El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-13
As CRUCEs. \. n. sept

AS CRUCES n. NJ sept 10
There has been more interest in
IL the New Mexico lands under the
Elephant Butte project during the past
year than ever before in the history OF
irrigation in those valleys
From Garfield, at the head Of the
Rincon valley, down through the Pa
Tomas and Mesilla valleys, to the Texas
line, improvements have been made by
the score They have been lasting i'm
prOVementS, they have meant the eX-
penditure of much money and more
patience but they will repay the own
ers of the land tenfOld- They are
showing what can be done up here and
are bringing in new settlers
Owing to the failure of many to re-
port their purchases and improvements,
no exact estimate of the amount of
money expended is Obtainable but it
Some farmers figure their expenditures
not by years nor seasons but by the
duration of the time they have owned
the land.
sand Dunes Become Gardens
Where once the sand dunes defied
the ingenuity of man TO make them
yield crops, they now bow in submis-
sion to his will and the water that he
has drawn from their depths and
poured upon the surface has caused
them to blossom with the fruits of pa
thence.
In the Rincon valley one finds in
farms of medium size, some not more
than 40 or 80 acres, others slightly
larger but few as large as a whole
section. Intensive neutrality-suspicious.
much good stuff on small area-has
been practiced- Experienced men have
come from Colorado and Kansas, from
Texas and California They have
plowed, they have planted and they
versified, though there is a marked
tendency to raise alfalfa as the prime
crop. This alfalfa is not sent TO mar
ket; it is fed to hOgSf The hogs are
marketed at a big profit This is a
new and paying industry in the Rio
Grande valley
Example OF Progress.
No better example Of what can be
done with Rio Grande valley land has
been given than is shown by the farm
OF H. T. Williams. He has A acres
under cultivation and says that is all
he wants During the last season. he
took so hogs to market and this year
will sell as many more He gets a
good price for them. Besides alfalfa,
he raises fruit, five acres of it in ap-
pies and one acre in diversified kinds
truck and is improving his ranch year
by year, Graduating all rank growth
and giving much care TO his crops.
J. n. NOrviel has been making sew
eraI Improvements on his land, seven
and one quarter miles from the sta
ton at Hatch. He has been increasing
his fruit orchard of 100 trees and max
ing other improvements on the IS acres
which he originally planned to improve.
Turkeys are one of his best crops and
he raised several head Of them during
the past year.
Another Progressive Man
L C1app, president of the Elephant
Butte Water Users association, who
lives at Hatch when he is at home, has
several ranches in the RincOn valley,
but he has been so busy with the af-
fairs of the Water Users association
during the past year that he had but
little time to devote to his own crops.
Aside from alfalfa, cantalOupes
proved the principal crop OF the upper
MeSilla valley between Las Cruces and
DOna Ana, and, extending a little be-
yOnd the latter point. One company of
Japanese got into the valley and
showed the old growers Of this fruit
just what could be done with constant
care and watching of the crop They
are working the land for all there is
in it and are making big money The
Japanese are recognized as the most
scientific farmers of the age and they
never waste a foot of irrigable land.
Onions, egg plants, chilli peppers and
other crops have produced big returns
throughout the upper and lower Ne
seilla valleys this year. All are es-
pecially adapted to this soil and eli
mate,
A Fine Orchard.
z. c. HOughtOn. of the COrralitOs
has the show place of the Mesilla val
ley Just west Of Las Cruces. He
planted four acres in fruit trees dur
ing the past season, besides giving
much attention to his alfalfa, beans
watermelons and cantalOupes- He is
going to feed cattle on his alfalfa,
which he is storing in his 500 ton
barn.