Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1893-12-20

make wine and brandy. Among connois
seurs the wine and brandy of Valenci
county have already a high reputation
Only the very finest fruit is used to distil
brandy, and the wine is made of pur
juice and without artificial sweetening
To satisfy those who prefer very swee
wine, the winters take the residue of tn
grapes after the wine is made, press i
and boil the juice down to a thick syrup
This is added to the wine as a sweetener
The Mission grape is almost as sugary a
a raisin, and its wine really needs mt
added sugar. Most people prefer it
little dried out. The winters of this sec
tion keep their wine casked and bottled
for five years before selling 1t. Their,
are splendid opportunities in this section
for the investment of capital in wine ant
brandy making. The reputation of tn,
region is already established and goot
business could be done from the very
start
There are about 100000 acres of excel
lenttimber in this county. Great stretches
of pine forest are found in the western
part, especially in Zuni mountains, on the
Zuni plateau and east of the Zuni rersrva
tion. The timbered area stretches from
northwest to southeast; and although these
forests have furnished all the ties used or
the Atlantic q Pacific road, they may bt
still described as virgin. This is al
timber of sufficient size for lumber. On
the uplands and mesas cedar and pinor
grow in sufficient abundance to furnish
fuel for number of years. All the higher
mountain regions are covered with dense
forests of pine, spruce and fir, inter
mingled in favorable locations with oak
and aspen. At no point are the edges OF
the forest belts more than six or eight
miles from the railroad. The San Matec
mountain forests are virgin. In fact, the
whole of the western half of the county is
covered with heavy timber.
LIVE STOCK.
The principal business of Valencia
county is cattle, sheep and horse raising
Not counting the Indian stock, which is
quite numerous, there are 100000 sheep
100000 cattle and over 5000 horses and
mares in the county. These find nutri-
tious and abundant pasture on the wide
mesas and plateaux. The Manzano valley
especially will always remain a favored
cattle country. Springs abound, and
while there are no rivers or streams OF
sufficient importance to make con.
siderable area of this land valuable for
irrigation, still by judicious develop
ment of the ground or phreatic waters
this whole valley, of more than 100000
acres, can be made to yield good
revenue as cattle country. Water can
be developed almost anywhere. The
western part of the county is no less
valuable in this respect. The canon
streams and the springs on the mesas
furnish an ample supply of water. In
this region farm irrigation and stock
raising can be pursued together. The
stock may be allowed to range at will
during the spring, summer and fall sea.
sons on the best grass, then brought in
and fed alfalfa for a short time before
shipping, SO that the animals may be
sent to market in the primest condition
Upon a systematized ranch this is easily
possible in Valencia county, and the beei
raiser will find his profits not only ma,
terially increased but assured from one
year to the other.
A few miles west of the Rio Grande the
coal measures begin and extend almost
in continuous body to the western
boundary, including an area 100 miles
long by fifty miles wide. Coal crops out
on all the higher mesas. These measures
are continuation of the San Juan and
Bernalillo county beds. These fields
have been very little prospected, but
when development begins there is little
doubt that more than 100000 acres of
choice coal lands will be added to the New
Mexican coal beds.
Salt is found in the Manzano valley
and the Zuni mountains. In the first
location the mines are equal to the
Michigan or Danish deposits. The lakes
of brine in this valley are we'll known.
If properly worked the salt deposits of
the Manzano valley would add greatly to
the commerce of the southwest.
PRECIOUS METALS.
Gold and copper mincs are being work.
ed to some extent in tho Zuni mountains.
In the Manzano range gold is found and
some mines are open. At Abo Pass, in
the Manzano, silver and copper are found.
He'll canon, in the same range, has some
excellent gold properties. These mines
were discovered about two years ago and
If some capital we're invested here it
would pay handsomely. Silver, copper
and lead lodes have been worked in the
Ladrone mountains years ago, but of late
little has been done in that section.
Gypsum is found near Ell Rito adjoln.
ing the Atlantic and Pacific railroad.
This deposit is very pure, lies in regular
strata, and is exposed in a bluff of be.
tween 80 and 100 feet high. This is ex-
tremely valuable as fertilizer.
BUILDING STONE.
In the western part of the county, along
the line of the Atlantic & Pacific, are ex-
iensive deposits of building stone, with
sandstone and granite. These have been
tried and used in the construction Of sew
eral of the largest buildings in the prin-
cipal towns of the territory and are
found to be handsome, durable and just
fitted for the purpose. With the growth
of the larger towns in the territory and
the erection of large business blocks and
municipal buildings these deposits will
prove valuable for the county and for the