The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-01-31
New Mexico Rich in
Natural Resources.
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN.

petition of California and "a -
South, 81 e
Leads I'm Angora Goats.
New Mexico leads all the kmef4~
can States in raising AnG0rA 3cA11
Two Of Its prize winners exhintted N
the st. Louis Exposition Were -
markable for their deeces. One yield>
ed fourteen pounds, which sold Tn
s43. The other sheared sixteefs
pounds, ten pounds OF which sold tor
I'VE dollars pound.
OF. the several irrigation proposes
under way in New Mexico. the mc6k
important Is the Rio Grandc. This
project IL partly in New Mexico, part.
" In Texas and partly In Old Mexfcos
The irrfgating works are all situate
ed in the United States. though about
$4,000 acres fof Mexican land Will
be benefited. Ell Paso, Texas, u In
the very heart OF the irrigated coun-
try. and Is already one Of tho prfn-s
cipel cities OF the southwest. No
finer farming region wifi be found
Will be reclaimed by the Rio Grandes
At least 10000 acres of land wills
be irrigated With three feet Of water
to the acre per year.
Rich Possibilities. Il
The FL Paso Chamber OF Cona-
merce declares that the sediment at
the Itie Grande h richer In POTASH
and nttrogen-than-tha- soil-caxetod
down by the Nile. Canteloupes grow
at the rata--of- s. Aaa to the acFew
the receipts running from 3k85 to
fifteen to twenty tons per acre, and
sell at from thirty to forty dollars
per ton. Asparagus has been known
to yield as high as 12.000 pounds
to the acre. and to sell for tMeIva
and half cents q pound. or $i,604
per acre. or course these crons s3I1
Require much attention aEt these
figures show their gross value. But
when they are cGaSpared with the
thirty bushels of wheat the f4rmor1
elsewhere get, with q gross value Of
less ,flan thirty dollars to the acre.
Isaf shows the possibilities Of irriga-
ton farming
Alfalfa Good Crop.
Alfalfa Is a favorite crop with those
who do not care To keep large forc0
of hands Once II gets good start
under irrigation II requires but littl9
care or expense. and can be looked
after by a man who Is tied up with
other affairs.
The mining industry in New Mexico
is in its infancy. While the SpAnish
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES IaltE4S 10 uHu I'm
tabled treasures Of Cibola, there nr9
evidences that gold was taken from
the river beds and CLUTCHES Of the
territory for a long period by tho
aboYigines, and that placer mines
were worked by white men IN tho
Sante Fe region two hundred years
before the California discovery. Mor1
than two hundred commercially yalus
able minerals are found In M6N.
Mexico, and OF these coal n the mel
| irnportaHt. III IL estimated ~ IA
United States Geological Survey thai
there are at least 1900. 900 acres 81
coal land that may be worked profit
ably, and that there are nearly nfnA
billions tons of co@s In sight.
Salt and lime are found In inex~
haustahle quantities. At Zuni Crater
some fifty miles from AlbuuueruuA,
there are vast beds Of nearly pure
salt. There are several million tong
in sight. with the formation OF more
going on all the time. The ts1r4
auoise stones found in New Mexico
rival those of Persia, and It's opala,
maonstoaes, agates and ether preciou6
stones have acquired q worid-wfda
fame.
Tomorrow the Smithsonian 1nsti-
tuition