Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1891-07-08
KING OF The WEST.
Water Storage and Intelligent Man
agement-What it is Doing for
Northeast New Mexico.
New Settlers and their Homes-Splendid
Products of the S0iI-Rich Do
main for American Farmers.

leo and even casual inspection Of that
splendid domain covered by the Maxwell
Land company suffices to enthuse even
the staidest individual with New Mexicos
wonderful resources as farming and
fruit country. A New MEXICAN repre-
sentative has made such trip of late and
comes home more than ever gratifed with
the outlook for the continued rapid adj
vancement of the whole territory in these
industries and particularly the northeast.
ern region, where the intelligent manage
ment of vast water storage and irrigation
enterprises has done 80 much. AS re-
suit Of this brief visit and In order to COM
ply with the request of large number of
settlers who have established themselves
upon these lands, the New MEXICAN here
with reproduces its interview of two
weeks since with Col. Richard J. Hinton,
chief of the irrigation division of the U.
S. agricultural department, who has
lately made a personal inspection of this
section.
The principal irrigation systems of the
Maxwell company which Col. Hinton
has just inspected are two in number,
consisting of storage reservoirs and canals,
aud are known as the Vermejo and
Springer systems. They cover $1,000
acres of fruit and farm lands in the
valleys of the Vermejo and Cimarron, in
Colfax county, the latter being known
as the Springer system. To date some
$4,000 acres have been sub-divided into
EIGHTY ACRE TRACTS
and have been sold on the most favorable
terms to settlers from abroad, most of
them being experienced farmers from
Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin
and Kansas, among them being very
many Danes and Swedes. The company
at present has 5000 acres in farms under
the Vermejo waters and $4,000 acres I'M
der the Springer system which are now
in cultivation. The storage reservoirs
consist of the most substantial structures,
and the miles upon miles of canals and
lateral bitches are constructed in such
manner as to serve as models for other
sections of the arid region. These irriga-
ton systems Col. Hinton regards as
among the most perfect anywhere in the
country east of California; he was per-
mitted to 60 over the company's books
and figure out for himself the actual
cost of building these systems, and he
expresses both surprise and qualification
at the result. He found that from
head-gate to and including the cost of
reservoir construction the total amount
of money put into this splendid work
amounts to iittie
LESS THAN ~ PER ACRE.
Speaking of the present and future de-
velopment OF these lands and their pro-
ductions, Col. Hinton said he was amazed |
TO find such variety of fruits and cereals
and grasses hourishing in this region.
In the canon of the Vermejo he visited |
orchards where apples, peaches, apricots,
nectarines, pears, etc., flourish beyond |
he had ever seen; the trees are
straight, thrifty and the bark has bright |
beautiful appearance. This at an eleva-
ton of 5000 to 5000 feet struck the visi-
tor as showing most admirably the pos
sibllities of fruit growing in the valleys of
the Rocky mountain region. He spoke
of the Dane ranch and Or
chard as being a model kept place; also
The Abreu farms, and said that the AGO
acres of alfalfa and 1000 acres of oats on
The company lands which he had the
pleasure of examining were beyond ques-
ton as-pretty as the most fastidious agri-
culturist of the older states could wish to
view. "As see it," added Col. Hinton,
you are going to have very remark
able development in eastern New Mexico
in the next few years-certainly less than
i've years. The present necessity con-
5ists OF
RESERVOIRS AND RAILROADS.
These the management OF the Maxwell
are providing, and immigration
is following close behind them. There
are the best of reasons for believing that
ere long the Union Pacific branch rail
road from Trinidad, now in operation to
Catskill, on the Maxwell company's prop
erty, will be extended through it in |
5outhwesternly course as far as Las We.
gas, and this, with the excellent start that |
has been made toward watering the valley |
lands will bring an influx of settlers that
will make that section veritable farmers
paradise.
On the open part of the Maxwell grant
the soil is very rich and the climate, so
lar as my records show it, is mild and
The products most profitable
will be fruits, alfalfa, small grain, root
crops and the finer grasses-it is destined
10 be magnificent hay country. On my
visit stopped at fifteen or twenty farms
and was much impressed with the char
acter of the people which the company's
agents have brought in to settle here
their thrift and energy, and their happi-
ness. The farm houses are modern struct-
ures, well furnished, and the surround
ings of the farmers indicate prosperity
and permanency.
MANAGER PELs' WORK.