Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1900-02-20
A PIONEER ORCHARD
Horticulture As Engaged In By Hon.
L. M. Ortiz On the Farm Estab-
lished By Elias 7. Clark.
APPLES AND THE PROFITS
Sketch of the Man Who At An Early Day
Was Farmer and Official and Some
Facts About the Ortiz
Home.

AAOAs A' hGAS IN oPSNEhh5 VA t">
fruit prospects in the Rio Grande val
ley, says that last year he sold the
apples of his orchard at Los Luceros
Rio Arriba county, to Colorado parties
at ~ cents a pound, the purchasers to
pick the apples from the trees and te
take them as they came. This brought
Mr.. Ortiz a very good profit, and shows
what can be done in New Mexico in hor.
ticulture.
The history of the orchard owned by
Mr.. Ortiz at Los Luceros is an interest.
ing one. It covers ten acres, is the old.
est apple orchard of any size in the ter.
ritory, and was planted in the early 40s
by Elias r. Clark, the grandfather Of
Mr.. Ortiz, probably the first person who
came to New Mexico mainly for his
health. He vas a young man when hi
arrived in this section by way of the ole
Santa Fe train, but was full of push
and enterprise. He sowed the first al.
falfa in New Mexico fifty years ago
paying IS a pound for the seed and i'm.
porting it from Missouri. He sowed this
in his orchard, and regularly ever since
then three good crops of alfalfa have
been cut annually, and it is still as Wig.
orous as it was fifty years ago., moi
damaging the trees any, o the trees
interfering with the growth of the al.
falfa.
Mr.. Clark brought the first Bartlett
| pear tree to New Mexico, and 1T is still
bearing fine fruit. In the orchard alst
| stands what is probably one of the old
est pear trees in America. Over 2O(
years age it was brought by Velarde by
way Of Ell Paso, and although 1t wal
transplanted four times, passing as al
heirloom from generation Ito generation
it is stlM vigorous, and last year bore
almost fifty bushels of pears. The tret
is of the Berg1amot variety, and was
brought to New Mexico by Gregorie
Lucero, an ancestor of Mr.. Ortiz.
The varieties of apples that flourish
best in THE orchard, and nearly al
planted by Mr.. Clark, are the Northern
| Spy, the Greening, the Ben Davis ani
the Sheephead. Over 1900 bushels o.
apples We're picked in the orchard las
year and sold for about 81, 800. There
are also plum, peach, apricot, ounce
cherry and other fruit trees in the or.
chard, and with all of them Mr.. Ortiz,
is equally successful. AS the old tree:
die out he supplants them with young
trees, and has thus been gradually in
creasing the size of the orchard. It wa,
from that orchard that Archbishop La,
my received the first trees for the or
chard he planted at Santa Fe, ant
which marked the beginning of frui
raising in the Santa Fe valley. Mr.. Or
tiz has twenty varieties of apples ant
many varieties of other fruit trees. HI
has a platform on THE Denver & Rit
Grande railroad ait his ranch, and from
1t ships fruit and other products, thu
station being six miles above the In
dian pueblo of San JUAN
The orchard is irrigated by ONE mair
ditch and six Materials, and the water
supply is plentiful the year round. Mr.
Ortiz has also eighty acres in alfalfa
and had three cuttings last year. Mex
to alfalfa he raises a large crop Of
beams, which find a ready market at Els.
pamela, from where they are shipped tx
all parts OF the territory, to Colorado
and beyond. He also raises corn, whear
and other farm products, and keeps &
few cows and sheep. A flower garden
covering over half an acre and contain.
ing the finest varieties of roses and 6
hundred other varieties of flowers is tht
special pride Of Mrs. Ortiz.
Mr.. Ortiz says he has mo difficulty IL
marketing his apples, and many o.
them find their way to Santa Fe, where
he received as high as 3k cents a pound
for them, Walker & Co. and H. S
Kaune & Co. being among his best Gus.
toners, both for early as we'll as late
apples. He has sent ais high as 400 bush.
els of apples in n shipment to Colo
RADIO.
MI. Clark also brought the first Amer
lean plows and cultivators into New
Mexico, and several of them are still
kept as relics on the farm. He built a
very substantial home ON the ranch,
which Is still used as a dwelling. 1t was
the first two-story house in that part of
the country, and its foundation walls
are 5 feet thick. It is delightfully."- cool
IN summer and warm in winter. MI.
Ortiz keeps two Spanish English die
t~ionaries in his office as relics left by
Mr.. Clark, and prizes them highly, as
he believes that they were the first
Spanish English dictionaries brought
into the territory, having been brought
to Los Luceros in 1S47.
MI. Clark was a remarkable man in
many ways. He was a splendid pen
man. and the records Of Rdo Arrfba
county, which he kept as probate clerk,
remain unexcelled to-day in the terri
tory for their neat and artistic pen
manship. He was territorial treasurer
under Governor Meriweather, and
served in other offices, having been one
Of the first district clerks in the terri
tory. He died in 1860, and was buried
in the old abandoned Masonic cemetery
In the rear Of the federal building at
Santa Fe. Mr.. Ortiz Is making an effort
at present to have the remains disin-
tered and taken to the national ceme-
terry, Mr.. Clark having served against
the Indians in the days Of Kit Carson.
Mr.. Ortiz employs five men steadily
on his ranch, and in addition has five
cultdvating on shares. He finds
and farming in New Mex
leo healthful and profitable, and be-
lieves that any mar with pluck and en-
terprise win find IT likewise In almost
any part OF the territory.
Don't miss the Inducements in our
to vuSna~, naoyas-.