Estancia news-herald. [volume] (Estancia, Torrance County, N.M.) 1912-19??, 1914-01-29

tary to Mountalnalr, selling al
grazing land prices, the arabic
land, while selling at a low price,
is far too high to be used for
grazing purposes only. This ar
able land is being bought up by
farmers who expect to farm it,
or by men who have gone
through similar conditions in
other parts of thes west and are
now taking advantage of this
opportunity to profit by their ex-
perience.
Had Mr.. Beal's investigation
been little more thorough, he
would not have been compelled
to base his hope of success as an
orchardist on the history of the
old apple trees at Manzano alone.
There are other bearing orchards
in this vicinity, which produced
splendid crop of commercial
apples during this dry year just
past. might refer to one in
stance only, that of II. G.. Nose
ley, who has lived upon and sue
cessfully farmed the same place
for thirty-two years, who last
year from five Ben Davis apple
trees harvested one hundred and
fifty bushels, an average of thirty
bushels to the tree. This one
instance would seem to refute
the statement that dry farming
in New Mexico is unsuccessful,
but many other instances could
be cited in refutation. The
records compiled by this office
show that prior to last year dry
farming in this vicinity was very
generally successful, the most
profitable crops being wheat,
corn, oats, potatoes, beans, milo
maize, etc. In fact we produce
about the same as that grown in
the latitude of southern Kansas.
Forage crops, of course, do we'll.
We have verified report of
many phenominal yields, as in
the case of John Guiton, who one
year produced and harvested be-
tween thirteen and fourteen
thousand pounds of potatoes to
the acre, by dry farming meth
DDS. Thanking you in advance
for the publication of this article,
| remain
Very truly yours,
B. E. Hedding,
Secretary Mountainair Business
Mems Association.
Following is the Kansas City
Journal interview referred to in
the foregoing:
New Mexico isn't a dry farm
ing country, it is sheep and
cattle country, and the expert
ence of the dry farmers last year
proved this fact conclusively," "
said j. A. Beal, a ranchman of
Mountainair, N. M =, at the Savoy
last night.
Mr.. Beall came to Kansas City
with a car load of stock from his
ranch, which is located on the
line of the Belen cutoff of the
Santa Fe, where the dry farm
ing experiments were made
Sheep and cattle men are
coming back into our country
and buying up the land and the
dry farmers are leaving. The
quickness with which the change
is taking place is remarkable
While not a farming section,
Mr.. Beall says he personally is
experimenting with an apple Or
chard.
Il put out $4,000 Missouri ap.
pie trees" he said. That was
two years ago and they are doing
well. l was encouraged to try
apple growing because Of the fact
that at Manzano, which is the
Spanish word for apple, there
| are $50 trees growing which were
set out by the Franciscan fathers
in the sixteenth century. The
trees have grown to immense
size, the majority of them being
large enough to make logs. The
fruit is very prolific, but as the
trees were seedlings and have
never at any time in the more
than 300 years they have been
growing had any care or cultiva.