ter for years and new canals are being constantly constructed. The United states government commenced the construction con-struction of canals for Indian lands in 1905, and has expended approximately $1,000,000 in the building of over loO miles of main canals and about 200 miles of laterals. Lots of Sunshine. The altitude of the basin is from 3000 to 6000 feet above sea level. The atmosphere is dry and pure. The sun shines some portion of the day for an average of oo days out of the 363 days in each year. On the west,4iorth-west, west,4iorth-west, north and northeast is the shelter of the lofty mountain ranges, with peaks over 13,000 feet in height, on which heavy snows accumulate in winter win-ter and in some places remain through- out the year, from which come, the waters wa-ters for "the irrigation of the lands of the basin. These mountains divert the brizzards into the northern states, while the basin smiles in the warmth of the sun. The time is approaching when the cattlemen in adjoining states will be saying: "Our cattle are as good as i those in the Uintah basin,'; because the average home unit here will be like those of the supreme breeding districts of Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Kentucky. It is unnatural to presume that a continuation con-tinuation of haphazard, speculative methods will prevail. The pure-bred is surelv coming into its own. The small farmer is the cattle breeder of today, and the general purpose Shorthorn, Aberdeen Angus or similar dual purpose pur-pose cattle are supplanting the miserable miser-able "dogie" cow of bygone days. There is a field here for a cattle breeder breed-er and a market for several hundred good young bulls and heifers now. Sheep raising is the principal livestock live-stock industry. The estimated number ot' sheep in the honnoarie of the basin i in cvcc-? of i!1 ;t '.OO1.'. ami the wool lip will average in exce? of 1 .!0u,'j00 ponmis. The :ra;:in U ideal both summer sum-mer ami winter, as most of the snow fails in the mountains, anil winter snow? are necenvy for sm.-i-esf ul summer ra7.h). The climatic conditions on the winter ranges are favorable and there is little suffering and loss. Thousands of dollars profit are awaiting await-ing the farmers in this basin in dairy farming. The creameries in the basin are unable to secure enough butter fat from the cows to fill their orders. Cal-der Cal-der Brothers of Vernal purchased and paid for SSjtitfO pounds of butter fat during last year. This year they have not been able to purchase as many pounds as last year. The average price for butter fat this year has been 4U cents per pound, the lowest price having hav-ing been liS cents per pound and tlu-hiphest tlu-hiphest price 41 cents per pound, which is the price that is now being paid. The capacity of ( alder Brothers plant in Vernal i? .Vt.OOO pounds of butter fat. and the farmers of this valley are furnishing only one-half of the amount which might bo sold each year. It is understood that the creamery is turning down over $o '1,000 of business each year because of inability to secure se-cure the required amount of butter fat. All orders for butter from Ogden, alt Lake. Provo and other cities are refused re-fused by the local creamery, and the 'butter made here is at times not sufficient suffi-cient to supply the local demand. A'so the local creamery has been compelled to refuse an order for from thirty to fortv tons of cheese for an out of the state customer because of inability to i secure the materials necessary from' the i farmers. Opening for Dairy. From the above facts it will readily be seen that one of the most Vsirable : openings in the west for dairy farming is practically unoccupied, and a cash market stands begging for the dairy i farmer to suppl v the demand. ; There lias recently been a step for-; for-; ward in this direction. About thirty I head of repistercd Jersey cows have ; recently been imported for dairy purposes, pur-poses, and also a registered Jersey mill ! having nineteen daughters on the reg-; reg-; ister of merit. Tf the farmers who are ! now in the valley will only improve 1 their herds, and the newcomers realize ! the opportunity the basin offers for a j profitable business, and each will take advantage of the opportunity, the entire en-tire community will be the gainer. ! The wild herds of Indian ponies have .just disappeared; likewise thousands of horses the product of neglect and in-i in-i different breeding have been cleared from the ranges, and todav sees the best of draft, thoroughbred, standard bred and Kentucky or Missouri saddlers heading the herds. In the drafters, of course, the Pereherons lead, with plenty of splendid Shires and Clydesdales lo satisfv the demand for these breeds. This fall two splendid Pereherons aid one Kentucky saddler were brought into the basin. The limestone of the mountains put the right kind of bono and hoofs on our horses, and feed, water wa-ter and stud leaders do the rest. Great Hog Country. No part of the intermountain region possesses such admirable conditions for nog raising. A long growing season, good water, i sola t ion from disease-infested territory and natural conditions unequaled. Oops of alfalfa for growing grow-ing pigs, sugar beets and other root crops for maturing them, and corn and barley as a finishing ration, and a shortage of meat and meat products complete the formula. They can be marketed here or driven to the railway and shipped. In addition, the carcasses may be frozen, hauled to the coal mines in Colorado, and there sold where the supply never equals the demand, Uintah basin honey has no superior. It wins the prizes when placed upon exhibition at county, state and world's fairs. More than once has it been ! awarded first prize at the annua1 con- vention of the lnteniL;tion;0 Hoc Kecp- ers ' association. This is one nf the most ide.nl sections j in the I'nited Stat es for bee culture. The climatic conditions make it such. h?wrrt clover and alfalfa arc the twn j principal sources from w hbdi the busy I uenizens of 1 lie hive ga ther t lie ".c-licious ".c-licious nor la r that is ri pened into this product of high quality. Many fann-tTS fann-tTS of this country who do not pretend to make a specialty of bees, produce a great deal of honey for the market. The spec i a It v of a certain farmer is alfalfa. The blossom of that growl ii contains the very best nectar. As a result, many fanners are raising bees and making money from alfalfa ami honey at the same time. Uintah honev has a wide market th roup ii out I. taH and adjoining states, and this product is increasing in volume and especially in price. A few years ago honey sold in quantitv lots at from 'i to t cents per pound, while in the fall of 1017 the price had risen to better than IS cents per pound. Honey is now shipped out of the basin in carload lots, and the demand de-mand far exceeds the supply. Chance for Poultry. It is only necessary to drive through the settlements of the basin to understand under-stand what can be done with poultry. The dry summer climate and abundance of grain and green feeds supply ai thoe things essential to the poultry industry. in-dustry. It is a fact that better results with less labor can be secured hero than in Kansas to the prevailing dry weather during the period of incubation incuba-tion is due in a large measure the wonderful won-derful results obtained. Surrounding the Uintah basin in a semicircle or horseshoe shape. t hi Uintah and Wasatch mountains form a natural rim the Uintah mountains t o the north and the Wasatch mountain to the west and southwest around th vast body of agricultural land of the basin. AH the drainage from this entire en-tire mountain range empties into th Green ti ver, which runs t h rough t he basin from the northeast to the southwest. south-west. The water supply is well distributed dis-tributed and the mountains pour largr volumes of water into the basin from prings and perpetual snowbanks. Upon this mountain area, which comprises com-prises one and one-quarter million acres, valuable forage for stock grows in profusion and upon which large herds of sheep, cattle and horses are grazed during the summer season. There is also a considerable amount of good grazing land in and outside the national forest reserve. Vernal, County Seat. The oldest and largest town in the basin is Vernal, the county seat of Uintah county, which was founded in 18S-. A'ernal' has grown steadily, now has a population estimated in excess of 2000, is in the center of a thriving and populous district, and is the most important im-portant commercial center iu northeastern north-eastern Utah. Vernal has the distinction distinc-tion of being the only city of its si.e in the United States iu which is located a United States land office; this of I ice covers the Vernal land district , comprising com-prising the northeastern section ol Utah. The parcel post system is a great, blessing to Vernal ami the Uintah basin. ba-sin. The rate from Salt Lake City to Vernal is very low, and individuals, as well as leading merchants, have their shipments forwarded by parcel post. In one month recently nearly 70.000 pounds of parcel post was delivered to the postoffice in Vernal from the Uintah Railway company alone for the people of the Ashley valiey. The postal se r v i c e is now arranging for a mail service connecting Vernal with t 'raiy , Colo., the western terminus of the Denver Den-ver & Salt Lake railroad. Vernal has waterworks, hydro-electric light system, telephone and telegraph, tele-graph, daily nutomubile mail nor vice with Watson, the terminus of the Uintah Uin-tah railway, and Helper, on the Denver & Rio Grande railroad. |
