Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-13

occupation by the S%paniards while
there are remains of ancient irrigat-
ing bitches in Taos county used prob
ably many hundred years before by
the Pueblo Indians or by some race
which preceded them.
In ColfaX county which was for
merly the home and faVorite hunting
ground of the Utes and Apaches In
dams irrigation farming has been
practiced for over fifty years. The
noted scout and Indian fighter, Kit
Carson, a q ranch On the Ponil near
Cimarron and constructed one of the
first |irrigating bitches I'm Colfax coun-
ty. The irrigated farms and the large
stone flour mill at CimarrOn, owned
by Lucien B. Maxwell, supplied the
settlers and the United States army
posts with flour in the early sixties.
Irrigation Development.
"Here b. f. Eaton. the pioneer of
the great Greeley irrigation district,
afterwards governor Of Colorado.
learned to farm by irrigation on II
of MaXwell's ranches near Cimarron.
Put the methods of irrigation,
seeding and cultivation, were crude
and wasteful compared to modern
methods now in use in the irrigation
in California, Utah and Colo
RADIO, and until quite recently no eff
forts have been made to store and
utilize the vast quantities of flood wa
ter. r III
1T Is only within a few years that
he great irrigation possibilities along
his watershed have been given any
lttention. The reason for this is that
greater part of the land i'm these ]
.ounties was included in land grantg J
'wned by q few individuals and COM
anies and used for grazing Z
he owners did not want to divide the |
ana into small tracts for settlers In
act settlers were Just what they did |
Of desire. But the settler has come.
ms means that there will soon be a
lltivatcd farm on the area of ground
'rmerly required for the maintenance r
Z n single steer. =
"The crops grown under irrigation f.
his district are chiefly alfalfa. h
beets. wheat, oats. barley, beans v
entucky bluegrass and all ginds of cl
lfden vegetables, including melons. as
IT IS q fine fruit country, particu- oil
rly for high priced apples and pears. CT
apples are thin-skinned. crisp and w
of finest flavor and Keeping w,
Ialities. There are q few good orch W
DIS that have been bearing for So OF
30 years, with very few failures co
ring that time. bl
Sugar Beet Production. of
All the conditions are exceptionally WI
vorable for sugar beet culture I'M sa
r irrigation. The temperature OF the
MINER months, the mean for June IN
ly and August being 20 degrees, fol- pc
we'd by a long period Of cool. dry u,
'ather. for ripening and harvesting. 81
Ideal for production of a high tom IFS
G and sugar percentage. W.
For the past two years sugar beets ia
We been raised near Las Vegas. Az
Shoemaker. Miami. Springer rrio
d Maxwell, at the last named place in7
both an experimental and n COM
'rcial way The average sugar per-
Of the 1908 crop of New Mex
exceeded hat of any other state 4
territory in the United States. The IN
" crop made an actual commercial E
t for beets shipped of over II per nm
It. nv
But irrigation here, under system y
modern methods, depends upon AR
reservoiring for reserve sup II /
and is in its incipiency. Several W.
enterprises are projected and iIin,
have progressed sufficiently to full
in colonization. In the class are a.
-