The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-15
TIE woNDEEs OF NEW MEXICO.
Il Is Bound to be a Productive Coun-
try With Irrigation.

try With Irrigation.
ALBUQUERQUE, n. NJ. June 9.-Any man
In middle age to-day can remember the time
when it was generally believed that Cali
fornia and Colorado would never be able to
produce anything hut silver and gold, and
that all the men engaged in mining in those
states would have to be fed by other por-
tiops of the country; but California today
exports more wheat than any other state in
the union, while her fruits fresh and
canned. are known around the world: aud
Colorado is not much behind her older sister
on the Pacific; already she is not only self
sustaining. but has for shipment
abroad a large annual surplus Of
wheat, which ranks with the best in the
markets of the world, while her potatoes,
which are unsurpassed, now supply the
whole southwest. And there is nothing In
the natural conditions to prevent the ex-
perience of these two states from being re-
rested in New Mexico, to the extent at
ieast Of feeding her own people; the ele-
nents of climate and soil are essentially the
seme-the difference, where any exists,
heing in favor of New Mexico. The eli
7-ate is milder than that of Colorado, and
n, COMPARED with that of California, is SUI
,,srior in all essential respects for the grow
ing of every product except the semi-trop-
zeal IrulJS, Wullc buO POWCA VI bDe SOli Is
practically unlimited. The two great states
named, when in a condition of nature, were
as barren and unproductive as any other
section of what we call the 'arid
rerions,n and all the munifcence
of their present productiveness is due en-
trely to irrigation. If certain portions of
the desert can be thus made to blossom as
the rose, will not the same means applied
TO other sections produce the same results?
Who, then, will assume to set a limit to the
countless millions of bushels of grains and
fruits which a general and Intelligent
system Of irrigation will some time produce
upon the now barren plains of the great
southwest or to the sum which such prod
nets will annually add to the aggregate
wealth of the nation? If the man who
causes two blsdes of grass to grow where
but one grew before is a public benefac OF,
Nv what name shall We characterize a
system which shall cause the food supply of
a nation to grow upon land on which only
enctus and sage brush have grown before
As an illustration of what irrigation can
accomplish for an otherwise barren region,
1t is only necessary to look at the valley of
the Rio Grande. For nearly three centuries
this valley has been known as the garden Of
New Mexico. Long before the first Ameri-
can immigrant set foot upon its soil this
country was celebrated among the Spanish
natives Of the territory for the fertility OF
its lands and beauty of its climate; its lus-
cous fruits and its unsurpassed vegetables
were carried into all the neighboring dis.
tricts, while its genial and sunny climate
caused it TO be sought as q winter resort by
tie wealthier classes, who came here in
large numbers from hundreds of miles
around, to enjoy the bright skies and mild
atmosphere which here constitute the rule
throughout the winter season. And the
example which was thus set by our Spanish
predecessors has been wisely followed by
the Americans, and the comforts and
benefits of the delightful winter climate OF
this lovely valley are now known ana en-
joyed by people from not only every section
of New Mexico, but from many portions
Of the country abroad, who come here to
escape the rigors of the winter in the
eastern states By such persons the winter
season of this district is hardly considered
winter at all. The sun shines every day.
the air, though warm, is dry and
bracing, and the times when one
may not sit out of doors, on the sunny side
of the house, are the exceptions and not the
rule. But of what value would be it:
equable climate, its cloudless skies and it'
perpetual sunshine if irrigation had not
reclaimed the DESERT and made the erst-
while barren lands Of the valley to bring
forth their abundance All other coadi
lions may be perfect, yet without vegeta,
ton country is not habitable; and henc'
it is that regions of the southwest. with sol
and climate surpassed by no section of th'
GLOBE and equaled by no division of th'
American continent, must remain unin
habited and uninhabitable, till the genius
the energy and the progress OF modern
times shall bring the fructifying waters
which shall make here the homes Of mil
lions, and what is now the "arid regions
will then become the storehouss of the ma
ton.