

NEW MEXICO. 



NEW YORK. 



491 



kets, without having to drive across the country. 

 The Union Pacific, Denver and Gulf road is built 

 through the northeastern corner of the Territory 

 for 80 miles. About 150 miles of the Southern 

 Pacific road runs through the Territory. The Al- 

 magordo and Sacramento Mountain road has now 

 completed its line to the Sacramento mountains. 

 These mountains are noted for their excellent tim- 

 ber. The Santa Fe Pacific (formerly the Atlantic 

 Pacific) takes in about 200 miles of the Territory, 

 and the Silver City, Deming and Pacific road is 

 completed. 



Sheep. In his report to the Secretary of the 

 Interior for 1898, the Governor says of the sheep 

 industry : 



" New Mexico's natural adaptability to sheep 

 raising and woolgrowing was recognized by the 

 Spaniards when they settled in this section about 

 three hundred years ago, and they introduced large 

 numbers of Merino sheep, which soon became the 

 principal support of the people, furnishing them 

 with food and raiment. Since that time this indus- 

 try has occupied a prominent position in the Terri- 

 tory, and it is to-day, as it has been for many years 

 past, the most important and profitable in New 

 Mexico. At this time there are owned within the 

 borders of the Territory over 4,000,000 head of 

 sheep, including the lambs grown this year, and 

 with the exception of one State possessing many 

 similar natural advantages, our Territory towers 

 above all other States and Territories in the num- 

 ber of sheep owned. The original stock was of the 

 Spanish Merino type of sheep, and from lack of 

 fine-bred rams to keep up and improve the strain 

 they gradually deteriorated in character, until they 

 became a class unto themselves, displaying more of 

 the characteristics of wild than of domestic animals. 

 This trait developed in these sheep an ability to 

 hunt for their food, and enabled them to subsist 

 upon scanty herbage and to live without water for 

 many days whenever conditions demanded or neces- 

 sitated such modes of living. To-day, though im- 

 proved by the best-blooded stock to be found, they 

 still possess these desirable characteristics. The 

 ewes make excellent mothers, caring for their lambs 

 in a manner unequaled by any other breed of sheep, 

 and fearlessly defending them against attack by 

 carnivorous wild animals. Their fecundity is also 

 remarkable, and there is always a high percentage 

 of lambs born, running up, in some flocks, over 100 

 per cent. Possessing such qualities, the increase 

 of the flocks is very rapid." 



The cost of running the sheep for a year is stated 

 to be about 30 cents a head, which covers the ex- 

 pense of herding, lambing, shearing, dipping, taxes, 

 etc. The cost of shearing amounts to 2\ to 4 cents 

 a head, according to the class of sheep. The flocks 

 are usually run in bands of 3,000 to 5,000. It is 

 said that while a few years ago sheep could be 

 bought for 75 cents per head, to-day ewes are sell- 

 ing freely at from $3 to $4 a head, yearlings (weth- 

 ers) at $2.50 to $2.75, two years old and upward 

 (wethers) at $3 to $3.25, and six months' lambs at 

 from $2 to $2.25 a head. The clip of wool for 1898 

 amounted to about 15,000,000 pounds. 



Irrigation. Improved systems of irrigation are 

 said to be developing rapidly. To quote again from 

 the Governor's report : " There is in operation the 

 Springer system of irrigation, with 50 miles of 

 djtches and 5 reservoirs, covering 22,000 acres. The 

 Vermejo system, which controls 57 miles of ditches 

 and 10 reservoirs, supplies 30,000 acres. In the 

 northwestern portion of the Territory there are 200 

 miles of ditches, watering 24,000 acres. There are 

 several tracts of fertile soil accessible to streams, 

 which will afford an ample supply, awaiting the 

 attention of moneyed men. Also extensive ditch 



systems are in operation in the Mimbres region of 

 Grant County. The irrigation projects noted above 

 are in the four corners of the Territory. In the 

 meantime the great central portions are receiving 

 attention, more than 50 companies having been or- 

 ganized for irrigation projects, and several having 

 plants in operation, affording to the home seeker at 

 the present time ample opportunity for settlement 

 and reclamation. The valley of the Rio Grande 

 presents the most extensive field for operations of 

 this kind, as the present narrow strip of lands cul- 

 tivated can be widened very materially by the 

 proper disposition of the water which flows so 

 abundantly from the north and is now allowed to 

 be wasted. A very few years will find all the water 

 now suffered uselessly to run away utilized to the 

 highest degree, and enlarging the area of the agri- 

 cultural and horticultural land to an extent almost 

 fabulous. Meanwhile, individual enterprise is in- 

 creasing the local supplies by the erection of multi- 

 tudes of windmills, pumping from artesian wells in 

 various parts of the Territory." 



Decision. Suit was brought in a lower court to 

 eject certain defendants from the possession of der- 

 tain mining property. The decision in the case by 

 the Supreme Court of the Territory settles for the 

 first time the question whether mineral land within 

 the boundaries of a claimed Mexican or Spanish 

 grant, such grant being at the time sul judice in 

 the Court of Private-Land Claims of the United 

 States, is open to exploration for mining purposes. 

 The decision holds that, as the law now stands, 

 there is no statutory reservation of any of the lands 

 embraced within the boundaries of a claimed grant 

 in New Mexico. 



NEW YORK, a Middle State, one of the original 

 13, ratified the Constitution July 26, 1788; area, 

 49,170 square miles. The population, according to 

 each decennial census, was 340,120 in 1790; 589,051 

 in 1800; 959,049 in 1810; 1,372,111 in 1820; 1,918,- 

 608 in 1830; 2,428,921 in 1840; 3,097,394 in 1850; 

 3,880,735 in 1860 ; 4,382.759 in 1870 ; 5,082,871 in 

 1880 ; and 5,997,853 in 1890. According to a State 

 census taken in 1892, the population was 6.513,344, 

 and according to an estimate made in December, 

 1898, by the State Board of Health, the population 

 was 7,000,000. Capital, Albany. 



Government. The following were the State offi- 

 cers during the year : Governor, Frank S. Black, 

 Republican ; Lieutenant Governor, Timothy L. 

 Woodruff ; Secretary of State, John Palmer ; Comp- 

 troller, James A. Roberts ; Treasurer, Addison B. 

 Colvin; Attorney-General, Theodore E. Hancock; 

 State Engineer and Surveyor, Campbell W. Adams ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, Charles R. 

 Skinner; Superintendent of Insurance, Louis F. 

 Payn ; Superintendent of Banking Department, 

 Frederick D. Kilburn ; Superintendent of State 

 Prisons, Austin Lathrop, who was succeeded on 

 April 17 by Cornelius C. Collins; Superintendent 

 of Public Works, George W. Aldridge until Dec. 2, 

 when he was suspended from office by the Gov- 

 ernor; Commissioner of Labor Statistics, John T. 

 McDonough ; Railroad Commissioners, Ashley W. 

 Cole, George W. Dunn, and Frank M. Baker ; Chief 

 Judge of the Court of Appeals, Alton B. Parker ; 

 Associate Judges, John C. Gray, Denis O'Brien. 

 Edward T. Bartlett, Albert Haight, Celora E. Mar- 

 tin, and Irving G. Vann. 



Finances. The State Treasurer reported a bal- 

 ance of $1,654,225 in the treasury on Dec. 31, 1898, 

 compared with $2,283,341 on Dec. 31, 1897. The 

 receipts for the fiscal year, ended Sept. 30, were 

 $30,488,406, and for the 'preceding year $32.678,112. 

 The payments were $33,757,981, as compared with 

 $30,364,254 for the preceding year. Among the 

 receipts were : General tax, $8,036,124 ; canal tax, 



