El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-10-26

Nearly all of the ponds have already
been stocked with fish which give
variety to the farmers food supply and
help make the ponds productive Of d.
rect revenue as well as Of value in the
general irrigation scheme
Many States Represented.
The settlers Of the valley. the actual
settlers. the farmers with rolled up
shirt sleeves" are for the most part
from east Texas or from Oklahoma,
though among them may be -ound men
and women from nearly every state IN
the American union, one from Tar away
Maine. For the greater number Of them
il is their first attempt TO farm with
irrigation. but they are all workers
and all have a little money 10 enable
them to experiment in order that they
may learn what they should and should
not do to make the most out Of the con-
ditions with which they find themselves
surrounded.
Not a Poor Mans Country.
This is not in the strictest sense OF
the term, a poor mars country. Even
with the land obtained under the con-
ditions prescribed by the homestead
act there is the cost Of the well; the
cost Of clearing and leveling the land;
the cost Of blowing and otherwise pre-
pairing the land for the seed for the
first crop, the cost of the stock without
which no one should attempt TO try 10
cultivate a farm. the cost OF maintain
ing a family while waiting for the first
crop TO mature the cost OF seed Tor the
first crop-theSe are some Of the costs
which must be met and which the set
tier should be prepared TO meet when
he comes here If he hopes 10 succeed.
At present he can not hope 10 get any
outside work and at the same time keep
up the Improvement Work on his own
place required by the government Il
would be fine to be able to paint this
as a poor mans paradise, but IL would
be unfair TO the poor man who might
be induced, through reading Of this
article, to come here As time goes on
and the pioneers get their lands under
cultivation and need help, there viii
be an opportunity for the man who has
nothing but the labor Of his hands Not
now.
Much Good Land Left
While all the lands in the proved ar
tesian belt have been flee upon there
are still thousands Of acres in the
pumping belt still unclaimed and
which may be secured by bOnafide set
tiers under the desert claim act While
800 acres may be claimed under this
act there viii stin be the cost Of wells.
clearing. levelinE, blowing. ditChing.
planting. building, etc, TO be thought
or by those who contemplate taking
up a desert claim Even they require
money but with the water so close to
the surface. the land so cheap and the
soil so fertile the investment, II made
by a worker, viii yield good returns.
Some OF the Wells
Among those who have put down
wells and made signal successes in
this valley during the past two or three
years may be mentioned
A. S Mckinney. who has a 731 foot
well, throwing 300 gallons per minute
81 1-2 feet in the air Mr.. Mckinney
has 40 acres under cultivation, chiefly
70 forage Of which he has had an
amazing yield He is planting 20 acres
to alfalfa this fall with winter wheat
as a cover crop This year he took
two crops OF Irish potatoes from the
same ground. in fact he took two crops
Of something from most Of the land he
had under cultivation he is q strong
believer in the theory that this valley
is rs well suited 20 the growth Of the
irish potato as is the potato belt Of
Colorado and he is going TO try TO de-
Telop his theory next spring.
Two Cheap Wells
Peter Jensen irrigates so acres from
two wells which he put down at a cost
Of $3.50 complete and which give him
400 gallons per minute.
H. o. Carr has so acres Of wheat and
alfalfa which he irrigates from three
ellis.
J. ". Thompson has three wells from
which he irriEates 10 acres Of which
40 acres are in alfalfa and the balance
in forage and vegetables
DR.. ". W Hammons has one Of the
best wells in the valley and farm Of
800 acres.
MIS- W. r. Levi Is mas a Wei anu ~
acres under cultivation
J. l. Hill has $50 gallon well from
which he irrigates 30 acres
san Angelo Physician There.
DR.. Right, Of san Angelo. Texas,
irrigates 100 acres Of Alfalfa and forage
from two wells. DR.. Right is rapidly
getting more land ready ror crop and
Will put down another well next year
10 enable him TO meet any emergency
which may arise
al Gnrr-Hr Hrr=n ~
though he has as yet but 10 acres I'M
der the pillow At the fair last week
Mr.. Kirby took first prize for the best
general exhibit Of agricultural prod
ucts Judged as to quality and variety
Among other things he showed one hill
Of sweet potatoes which yielded Is
pounds and he had one sweet potato
on exhibition which weighed s II
pounds.
FL PasO Represented.
Cliff Z. Wharton. formerly Of FL Paso
has two wells with 40 acres under the
pillow.
George Anderson put down well
this year and got 10 acres in crop. He
will have 40 acres under irrigation next
VIII Buck. formerly Of Alamogordo.
has two wells with which he irrigates
20 acres Of alfalfa and 20 acres Of for
age and vegetables
James R. SomervilIe. formerly CT
Deming. \. n, irrigates 40 acres with
one well.
The foregoing are but a few Of those
who have put down the los wells which
are doing so much 10 reclaim this once
despised desert and prove that there is
an inexhaustibis supply Of artesia.s
water underlying the whole valley.
A Wide Place in the Road.
As a political entity, using the term
political in its broad, rather Khan its
party sense. il is simply a 'wile place
in the road" It is nOt a city. not even
a village. It has no government. eS-
cept as it is governed by the county
government Of Cochise county Of which
il is a part.
The sole representative OF law and
order in the community is a deputy
sheriff and he does not seem to be over
worked.
The tOwnsite which was laid out in
1911 by John A. Duncan, L. Grant Dun
can and George E Sigh, comprises 100
acres of land, about equally divided
by the tracks OF the Southern Pacific
railroad One Of the first acts of the
townsite founders was to donate TO the
city" a small tract Of land in close
proximity to the first artesian Will TO }
be used as a public park. This park
has since become the particular charge
Of the women who are organized as a
band Of Cheerful Workers and they
have seen TO it that the park has been