Albuquerque morning journal., 1913-12-30

n lCy a remarkably fertile are
traversed hy the Santa Fe rll
! way in eastern New Mexico. hlv
abandoned the cooperative plan q
I, generating and distributing elcctri
power for their pumps, ana tWnc
the plant over 10 the bondholdcr.
from whom they now buy power
Thcy began three years ago viii
bright hopes They had soil unsur
. passed on the face or the rloho. an,
IA ltcat underground river of waite
nom which the lift was mo- ercate
than thirty feet The soil and watcl
assured they believed The most eco
nomical means OF creating ana dis
irlbut'ng power for pumping woull
be a community plant Accordingly
they bonded their farms Tor s8i pci
acre 90 build ANA equip ccnin
power station and string wires over
the valley This laid a dcbt of $500.
600 on the VALLEY, lt looked wen on
/ paper and the great production oi
I the soil following the advent Of wa.
/ ter from the abundance below. IA,
| first season stimulated their hopes
I However they had not rockonod on
the inefilclency and incxporicnco oi
/ tCo-Opcratiye munagement of compli-
Gated and gigantic electrical mu-
/ lehiuory the wide differences Of opln-
ion among so many stockholders and
the utter imposhbillty NJ ono familY
I farming 100 ocros which, under
pump Irrigation requires intensive
cultivation Inevitably the cnterpris.
collapsed
Soil aud Water Remained
But the soil and water remained
and the debt was so great that the
boudholders, who were no other than
the Westinghouse people Of Pittsburgh.
to save themselves were compelled to
take over the whole business. They
mi-ht have forcclnsea and sold ent
the settlers wholly However. they
Were not In the enterprise 90 profit
hy the misforiunes Of The settlers
they only wanted their money back,
ana 90 obtain H. they were willing
10 20 in and divide the responsibility
with their debtors Accordingly by
agreement they took the central plant
and half the land leaving the several
settlers the remainder of their farms
free Of debt. Indeed. half the land
ia better than the original farms of
100 acres since intensive cultivation
IS necessary here, and now the set-
Tiers orc making more money than
their brightest hopes promised. origi-
ually More than this. they are rid
of the ycxati0us responsibility of op-
Grating % cooperative plant. for the
Westinghouse company. having taken
ever the plant now maintains anl
operates it Independently So after
aii the failure of the cooperative
plant opened the way for a great
corporation 90 unite with the farm
crs Ia the common cause Of peopling
the valley aud subiecting the whole
area 90 the uses of agriculture.
Two Corporations Necessary.
To DO this, two corporations nave
been created. one to generate and disc f.
tribute power, and the othor to own !
and sell the land By the agreed az !
vision, the land corporation became .
the owner Of about 1000 acres These
lands are offered I'm tracts of twenty. .
forty sixty and eighty acres, and the
prices are from SI5 TO $3.50 per
mere; the average &f15 The soil ls
The same and the water equally .
'Nuudani and accessible over the
whole district; distance from railway
station only making the difference in
price The purchase Of eighty acres
Includes motor and pump. Tho
terms are oasy and the interest ON
deferred payments siX per cent For
example. If "a settler buys now, his
first deferred payment becomes due
November /, 1915; giving The settler
he crops of two years by which 90
make himself easy financially These
racts have wells Csomo of them
iousesl ready for the plow. Some Of
hem have meadows of alfalfa and
lrehard trees IN bearing The COM
'auy win plant alfalfa " desired,
a good stand. The name
Westinghouse is a guarantee OF fun
Of contract. In addition
he power plant is public utility
lud compelled boy law to perform iu
lutios.
These lands produce, IN abundance
ilfalfu, koffir-coru, milo-maizc, mil.
e' hroomcorn. sorghum Indian I
'oru. sweet-potntoes, 1rsh-potatocs.
'antuloppes watermelons. cusaba
cuoumbers, tomatoes, onions,
peanuts cabbages, sQuashcs pump.
ons, cauiflower celery, peppers
leans, peas plumg, apples, peaches
,ears cherries grapes, curmnts
dowberries, raspberrcs
gooscborrles and strawberries cat
lie, horses, mules hogs, sheep, goats
'hickens. turkeys. and butter are also
Produced, profltably Tho great sta-
lies here however are alfalfa. hogs
ind dairy products Tho most prof
table farm, of course. Is one under
/ pump, but land lying outside Of ,
he irrlgable area also may be made
productive, IL cultivated scientifically
IN example of the latter rs the Nor. f.
.aH farm elsewhere mentioned In
his letter
Alfalfa and Hogs
In this valley meadow Of alfalfa /
lecomes permanently set In two years
( first set in May or June, It may be
ut once the first season, and five
imes the second. Local farmers tell
i seven 60 nine tons in the fourth ;
ear' but if q farmer gets five tons,
Ie may be satisfied, and an over that
5 good measure Examples re-
orted OF greater Yields are seven 60