Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-05-07
Dry Farming
Promises Much


tcoa,izsed mon rsss rrsl
The shird srosR. the rexsea q ne
VERY lisAt raiafsli. occupies ! rssher
marrow strip running sorth and seash
throagh tho censer u ne territory. or
bust xest q The csnier. and n Tie
aossh half &c me northwest quarter
and The south half a me southwest
quarter. Here pumping o. aTteslaa
fio~ must Be resored 20 wherever
gravity ssstems of Irrigation cannot
" developed Bat here too ill., prsn-
eiples Involved and The methods pnc-
ticed Tor the storage ana conserve
uoa d sol moisture may p~rofltably
Be employed. for the reason thar va
Ter pumped IRON the 1nderflox must
be used economically. a. well as
VIXEN wateF n scarce.
These groupings IL the lands have
been made AFTER . casual study Of the
precipitation. the frost rome. and the
topography OF the territory. Not
enough study and investigation how.
ever have been given "a the various
sections Of the territory 20 warrant q
definite ontiine. without going fur.
Their into the discussion of the loca.
tion Of the probable dry farming
areas. let m turn u attention for
q moment 20 the consideration Of me
crops 10 be srosn.
crsp&
In localities where the rainfall 10
quite heavy staple crops may be
grown. such as wheat. oats, barley.
rye. millet and several Of the forage
producing ~crops-field peas. sacchar.
inc and nonssaccharine sorghums,
etc. In sections where the staple
crops can be grown. vegetables may
be added 20 the list and some Of the
fruits may be- tried. Selection OF var
ieties will naturally form . part Of
the demonstration and experimental
work. BY no means can We expect
all varieties 10 do well under the
varying and trying conditions that
prevail. There win have 70 be q lu-
dicious selection Of tho varieties best
adapted 70 this system OF culture. and
In fact the selection win have 20 be
carried much further-cyen To q se-
lection OF crops suited TO the indi-
viduai localities. Heavy yields must
not always be expected. but by the
use OF suitable labor saving machin-
cry large . may BIO cultivated by
a single individual. and therefore,
even though the net profit per acre
be very low. the total profit may be-
quite large.
Failure.
Under dry farming frequent failure
must be expected,bu the dry farm
err must learn 10 adapt himself 70 the
conditions. and. therefore, must pro.
|, vide for occasional or ven repeated
years of crop failure II may. n
no doubt viii, be found necessary IN
many localities 70 praQice the TWO
year cropping system. whereby the
water Of one year Is stored and con.
served until the next year When y
crop is grown. In moi, q few local.
ties effort will have to be confined
TO a sort or catch crop system. Here
only crops that mature in a very
short period Or time can be grown.
There are a few crops that are especi-
ally adapted TO such a condition;
namely. peas. millet, sweet corn, rape,
etc
ii would be nnwise. owing to our
meager knowledge Of the conditions
in many OF the localities, to attempt
To estimate the area that might be
added to the tillable lands Of the ter
ritory BY dry farming or by q com
bination Of dry farming and pumping
II might be a million or II might bs
ten million acres, or even more. There
Is one very interesting and encourag
ing feature. however, In connection
with the work In hand, and that Is
! that the more we study the condi
lions the more evident IL becomes
that dry farming In New Mexico 4
a practical proposition. However
we must not allow ourselves to be car
ried away by our enthusiasm; tn
conditions must be carefully studied
trial crops grown and facts as to TIL
conditions published and renders
available to the settler. Even afte
We have done all we a the hard
ships or pioneering must still be On
dured. There will be many problem
which the settler must solve for him
self. He must stand the brunt Of tn
undertaking, but like the pioneer
that have gone before. he will hay
helped to carve out an empire to y
left as a legacy to those who fo
low.
wonderful possibilities are presen
ing themselves. We have only I
lay hold and ~persevere. True, reopen
ed failures will be recorded before a
= of the suitable areas are reclaime'
hut the outlook, the possibilities, al
so great that they simply Stage
ones credibility. Impound. store an
properly use all Of the waters Of u
streams and all of the food On
Storm wafers ar arrovos. canon