Deming graphic. (Deming, N.M.) 1903-1948, 1911-12-08

Government projects and the rec
lamation service appeal very natur
ally 10 people and II is not my pur
pose to dissuade any one thus in
clined from making full and 'ex
haustive examination into any ant
all projects now In operation ol
hereafter to be promulgated by oul
generous Uncle Sam.
IT Is well, however, that all people
should know that It takes money
and lots Of 1t for one 10 succeed or
any reclamation project where the
initial cost runs into millions. Mer
with money, brains and energy will
succeed on these projects, even the
the cost of obtaining title to the
land ranges from $45 to $40 pei
acre, with a perpetual tax for main
tenance Of community bitches add
ed.
! Intelligent farmers are coming u
the irrigation idea as the only reliable
get-rich-quick scheme without O
penalty attached. With the Back
to.the-soil" movement there comes
a land-hunger and water-thirst that
can be supplied only by states like
New Mexico. People who have
never travelled the length and
breadth of this mighty southern
empire can scarcely realize that we
have 1000, 1000 acres of land under
our beautiful turquoise sky, with an
available water supply, as specified
by surveyors, and for which applica-
tions to the Territorial Engineer
have been made with but 10000
acres now irrigated, according to
Engineer Miller's report. The esti-
mate includes the largest irrigation
project in the world, now being
constructed at Elephant Butte,
down to the smallest valley consist
ing of only a few thousand acres.
The peopling Of this grand do
main, where health, opportunity.
and oppulence await the man who
says: Il will." is going forward,
with rapid, irresistible strides and
the true American spirit. The best
civilization Of our country is joining
the forces of Nature in building a
commonwealth that will be the peer
of any in the Union, and with eli
matte conditions surprising them
all.
New Mexico has successfully
practiced irrigation since the latter
part of the sixteenth century, so
that we claim nothing new except
improved methods.
Aside from the area that has been
and can be reclaimed by harnessing
our rivers and streams, we have
nearly a half million acres Of the
richest soil in America, that is, or
may be, irrigated by underground
waters pumped from shallow depths,
thirty-fve to one hundred feet. OF
this vast area, not over five per
cent has been put under cultivation,
but that five per cent has fully
demonstrated to the world
the absolute guarantee Of wealth
vouchsafed to the man who pins
his faith upon the magic Of the
pump. has the cash or credit to buy
the pump and applied himself with
energy and intelligence. In every
county of the new state there are
areas that are being or may be
reclaimed at enormous profit by the
now proven system of pumping fol
irrigation.
| At Roswell, in the great Pecos
Valley, hundreds of artesian wells
tap the underground waters, and
many pumps are also in use, there
have been shipped this year over
5000 carloads of the finest orchard
and field products in the world
worth not less than $3.OOO,OO0, Il
say nothing of trainloads of live
stock, wool and cotton. This Il
, relatively true of the whole of thu
great Pecos Valley, whose 1911
alfalfa product alone is worth almos
a million dollars,
A single pumping proposition
near Roswell includes $4,000 acres
. with twenty-eight miles Of electri
> transmission lines connecting tn
!, motor-driven pumps. The resident
+, of this beautiful city say that appl
orchards in this vicinity are cheape
a now at $1,000 an acre than the,