Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-06-21
Herald Correspondent Finds
Much Of interest in Farm
inston Country
Farmington, June 1S, 1906.

day or .. noting the detail of a sit
uation presented a.ier 30 Years of Ell
fort, SAGE the first pioneer stuck ais
stake acre. one will be impressed
with what has beea accom- plished for
irrigation more than VITA anything
else. At all seasons OF The year the
lands placed under irrigating bitches
nave an abundance of water. Just
below Pennington the waste water OF
two bitches flowing through an ar.
roya or sand washout. is Sufficient TO
irrigate several thousand acres of
land. and this water could be diverted
across the San Juan river, where
there are thousands of acres of as
good land as that now under cultiya-
tion along the Anirhas river. And
still there is enough water in the
Animas river to irrigate twenty times
the acreage now under cultivation
In Pennington at present the ny
drants are permitted 20 flow day and
night, on lawns and gardens. and to
keep down the dust and minimize the
effect of the suns heat In the after
:. noon.
The mornings are cool and the TEN
perature comfortable to mountain
o.. people until about noon. From that
time till evening II is quite warm,
cooling slowly till midnight, when the
cooler wave begins, and between MID.
night and morning the slumberer
reaches down occasionally to tuck his
= covering about him.
The present water system. put in
by C. n. McHenry five years ago, ap
pears TO be adequate to all needs, and
can Le enlarged with little expense.
comparatively, at any time. The
pressure is sufficient to fight fires ef
fectively. The light system is quite
as good as that az Durango, and prob
ably two-thirds of the city is lighted
with electricity.
There is much discussion of a nav
project TO bring water from the San
Juan river across the Animas To
Pennington. This is contemplated as
municipal enterprise.
Various projects are under consid
GRAFTON for reclaiming the beautiful
expanse OF lands sloping from the
south side to the San Juan river
Since IL Is impracticable TO fiume or
pipe water from the San Juan from
long distance above, on account OF
the efca. expense, the plans now dis.
cusssd are for pumping and placing
watc. waceis, carrying buckets tol
dump in q alme above.
The sale Of real estate is not as
&. g..
several months. but sales are made
almost every day. Yesterday a small
tract which was sold five years ago
for $675 was sold again for $3500
and little had been done during the
time to improve the land. Unim
proved lands are selling at from s.
| 10 500 per acre, and improved tracts
sSat from $50 10 5000 Many of the
owners OF orchards are asking from
$500 to $500 per acre, and prices al
most as high in some instances nave
been paid for small home tracts.
In proportion TO population Farm
ington has more beautiful modern
homes of brick, stone block and frame
than any city in the west. With a
80 seven to 12-room homes, with in
terror hnishings in the best home
pine from Durango, or hardwood, and
the furnishings of the homes general
ly are not excelled in Durango. Lend
ing luster to this situation, every
where are found small orchards and
shade trees, with generally profus
ff ON rdn
Mayor Mcconnell of Durango has Il
little farm of about two acres. with
what Is said to be the best peach or
chard in Pennington. He has a pota
to patch in the middle and apple trees
that ought 10 he replaced with the
seedless on the other side. Abe Howe
who has one of the prettiest homes ir7
the city. was looking after the ma
yor's farm yesterday. This small
farm Is made historic for the ruins
of the Masonic hall built here in the
early d vs. of large concrete blocks
made or the soil and bowlders. The
stru-tIie had stood about 20 years
and e food. waters from rains had
softened the earth foundation until
the walls were about to fall. when
Mr. Mcconnell instructed Mr.. Howe
10 dynamite the walls. that they NIGH
not fall on unsuspecting children
when they go in to help themselves
10 peaches.
That there is something wrong
with the lumber yard situation is evi
dent. One large two-story structure
building of the native cement blocks
is stopped at the second story. wait
ing for joists and other lumber. an6
four or five residences are at q
standstill.
The Navajo is trusted menial III
various capacities here. and he is go
ing TO hold his place against the Jap
and Chink, or almost anybody else.
The tribe appears to he enjoying pros
perity ss many OF them are seen here
with money or something to trade.
Many good, horses and few pooi
ones are sQen here Some nf tho An