Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1863-06-17
-, Saw disadvantages Oh sne
FROM Country.
c,-,s..ondence of the state Journal na
o0'Es'RV =. NRs1LLA, New MEXICO.
La Nav 9Th, 1863

j
&C.,, t-or, an old friend and acquain
..nca who desires answers to large
her Of questions, which many another
- might also ask, and which may have
.,,,gested themselves to your readers, and
.sout which they may also desire infor-
,,ation. Thinking that such information
nav be acceptable to your readers, shall
vsnrnre to answer him in briet through
qanr paper, even t the risk of repetition
# what | may have before written, and
ron published He thus writes:
At your convenience | wish you
would give few hints of its (New Mexi-
eo's) advantages and disadvantages, such
a. in your opinion would be OF most i'm
portance to be known by stranger; and
among the rest write me as to the kind,
quality and quantity of timbera How the
country is supplied with sawmills, &c.
Would it pay to take across the plains 8
portable engine and sawmll, such as six
mules could easily draw ? The advantages
6 lruit growing as stated in your letter
appears TO ne TO be OF the greatest impor-
lance, when does the dry season com
mence and close} and how much rain do
you have in the season2 Have you lorna.
does2 What is the general face OF the
country what proportion OF it can be
cultivated with profit
Could money be made by buying hides
there and bringing them to the States or
pelts or furs I? What is the most direct
way to go there, and what time will II
require2 Is tie English language spoken
mostly, and could one geE along and do
business successfully without knowledge
OF the Spanish 2"
Instructions much ike these questions
were gwen TO the Boundary commission,
aud they filed some six large quarto vol
umes, and afterwards 10 the exploring ex-
pediuOns, and they have filled twelve vol
uu2es more. Ii it has taken scientific men
so much space to write about one fourth
part OF tins county, l can scarcely expect
TO say more than yes or no to the same,
il the space of q single letter. The
mountains of New Mexico produce
pine, two varieties large enough To make
boards and timber, both of the yellow or
Norway class; also fir and spruce which
may be hewed, have seen tour varieties
OF the cotton wood along the streams
large enough TO hew or saw. Among the
smaller timber is found pinyou, the nut
bearing pine, an excellent Greenwood, very
hard but unfit for timber, three varieties
If tie juniper, cred cedarD dwarf oaks,
aspen and box elder. These are found in
the northern portions of the territory, at
an elevation OF 1000 feet and upwards
la the southern portion, the musquit,
variety OF locust (accacia) and screw bean
Is found. These bear seeds which are
IN ~ L
ceedingly fattening. Cotton wood grows
IN patches along tie river bottoms, and
pIHes are found in the mountains. There
are saw mills at Taos, SapilIc, Manuelito,
and Santa Fe, which are driven by water
power, and ut Tejeras by steam. There is
also d mill at Plnos Altos but not in use
now. Lumber is worth $50 per 1000 feet
at tile tour first, and $50 10 $50 at the
others and the demand much above the
suppy.
can see 10 reason TO change my opinion
IS to the capacity of the southern portion
OF tue territory as to fruit growing. The
castor oil bean here makes tree, and sur
vices the winter. Hence the most tender
trees aud vines may be expected TO grow,
bit they are not here now. The dry season
does not close, because there Is no wet
one There are deep SHOWS In the noun
taiLs IN winter, and slight ones 10 all parts.
III July anc August showers sometimes
tall, but only IN sufficient quantities to
produce the peculiar grasses o. this coun-
try, and the singular plants which would
seem TO thrive without water. This country
Is marked as one OF six inches OF rain to
fail IN the year. There are no tornados
though there are frequent high winds in
the winter and spring. The country is
mountains and plains, peculiarly its own
10 character; the mountains, IN fact the
whole country IS volcanic, and must be
seen 10 be understood. Here you stand
on plain miles 10 extent, and see on
every side mountain peaks thrown in the
most ragged and broken manner imagin-
lnable there deep canyon is cut through
rocks thousand feet deep and impasss Die,
and in another place wall of rocks ike
the peaks 0: Prairie du CHEN, but four
times IS high, and more steep, stretch off
tor hundreds of niles, barren, bleak and
alackened with scoria.
No part or New Mexico can be relied
upon for crop which cannot be watered
from some stream, and as these are few, |
will say that not more than a thousandth
part can be cultivated with any certainty
OF q crop. At the same time ten or even
twenty times more than is now cultivated
may be. Such cultivation would require
reservoirs in the small streams in which
all the Surplus water should be preserved
Tor watering the crops, good stream for
srrigating field is a sluce of water one
iGch deep and eight inches wide, and for
wheat and corn three waterings are sufi.
eient, once before blowing and twice after.
wards. such sluice as | have named
would cultivate 100 acres of land if Judi
oiously managed, and especially in the
southern portion where the corn planting
season extends from the first of March TO
July, and of wheat from November to
May. Grass grows on the plains and
mountains in the summer months, and,
drying up, affords food tor stock through
the year. All cattle are kept by herders,
who live with their iOcks throughout the
year.
Cow hides (finD are worth q dollar each,
sheep and goat skins, ten cents, wool on,
and they can be carried across the plains
to the Missouri river for six or eight cents
a pound. The most direct route 60 Santa
lie Is from Leavenworth. Kansas, by the
Arkansas river route; though TO this place
the southern overland mail route is most