Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-01

pounds each and cabbage heads that tip
the beam at forty-twO pounds. At the
Louisiana Purchase exposition the peaches
Of New Mexico were awarded first premium
In the face OF the competition OF California
and all the south.
These blooming valleys stir the busy
honey bee to unusual activity. a single
colony OF them making the bee keeper
more than 100 pounds Of honey q year. In
one case an average sized colony stored
1876 pounds Of prime honey In a single
season. The mountains and woodlands,
which skirt the valleys, offer a rich field
for the old-fashioned bee hunter, since
thousands OF colonies that rave escaped
from their hives have taken up their abode
there.
New Mexico leads all the American
states In raising Angora goats. Two Of its
prize winners exhibited at the ST. Louis
exposition were remarkable for their
fleeces. One yielded fourteen pounds. which
sold for S42 The other sheared sixteen
pounds. ten pounds OF which sold for IS a
pound. The introduction OF the AnRorR
goat into the United States was during the
administration Of President Polk. The
sultan Of Turkey sent for a man to come
and experiment with the raising Of cotton
in that country. The choice fell upon DR..
James b. Davis of Columbia, s. c., and his
work was so satisfactory that on his de-
parture from Turkey the sultan presented
him with nine Angora goats. This small
flock was the foundation of the Angora
goat industry In this country. there now
being over 100000 of the little animals In
the United States and Alaska.
OF the several irrigation projects under
way in New Mexico, the most important
Is the Rio Grande. This project is partly
in New Mexico, partly in Texas and partly
in Old Mexico. The ~irrigatlng works are all
situated in the United States, though
about g, 900 acres Of Mexican land will be
benefited. FL Paso. Tex, is in the very
heart of the irrigated country, and Is
already one of the principal cities of the
southwest. No finer farming region will
be found in all the world than that which
VIII be reclaimed by the Rio ran At
least ISL, 900 acres Of land Will be irrigated
with three feet of water to the acre per
year.
The El Paso Chamber OF Commerce. de-
clLres that the sediment OF the Rio Grande
is richer in potash and nitrogen than the
soil carried down by the Nile. Canteloupes
grow at the rate of 1900 to the acre, the
receipts running from 5000 10 etSV per hCTS.
Onions yield from fifteen to twenty tons
per acre, and sell at from $50 to 80 per
ton. Asparagus has been known to yield
as high as 1900 pounds to the acre, and
to sell for I'm cents a pound. or S1,5OO per
acre. or course these crops all require
much attention, and these figures show
their gross value. But when they are som
pared with the thirty bushels of wheat
the farmers elsewhere get. with a gross
value of less than $50 to the acre, 1t shows
the possibilities OF irrigation farming.
Alfalfa is q favorite crop with those
who do not care to keep a large force Of
hands. Once 1t gets a good start under
irrigation II requires but little care or
expense and can be looked after by a man
who is tied up with other affairs. For in
stance, the postmaster of El Paso, in addi-
tion to his official duties, manages a large
dairy and cuts some 3,000 tons OF alfalfa
from his ranch below the city every year.
1t yields from five TO ten tons to the acre,
is cut some five times a year and sells at
from so to SIS a ton. a-a ts7
The mining industry in New Mexico is
in its infancy. While the Spanish con-
quistadores failed to find the tabled
treasures OF Cibola, there are evidences
that gold was taken from the river beds
and clutches of the territory for a long
period by the aborigines, and tina placer
mines were worked by white men in the
Sante Fe region 200 years before the Cali
fornia discovery. More than 200 CONNER
cially valuable minerals are found In New
Mexico. and Of these coal is the most i'm
portant. 1t Is estimated by the United
States geographical survey that there are
at least 100000 acres OF coal land that
may be worked profitably, and that there
are nearly s,OOo.OoO,OOO tons of coal in sight.
Salt and lime are found in n~exhaustable
quantities. At Zuni Crater. some fifty
miles from Albuquerque. there are vast
beds of nearly pure salt. There are several
million tons In sight, with the formation
of more going on all the time. The tur-
quoise stones found in New Mexico rival
those OF Persia, and Its opals, moonstones,
agates and other precious stones have ac-
quired a worldwide fame.
ny FREDERXO HAsKTN.
Tomorrow-The smithsonian Institu kion.