El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-24


"A sue of April, takes occasion tC
boost the pumping system Of ir'
rigation. and incidentally the Mimbres
Valley. by publishing the following ar
tlcle by w. E Holt entitled The IN
dergrOund Waters Of New Mexico:
"A budding historian of the twentieth
century has recently declared that one
of the smiling valleys OF New Mexico
was the original Garden Of Eden and
that OffShOOts Of the original apple
tree are still bearing fruit Partial
proof OF this was established IN my
mind this year, when saw apple trees
springing from the parent root full
three centuries old and still bearing
fruit
New Mexico is surely fulfilling the
ScTIptural prophecy And the desert
shall be made to rejoice and blossom
as the rose Isaiah might have been
speaking of our region when he re-
ferred TO roses, for nowhere under the
canopy of heaven do flowers grow
more luNuriantly than IN tae great
southwest
For some reason. as yet unexplained
by science. rainfall in the north and
east mas been gradually lessening FOR
the past decade. aud f9rTltTS who for
years have harvested abundant crops,
have been forced against their will per
haps, to agree with a statement recent
" made that shrewd, hardh eaded farm
ers are turning their attention TO
western farms. Naturally, they want
to improve water as well as land con-
ditiOns. In other words they want to
be their own rain-makers. In order
10 do this they must come to the states
where irrigation is practiced-
Government projects and the rec
lamatiOn service appeal very naturally
10 people ana IL is not my purpose TO
dissuade any one thus inclined from
making 1ull and exhaustive eXamina-
ton into any and all projects now in
operation or to be hereafter prOmulg at-
g hr
1T IS well, however. that all people
should know that II takes real money
and lots OF it for one to succeed on
any reclamation project where the in
ttial cost runs into millions. Men with
money, brains and energy viii succeed
on these projects. even though the cost
OF obtaining title TO the land ranges
from SIS TO $50 per acre. with a per
petual tax for maintenance OF cOmmun-
ity bitches added
Intelligent farmers are coming to
the irrigation idea as the only reliable
Ect-rich-Quick scheme without q pen
the-sOil movement there comes q land
munger and water-thirst that can only
he supplied 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 900 acres Of land
under our beautiful turQuois sky with
an available water supply as specf-
pIcaUOns TO the territorial engineer
have been made with bat $50, 900 acres
now irrigated, according TO engineer
Mlller's report. This estimate includes
the latest irrigation project in the
world, now being CONSTRUCTED at Ele-
plant Butte, down 10 the smallest val
ley consisting Of only a few thousand
acres.
The peopling OF this grand domain,
where health. opportunity and oppu-
lence await the man who says. I will
IS going forward with rapid. irresis-
tible strides and the true American
spirit The best civilization Of our
country is joining the forces Of nature
in building a commonwealth that viii
be the peer Of any in the union, and
with climatic conditions surprising
them all
New Mexico has successfully prac-
ticed irrigation since the latter part
Of the sixteenth century SO that We
claim nothing new except improve
ment in method.
Half a Million Acres.
ASIDE from the area that has and
can be reclaimed by Harvesting our
rivers and streams, we have nearly
half million acres Of the richest soil
In America, that is, or may be sue
cessfuly irrigated by underground
waters pumped from shallow depths,
30 20 100 feet OF this vast area, not
over five percent has been put under
cultivation but that five percent has
demonstrated to the world the absO-
Lutte guarantee Of wealth vOuchsafed to
the man who pins his faith upon the
magic of the pump, has the cash or
credit 10 buy the pump and applies
himself with energy and intelligence
IN every county of the new state there
are areas that are being or may be re-
GAINED at enormous profit by the now
proved system Of pumping for irriga-
At Roswell. in the great Pecos val
4e17 where hundreds Of artesian wells
lap the underground waters. and many
Pumps are also in use there have been
sLippeu this year over 5000 carloads
on l4e finest orchard and field products
~ me world worth not less than S3,-
uUo,Uvy, lu say nothing of trainloads OF
IlEesIoch' wool and cotton. This is rel
at-Vely true of the whole of the great
Pecos valley, whose 1911 alfalfa prod
uct alone Is worth almost a million
dollars
A Single pumping proposition near
RosWeu includes 1900 acres. with %
miles OF electric transmission lines
connecting the motor-drfven Durnns
The residents OF this beautiful civ
say that apple orchards in that vfcfn-
.ty are cheaper now at $1,000 an acre
tran they win ever be again.
The POrtales region can boast tho
largest central irrigation power plant
in the United States u-hara ..