Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1900-12-07
An Interview With Hon. Granville
Pendleton on the Resources of
the San Juan Valley,
IMMENSE COAL MEASURES.
A New Railroad One of. the Immediate
Needs of That Section-A Successful
Creamery and Evaporator in 0p-
GRAFTON at Pennington.

from the counties of San Juan, Rio Ar
riba and Taos, and whose home is at
Aztec, the tlourishing county seat of
San Juan county has been in the capt.
tai for several days on business con-
nected with his professionalism of the
law.
DOUBLED IN POPULATION.
THE fact that our county seat has
doubled in population and wealth with
In less than two years." said Judge
Pendleton, ought to be tangible evil
dence that we, in San Juan county, are
enjoying our full share of prosperity.
The Improvements consist of substan-
tal brick and frame dwellings and
storerooms, and the new people who
have come to occupy them constitute
most desirable class. Pennington,
Jewett, Bloomfield and other towns in
the county are also growing at a most
gratifying rate. Our new normal
school at Aztec, under the management
note, is getting on nicely. Some fifty
pupils are enrolled. The general public
school system throughout the county
is also doing well. We have found that
it pays to foster and encourage our
school interests, for one thing, among
others, it has served to attract de-
sirable class of settlers; a good many
people having live stock and mining in
terests in the mountainous region of
southwestern Colorado are coming into
the warmer districts about Aztec and
Pennington and are making their win
ter homes. buying fruit farms and
their children to school in these
towns. Stockmen of Colorado also are
beginning to appreciate the value of
our irrigation systems and our forage
crops. We produce four to six tons of
alfalfa to the acre annually, and stock
men are now paying $5 per ton for it in
the stack. Besides our home stock
probably 10000 head of cattle from
Colorado are now being
fed on alfalfa in the irrigated valleys of
San Juan county.
~ IooD L N hOIl wv 4N IIeI
And as to fruit, we rather think we
have the edge on most any other sec
tion OF the Rocky mountain country,
especially as u winter apples. In the
growing and shipping of these latter,
we have already well established in
dustry which is being enlarged each
year. The agents of the
Chicago firms shipped out of the val
ley last month over sixty carloads of
apples, and one Durango firm shipped
20 carloads, not to speak of the smaller
shipments. The Chicago, Denver and
Durango commission merchants send
their men into our orchards, supply
their own cases, pick pack and ship
out the fruit. The cases hold fifty
pounds, and the orchardist is paid 80
cents per box for the Ben Davis .arie-
ty, up to 55 cents for the Jonathan,
Baldwin, Grimes Golden, Missouri
Pippin, etc. This, too, mind you, when
the fruit has to be handled 80 to 65
miles in wagons at buyers risk before
reaching the railway shipping point. OF
course, we always have an abundant
crop of other fruits. such as peaches,
pears, plums, grapes, etc. Indeed, for
all products of the orchard and farm, l
really think that San Juan county
stands as the banner section of Colora-
do and New Mexico.
CREAMERY AND FRUIT EVAPO-
RATOR.
"Mr. Sellers, late of California, is
big success of his creamery
and fruit evaporator near Pennington.
There is fine opening in the valley for
a distillery to produce brandy from
peaches and apples. Poultry and dairy
farms also pay big profits and cheese
factory would do well.
A GOOD MARKET.
zone chief advantage we enjoy over
most farming communities is our ex
cellent market that no competition can
possibly deprive us of in the future
our products bring exceptionally high
prices in Durango, Silverton, Telluride,
Rico, Ouray, Ridgeway and other Col
orado mountain towns and mining
camps. AS these grow so must in
crease the demand for the products Of
San Juan county's farms and orchards,
and the only competition is with goods
shipped in from points hundreds of
miles distant.
IRRIGATION ENTERPRISES.
Chances for new irrigation and colo
nization enterprises? Why, San Juan
county is full of the most inviting op-
portunities, of this sort. How the peo-
pie of Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Ok
1ahoma can keep their hands off them
surpasses my comprehension. AS it is,
there is land under the existing irriga-
ton systems to accommodate yet few
thousand farmers and We'll give them
the glad hand when they come. Raw
lands with perpetual water right are
worth SIS to $40 per acre; improved
lands with young orchards sells at $25
to $40, depending upon location. Sew
eral colonization enterprises are under
way. A Mr.. Pepper from Horton, Kas.,
and several parties from Grand juno
ton, Colo, are now looking over the
country with view of putting in an
irrigation system, the lands thus
brought under water to be chiefly de-
voted to the raising of sugar beets. The
sugar beet, by the way. practically at
tains perfection in our sunny cline.
LARGE BODIES OF COAL.
1--WE need railroad, of course, but
that will come ere long we think, and