Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-10-30
HORTICULTURAL
FUTURE OF The
WESTERN PLAINS
Continued from page 81

reaps It's most bOuntiful harveSts. /
have said that II las been but little
developed. In the eternal wisdom.
which guides the expansion Ct ma
items. II has rcir aimed, covet'l up
this apparen barrenness. But within
a decade or two Of years We have
come to learn something of the DOS
sible wealth that lies waiting here.
Enough water has been 10 mi IL
many sections 10 make the desert
bloom with roses and with the best
fruits of the earth.
Every succeeding year adds to the
area which a be supplied with water
And every new years harvest OF the
crops OF u small and scattered or
chards shows to men more clearly
the vast superiority Of the whole en-
vironment of these plains and val.
legs oyer that of any Of the old fruit.
growing districts, for producing supe-
rior quality in fruits, as well as an
unusual certainty Of crops.
AS l look at the matter, all the con-
ditions point to this elevated belt Of
country as the future great orchard
and vineyard country of the American
continent.
AS soon as the real facts which
surround us can be made known to
all the people, the great orchard plant
ers, are coming up here. They will
want land, and they will find the
water under it. There may be places
where the water is difficult. But or
chards do not require much water as
compared to farm crops. A good
windmill in a well with twenty or
thirty or forty foot lift, will supply q
ten-acre orchard with water. Wind
is cheap and pretty plentiful on these
plains, and the wind a be sup
lemented with engines. A good ten
acre orchard. handled right, will make
an in dependent living for a family.
Is it not time for every landowner to
begin to create this value?
For l say to you again that the
fruit growers Of the east-vthe wise
men Of the east-are coming to q
| country where their business is easier
| surer, and better than 1t is in the old
land. just az soon as they find out
where 1t is. But the people who are
here. and who know most Of the facts
1 give, should not wait for newcomers
These plains should be dotted every
where with the small orchards, with
the great white wings fiuttering owe
them.
How far the conditions for superior
orcharding extend, ! do not know. II
is a question OF a development o.
water. But l believe new sources o.
water will be found as fast as people
claim It for use, as has been In tht
Pecos valley.
In all the great valleys all alonf
the grim brown plains, wherever
springs burst out. wherever stock
water is found, wherever the grea'
floods of wasting rains a be stored
there the orchard.planter will flint
his chance. All the way from tn
borders Of Mexico to the Canadiai
Dominion the possibilities Of orchard
ing will crop out-a full THOUSAND
miles of high valley and high plain.
Within a half century Of years
within the term Of my " horticul
tural activities--there has been work
ing a wondrous change In the way
or living in America. Fifty years ha
multiplied the amount Of fruit consun
ed by our people by something NOR
than a hundred, while the population
has but doubled once and a half. !
that early time strawberries an
other fruits of the garden were grow
, within a few miles Of their marke
The daily supply Of a great tow
could be carried on one wagon. Their
were no large orchards Of any kim
excepting some peach orchards !
Delaware and Jersey. Great appl
apple orchards had not been dreame
Of. Tho finer fruits were mostl
found In the homes Of the rich. Co,
slider the present movement in con
mercial fruits. Whole train loads
strawberries now move northwar
daily over a score Of lines Of railwa,