El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-01-24
GREAT POSSIBILITIES IN IRRIGATION
IN The PECOs PALISADES TRACT
CONTINUED From Page Five3

| NOOnLluu0Q r
are now growing in splendid shape an,
the idea of the owners of the land Il
to make the Palisades region a frui
land as well as an agricultural region
Cotton will be experimental with Thu
year on several tracts, but there is ne
question. of its success. At Carlsbad
north only 100 miles. farmers made
bale of cotton to the acre from which
they realized SIS and $50.
The Ready Proof.
Carlsbad has also demonstrated the
| wonderful success that attends almost
| anything planted or sown in the Pecos
valley, but demonstrations are had
closer to home. The Santa Rosa
springs, which bubble up out Of the ap-
parent desert a few miles northwest
| of the upper end of the Palisades dis
trict, have been watering many acres
! for private individuals for a number
! of years and the lands under the ditch
/ produce fruits, vegetables, alfalfa and
everything that has been tried
short distance away, between
Buena Vista and Fort Stockton, the j.
". Crawford farm is another proof Of
what can be grown in this region. This
farm is irrigated by the water from
Leon Spring and produces practically
everything that a farmer or truck
grower would wish to raise, including
$50 alfalfa, for that is what the forage
crop brings in that section.
Throughout the country are springs
like the Santa Rosa and Leon springs,
proving that there is plenty Of water
beneath the surface if wells are only
sunk for it, and that pump irrigation
is going to be possible over wide
area, even after the valley lands along
the river are all taken I'D
Mild Climate.
The climate is mild enough that
truck is seldom killed in the winter
and fruit trees ScarcelY ever suffer.
The sun shines most of the year as
it does at FL Paso, and crops are con-
sequently of quick growth. especially
in such splendid soil as this. Nowhere
can soil be found that looks any bet
ter or produces any quicker. It is loose
enough to allow the roots of the plants
to find their way down into it rapidly
and easily and never cakes when the
water is run on for irrigation. Its
loose nature makes it easily cultivated
and stirred with little effort after the
scientific methods customary to pre-
vent the escape Of the moisture
The construction of the big system
of canals and the reservoir was done
under the direction Of w. w. Folletr.
of Ell Paso, consulting engineer for the
United States section of the interna
tional boundary commission
The main canal takes the water. from
the Pecos river just below the settle
ment of Grand Falls, in Ward county,
and carries it southeast parallel with
the Pecos, on the west bank a distance
of II miles, where the water is emp
tied into the great natural reservoir
of the company.
Great Natural Reservoir.
This reservoir is formed by depres-
sion between hills and was made per-
feet by the construction of a dam a
couple of hundred feet long, across a
draw leading out Of one side Concrete
and steel gates have been constructed
by which the water is delivered into
the distributing canals. The big lake.
two miles square, is now half full of
clear, blue water and is rapidly filling
while the land is not demanding any
of it
The reservoir is full of fish and a
raising Of the headgates of the canal
a few inches the day The Herald rep
resentative was in the party, allowed
a thousand or more fish, five to eight
inches long, to float out into the canal.
A small embankment below in the
canal prevented their escape and the
armed with gunny sacks,
waded in and gathered fish in their
hands. These were taken to Buena
Vista and Fort Stockton later in the
day and everybody Toasted on fish, fine
fresh water fish, rarity in this re-
gion of the country.
Fishing and Hunting.
The fish are known as buIIheads and
are found in large quantities in the
Pecos river. They are breeding in the
reservoir of the company and fishing
is going to be one of the sports and
pastimes of the settlers on the Pail
sades tract a sport that will divide
honors with duck shooting.
Ducks are found everywhere along
the Pecos river. along the irrigation
canals, around the reservoir, in the
where springs bubble and in
the tall grasses of the roadside near
the water. Quail in coveys of from
% to 100 are frightened up all along
the road. There is hardly a region any
where in Texas that affords such sport
in such abundance.
Distributing the Water.
From the main reservoir. the water
is distributed into a main discharge
canal that is Z II miles long This
canal then discharges into two others.
one running down each side of the irri-
gated land area, distance of Is miles.
Then the two canals join again and
run seven miles further southeast and
into the Pecos river Lat
erals are being built from these canals
at various points onto the lands which
the company is selling.
In addition to these bitches, another
ditch known as 'the muddy water
ditch, leaves the river a short ways
above the big reservoir and follows
the river for a distance, discharging
into the main delivery canal below the