The Black range., 1884-02-08

| all new regions. Outside OF cities 1t Is
generally wild, untamed and uncivi.
lized and priYatiORs are to be expected
On the other hand the climate is al
most perfect. Mild winters obviate
the necessity of expensive houses and
barnes, and the storing of winter food
for stock. The soil is rich and produc.
tive and the wash from the mountains
and the alluvia constantly added, though
the irrigating system is ever increas.
ing its strength so that no other fer
tilizer Is required. The valleys of
New Mexico are numerous and the
area of cultivable ground is extensive,
yet the mining and stock regions are
so much greater that home products are
never likely to be able to supply
home markets and consequently prices
for produce will always be high. To a
person unused to, it irrigation appears
to be exceedingly unhandy, but 1t is not
nearly so disagreeable as it seems. The
bitches once built are established and
slight labor keeps them in repair. BY
it the farmer controls his water supply
and Is not dependent upon local rains,
hence crops are seldom ruined by food
or drought, Tvs or three irrigations
IS generally sufficient for the season
The MeXicans seldom put plow or hoe
the corn and kindred crops and yet they
get fair returns. In any other county
they would harvest nothing by their
methods of farming. AS instances of
what intelligent Americans can do
here at farming, we will name three
which have come under our Observa-
ton. Jas. Ryan of Robinson. leased
seven acres of ground of the Mexicans
at Canada de Alamosa last season.
One acre he planted to watermelons,
onions and such truck and this yielded
him living for a year although he
sold no melons. The remaining six
acres he be planted to potatoes, and
harvested therefrOm 1900 pounds,
which he marketed at four cents per
pound. At Las Cruces, some six years
ago, Ii. j, CunItfe bought a few acres
of rough land, leyeled il, fenced 1t and
planted it to grape cuttings at a total
expense of five or six hundred dollars.
Three years from that time he began
gathering his grape harvest and now
this vineyard pays him twelve or ff-
teen hundred dollars per year and Is
valued by him at $4,000. Col. Ryaner-
son, also of Las Cruces, has a large
meadow of alfalfa grass. From tins
field he has cut hay year after year. On
favorable seasons five crops are taken
from it and on unfavOrable seasons
three cuttings are made with an aver
age product of ton cutting. He
bales the hay IN the field and sells it
where it lays at from $25 to $50 per
ton. These are isolated cases but are
such as any Industrious. intelligent
husbandman can duplicate. Govern
ment land in New Mexico is fast being
taken up but there is still some remain
ing. However it is generally cheaper
to purchase improved land ditched in
good order OF the native population,
Prices now are comparatively low, ten
to twenty dollars per acre being about
the figure asked. All kinds of fruit
and farm produce grown in the temper
ate zone grow here luxurantly, grapes
and onions being especially excellent,
Strangers may wonder why it is
that such valuable opportunities for
acquiring wealth are not more gener-
ally improved, but the explanation is
easy. The first settlers in all countries
do not constitute the solid population
who build the substantial states. The
pioneers search for sudden rather than
certain wealth and consequently those
who go to mining countries flock to the
mines. California was slow in getting
her farms opened and Colorado was
still more backyard although the ex-
cellence Of the farms and their mag
niticent promises were not for mo-
ment questioned. History repeats it.
self and New Mexico must 60 through
the same transition. Her idle, unculti-
waited valleys are not indications of
lack of fertility and uncertainty of
profit but simply awaits the class of
people whose tastes take them into the
line of its cultivation. Oklahoma. Da-
kota, Washington, Nebraska and Kan
sas and all unsettled portions of this
free land are not to be mentioned in
the same sentence as New Mexico
when the question of emigration is dis.
cussed. The readers of this article
will please recollect the RANGE is pub
lished in a mining and stock re gion
and expects to derive little or no bene-
1t from the influx of agricultufists
Hence its advice is strictly dlsinterested
and given solely for the benefit of those
whom it addresses. If YOU have anv
doubt of its truthfulness all it asks is
yourselves. II