Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1894-03-17
VAS. 90 sse s.As.s wars.


Value ~ R~ 9rsude water fnr ~. Pur.
i"-e II irr,gs,,ou," giving the results ~
MI r,,enied investigation by the chem.
teal department, 81 the station. !, 10
shown tina, the only r.aspns when the
water ~ the river contains sikali mfh
cieu, 10 lc II injury IA soil ~ croi~ arr
Immediately foli"wing n rise due ,o heavy
rains coming amer pr",ract'Si dry spell,
when nn water should IT, usssi fnr irriga.
CATION II II IL Isssibfr /" avoid II. Along
In the summer. about the hirt " Scptem.
her. the water ~ the lower river carried
large amount ~ brick i,-i sediment, gen.
orally termed kio Puerro water, and
every year for = short SEASON following =
husi IN the Rio pperco, the water ~ the
Rio Hrande IL characterized ~ mcui1ncd
anil 'rrigAtnrr are recommended !" ~.
frAin frum using the water NJ such sea.
rnns Tor irrigA,ing, a. u contains mnr
alkali than At any other prri"i rxam.
ln-d
With the exception ~ ,h'rr times. the
water IL III. RIO Grandc II uurNcrllr'l fur
irrigation purposes, l-ing rich In fertilu
ing elements II ~ scientifically demon.
strzt,Si that more plan, hsi il probably
added To the land by using two fee, in
depth in river water, I-r annum In ,rri-
eating than IL removed by the crops
hence. 10y using that amour, ~ wSi"r
such u thing a. the absolut" exhaustion
of the land is impossible
To quote from the bulletin Their
a,rIns to be, on the whole. Ia be gpsi
evidence tina, the land here IN the valley
il practically ineXhaurtiblc when irri-
gHt,Sl with sufficient quantities II river
water In this connection might la men.
ti"n,pi the fac, tina, fields of alfalfa can
hr found herr which have rtSd for more
than my years wi,hou, being reset, ADD
which prsluce an gud cr'pr now ne
| ever"
Mr. q c. Snow. large alfalfa grower
here in the valley. states that he has pro.
! dured excellent alfalfa fi,nn land origin.
ally consisting almost entirely II pury
white asnd which would hardly pr,uiuc.
anything h-fnre. Ivy simply irrlga,ing
with the muddy river water, using large
quantities n, first Ia ge, n coating of ti',
s.,lim.n, over III, sand and then seeding
II to alfalfa and irrigsting n, the usua
| intervals "
Il, il unquestionably true that muci
If ID. land here IN the valley has bee,
cultivated Tor very long time and is ye
exceptionally fertile. II Ia also well
known in the can. 81 other rivers. that ,h'
land u,,nn which their sediments arr lie
posted il neLhsustible The Nile fur
nishcs q good example of this fact; tn
land along this stream having hee'
cropped far ages without becoming i'm
Ioverishe,i "
Taking everything into consideration
IL seems very probable. indeed that Ter
tile land in the Ri" arsnde valley coul,
never become NJ far exhausted ~ Ia pro
duce very poor crops, IL sufficient mudd.
water from the river In applied Ia II
THIS conc fusion IN drawn ON the assuinr
ton that the sediment In the water find
,ts way Ia the land, for !, il the s"iim-n,
as previously shown, that contains b.
far the greater part IL the frrtilillng ma
,-risl. Anything that would tend ;
check ar prevent the flow II the waite
containing this sediment should he avoid
ed, for when the water ceases to move
the sediment settles out. For this reaso
siderable fall, II poes,ble, and should l.
kept free from weeds and other materia
which tends TO check the flow Of water
II IL on the land that the sediment In de
sirable and not At the bottom II tn
irrigating bitches. When the waite
reaches the land 10 be irrigated, II shout,
be held in place by the necessary "bor
lers" until the sediment has time 60 dc
posit. and not allowed To flow over Tia
land rapidly and thus carry the sedimeu
of with Il. II must also he rememb er.,
that fertilizing material alone cannot pro
duce crops. Unless the soil Is kept pro
lerly titled aud irrigated, plants canno
lie expected 10 grow. Neither can the.
be expected 10 grow In land heavil,
charged with alkali until tina, mAtsria
has been removed. 30 that when 200
crops ARE secured, they should not b
| a., rxiite.i IN lack ~ f,rtilixinv matsrinl 1,