El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-24

VIII easily water the 100 acres, so acres
is about all the average small farmer
can handle, especially the homesteader
who is unable to get the labor neceS-
Sary to till 100 acres. As a consequence
the individual farmer is now offering
a part of his land for sale, and the
company has sold 1000 acres since Sep
TENDER. with many new farmers COM
ing in. Three carloads of furniture
have arrived at POrtales during the
past two weeks which is an indication
of the way the newcomers are showing
up. Thus the enterprise is to become
a more intensive one, which will mean
more efficient farming and lager crops
in the aggregate"
Mr.. Rogers says the water is found
in the Portales belt at from II to 20
feet depth, with an average of prob
ably rs feet to lift the water. Two
hOundred thousand acres of sandhills
adjoining the farming belt soak Up the
rainfall and pass it on TO the water
body underneath the level valley so
that this year in spite of three pre-
ceding dry years the water table IS
found to be rising. Three strata of
water are found in 100 feet of depth
one stratum rising to within a short
distance of the surface so that it is
in reality semi-artesian. From Por-
tales east Mr.. Rogers says the whole
country is underlaid with water and
he is confident that there is no pos
sibility of eXhauSting the supply.
There is no mesquite or other similar
growth to be grubbed out and the land
is smooth and with a uniform slope Of
from eight TO a dozen feet to the mile.
The land now being sold is put on
the market al about 800 per acre in
Guiding everything, with the pump al
ready installed so that all the farmer
has to do it to throw off his coat and
spit on his hands and go to farming.
The PortaIes project IS conducted
on mutual basis, the outstanding six
per cent bond issue for the power
plant costing the farmer $3.50 per
acre, no payment being made on the
principal for three years and the pay
ment being extended over a period OF
six years. On the pumping he pays
actual cost and repairs are made On
the machinery by big repair plant
at the power station for cost plus 10
per cent. We are putting in a ma
chine shop a a cost of S15,000,' said
Mr.. Rogers, which we rather think viii
be the best thing of its kind in the
southwest
I'VE viii have all kinds of repair
ing machinery and supply parts, coal
testing apparatus and meter and motor
testing machinery so that there will be
every facility for taking care of acct
dents at the main plant or at the
pumps.
The most important thing to be
remembered about the Portales pro
ject is that when the farmers have all
plant, transmission lines, motors,
pumps and all Each farmer as he
pays up becomes a shareholder in the
company.
The success of this great enterprise,
which has. already been demonstrated,
will advertise New Mexico all over
the country and once and for all es-
tabl1sh the plan of pumping for irri-
cation as a tremendous factor in the
development of the farming lands a.
New Mexico It is being watched with
interest by the L. 5. reclamation ser
vice, whose engineer, P. Z. Fuller, has
spent a great deal of time at PortaIes.'
Mr.. Rogers says there will be d big
showing made by the farmers next
season, with heavy yields of alfalfa,
melons and onions, one man putting
in forty acres of tie latter crop while
various other products will be raised
in large quantities.
An Awakened Interest.
The following statement published
In one of the Albuquerque papers.
shows an awakened interest In the
Albuquerque district in the matter
of pumping water for irrigation:
Irrigation by means of pumping.
such as is practiced successfully in
Northern Colorado. at Portales Dem
ing and elsewhere the power being
sured fact in the vicinity of Albuquer-
que and the Central Rio Grande val
ley. This was made possible by the
action of a number of Bernalillo coun-
tvs progressive farmers. who yester-
day signed contracts with the Federal
Light and Traction company to buy
sufficient power for the next five years
to pump water thus placing 800 acres
of some of the finest bench and fruit