Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1906-03-17
COMMERCIAL CLUB
AND IRRIGATION
Directors VIII Undertake to
interest Electric Power
People
IN ELEcTRIc POWER system

routine business "A director arose aud
aatonished iho asanmbiage By am
aeaHtiHs faaf in BIS ualhau iana in
iae RIO GfaHdf valley Tributary in
Albuquerque could hh Irrigated by
means 0i an esiQnsieu OF power lines
from 8 central electric plant located
iu ihia cliy. nos D and south. ln sup.
ply power fuf irrigation pumuiHE from
shallow wells ni 81 average cost of
81 per acre pos year. and ihai a sya.
lem 90 this kind would bring under
cultivation about three times the acre.
age now ia use, and thaf it would in.
rreuse the population 90 the valley
tributary SO Albuquerque many times
over An animated conversation cen
corniug the project vas then entered
into by The members present and the
plan discussed pro and con.
That the plan IL entirely feasible
and thai d would mean much 80 Albu.
quefgua and the Rio Grando valley
trlhniary TO this city cannot Dc gain
sayed There are manf hundreds Of
acres oi land that under this system
could BE- irrigated thai az present can.
NOS be reached by waiter from the riy.
er under existing circumstances. The
plan ~ the club directors is 20 inter.
ogI the Albuquerque Electric Light e.
Power company and set them % TX.
tend thelF poles and lines ID least Eve
miles north and south from this city.
claiming that u they dld 80 the farm
ors. realizing the comparative cheap
ness 81 The system, would hasten 20 IN
stall Individual pumpinE planti on
their farms ana pump water Tor irri.
cation purposes from the shallow
wells fhat abound throughout the yai-
ley. Water can be- found most any
place in DE valley az a depth OF from
ten so forty feet bui THESE wells are
useless Viiaoul a pumping system az
iat az illgail0n purposes are con.
cerned.
OF all che plans for irrigation she
cenirai electric power plant Is per
maps the most feasible and economical
with the chances for failure reduced
10 the greatest minimum. with power
supplied to Individual pumping plants
upon each farm from q central cleo.
trio power plant, the land % a whole
community OF a whole valley can be
as easily served. This system com
1ln,s practically an the advantages
oi the other systems. SUFFICIENT wa
Ger can be developed al one place 90
supply one farm without dlhcuiiyi
risapproprlailon Of water is impossi.
uio for the reason that the water Is
Developed up0n ,he land where0n e
Us used and therefore, az nii times u
ia coairoi of the owner, loss By seep'
age and evaporation is reduced 90 q
minimum. az the wateg is only pump.
Ga Bs needed. unequal division 81 va
Ter and the injustice arising there
from ls absolutely done away with I'M.
der this system. there are no long
diiches to maintain az q great cost;
me Initial cost 81 q pumping plant
ls Tow cnuEh tn be within the means
of almost every farmer in the valley
and the efficiency and economy Of
such a system D. so hifh and The com
naratlve cost of pumping so low as 90
he easily recognized hy anyone inter
osted IN on in irrigation,
Experiments cnffled uut hy the New
Mexico Agricultural Experiment sta.
ton have shown that pumping lFrlga
lion Yields lac greater prefi, as com.
pared 90 river Irrigation For in-
stance. in one case, alfalfa hay la the
stack on the farm was $40 per ton
when river water was used, and $500
per ton when water was supplied BY
pumping The cost per ton bales, {.
q. b. She car, which was stationed
about one mile nom the farm, was
s2.S1 FOR river water, and sA.si for
pumped water SO far the advantage
appears with the river water bat only
two cuttings could be- secured hy u.s.
ing river water whereas four cuttings
we're secured when well water was
used Tht net profit. With alfalfa sell
inF az $40 per ton, WAS Ali.33 pea
acre for river water and sl20s pet
acre for well water, 4 balance Of 1886
per acre Ia favor of iho pumping from
wells system A 20.norae power
steam engine and n G-inch centrifugal
pump. was used. with coal az 81 per
foa. Think, then, how much chcaper
would have been the pumping sys
tenn had they had pwer supplied from
Il ceairal electric power station, doing
away with both lho installation OF @
steam engine and the using OF fOa~on
coal
After ihe discussion ~ ihis very I'M
porianl qu ton al last nights meet
ing tho members Ol the Commercial
club appointed "a committee composed
0l President HopeWeN. Secretary Mc-
Gamma. q T. BROOKS, Wallace hessel-
den and Non HELD fo confer with che
Albuquerque Electric Light q Power
company people ard lay the matter be-
fore ihom with q ylea 20 seeing what
can hc done
That q fouflshIne farming com
munity surrounding Albuquerque would
Do of great benefit to lhia city cannot
bo denied and q la thought that ii
would he feasible 20 run the lines OF q
central electric power system AZ Gar
n0rh az nornaliilO and south 70 los
Luuha No doubt 10 the system was in.
stalled and run o. proposed there
would soon Dc o trolley line following
lae lines 81 The power plant and con'
meeting che farming districts with the
metropolis Of Neg Mexico
~ the matter 81 carried oui as plan
ned ana carefully hendlcd there ls no
reason why N should nor only prove
Il decided ucfesH from the irrigation
ists standpoint, huf romuncrativc go
ina company thus furnishing the pow.
or as well Irrigation ln New Mexico
ia vital matter and anything a.
ilHaHbia and as beneficial aH this
scheme should nor be allowed go fail
through
A RICH FIND OF GOLD lKGOTS