Rocky Ford Enterprise

GREAT ADVANTAGES
OF
THE ARKANSAS VALLEY

In Which Rocky Ford Occupies
a Central Position and is Principal
Shipping Point.

The soil in the Arkansas valley is
on the first bottom of an alluvial nature,
while that of the upper lands is
generally a deep sandy loam, easy to
break and cultivate and well calculated
to absorb and retain the moisture
applied by irrigation. It is rich in
phosphates and alkaloids, which are
essential to plant growth, and will furnish
enormous crops for hundreds of
years without needing to be stimulated
by any application of fertilizers. The
surface of these lands is very smooth,
the general slope being towards the
river with a uniform grade of ten to
twenty feet to the mile.
Thus the
ground is most favorably adapted to
the complete and economical distribution
of water for irrigation.
Colorado's location and the wealth
and variety of its resources give it a
present and prospective prosperity not
equaled in any other state in the Union.
In agriculture, stock-raising and mining
Colorado has a trinity of wealth
that will direct the destinies of our industrial
empire and give to Colorado
a high place among American commonwealths.
No line of human industry
provides a more reliable and uniform
prosperity than the tilling of the soil
and its accompanying employments.
The snowflakes, thing of beauty as
they fall from the skies, are, by the
ardor of the summer's sun and the labor
of the industrious husbandman.
transformed into other forms of beauty.
The frozen crystals which in winter
give a ghostly brilliancy to our western
horizon are by autumn transmuted
into cereals, fruits and vegetables for
the enjoyment of mankind, and bringing
comfort, luxury and wealth to the
producers. The water distilled from the
eternal snowfields is the magician that
aided by the sunshine streaming
through the pure air, working in harmony
with man's activity, speaks to
life the multiform and bountiful products
of the soil which bless the Arkansas
valley.
The climate of the Arkansas valley,
taken the year round, has no equal in
this Union. The nights are notably
pleasant, by reason of the temperature,
which is conducive to sleep, and it is
always delightfully cool in the shade in
the hottest weather. A case of sunstroke
is unknown in the history of
Colorado. The contrast between the
temperature of sunshine and shade in
Colorado is not easily comprehended by
eastern people until they have spent a
summer here. The average summer
temperature of the Arkansas valley is
comparable to that of sunny southern
France, the greatest grape-growing district
in the world. Almost constant
sunshine characterizes the winters. A
wholly cloudy day is a rarity. The autumn
is frequently protracted until
about the holidays, when two or three
weeks of real winter weather may be
expected, but the air all the while is
free from moisture, and pouring
through it is the brilliant sunshine
which has made Colorado winters almost
proverbial for their pleasantness.
After this healthful bit of winter has
passed, pleasant autumn weather again
prevails until spring arrives. All who
have lived here a few years are enthusiastically
loyal to Colorado - which
love and admiration for their adopted
land is largely due to the unsurpassed
climate. The mildness of the winters
is evidenced by the fact that building
operations, either on frame or brick
structures, are but little interrupted
from December to March. We have no
long storms of rain, snow or wind. The
snowfall is light.
The adaptation of the climate to the
recovery of invalids is proved beyond
the possibility of controversy. Hundreds
of our most active, energetic
farmers and business men came here
with the faint hope of prolonging life a
few months and have found the fountain
whose perennial waters brought
back youth and vigor
and
added
many years of usefulness
and happiness
to their earthly existence.
One
important factor in the climate of the
Arkansas valley is the altitude, being
from 3,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level.
It is a happy medium between the altitude
of the eastern states (the home
of consumptives) and the mountain regions.
The dryness of the atmosphere
and absence of changes of humidity
are important features. We are midway
between the mountain region and
the blizzard belt of Kansas, and do not
have any part in the disagreeable climatic
conditions which prevail both
cast and west. In addition to the purity
of the air and the stimulating effect
of a favorable altitude in expanding
the air cells of the lungs, this climate
affords a sunniness and mildness which
enables the invalid to live outdoors almost
constantly - a most important
feature in the recovery from all chronic
troubles.
The almost invariable result
is that consumptives coming here
in the early stages of the disease gain
complete health. It is a matter of
common observation that persons are
seen on every hand, numerous in every
community, who came here with pulmonary
diseases, who are now occupying
important positions in all the industrial
and professional spheres of
life.
PRACTICAL PATRIOTISM OF
THIS ARKANSAS VALLEY.

At the meeting of the State Realty
Association at Denver in June, 1903,
Hon. Alva Adams delivered one of his
always able addresses, from which
make the
following extract. When
speaking of the superior value of the
home maker as a citizen, Mr. Adams
said:
"Give a man title to an acre of land
and you make him a good citizen. No
man was ever
disloyal
who owns
a
home. The land owner becomes a partner
in the government. He has a tangible
share in the nation. He is a bondholder
in his country. Thousands who
own no property are splendid citizens,
true patriots; yet it is among the landless
where anarchy and disorder find
their recruits. If to me was given the
power to create an ideal republic, the
first condition would be that every citizen
should own an acre of land; and
upon it build a home that could never
be alienated; this would be a guarantee
of perpetual loyalty.
"The home is more than a house. The
cabin may be humble; its roof may be
of branches, its floor of earth, the wind
and dust may penetrate it, the storms
may beat through it, but if within
dwells an industrious, manly father, a
loving mother, a group of happy children
all bound by the silken bonds of
love and confidence, then it is a home,
reaching nearer the stars than the lordliest
castle, the proudest temple ever
built by man.
"The home is the citadel of the Republic,
the flag of our country is planted
deep in the family hearthstone. It
is liberty's defense and hope. A mother
reading her Bible by her own fireside,
or singing a lullaby over a cradle,
is a greater power for good than a battleship.
The American home is the
nursery of manhood and the strongest
anchor to free government in this
world, and when we use our means to
promote the integrity of the home and
help in making every citizen a home
owner, we have made the best possible
use of every element of wealth in Colorado."

In no other portion of the West are
greater inducements offered for the
founding of homes than in the region tributary to Rocky Ford.