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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Along the valley of the Dolores, from Montelores 

 on the northern line of the county to Dolores Station 

 on the line of the Rio Grande Southern, a distance of 

 thirty miles, are numerous small farms, each with its 

 own ditch system taken from the river. On these 

 sheltered and well watered valley farms large crops 

 of grain, alfalfa and vegetables are grown. The finest 

 of timber is close at hand and coal may be had for 

 the digging all along the valley. The Rio Grande 

 Southern affords means of transportation to the mines 

 of Rico, the lumber camps of Milltown or the markets 

 of Durango. 



A BIG SYSTEM. 



At Dolores the mountains are pierced by a tunnel 

 over a mile long into which a large volume of the river 

 water is turned. A flume four miles long carries the 

 water from the outlet of the tunnel to the table lands 

 and mesas of the great Montezuma valley, placing 75,- 

 000 acres of choice farming and fruit lands under ditch. 

 As there is too much water in the early part of the 

 irrigating season and not enough for the cultivation 

 of the entire area under ditch in the latter part, stor- 

 age reservoirs are needed to make the system perfect. 

 Excellent natural sites for storage reservoirs are to 

 be found and the completion of the system, with stor- 

 age reservoirs to afford an ample water supply for 

 the dryest season, may be looked for. 



PLENTY OF ROOM. 



As but 8,000 acres under this immense system are 

 under cultivation the field offers abundant room for 

 hundreds of families, who can find not only comfort 

 but affluence on the rich Montezuma valley lands. 

 Besides yielding large crops of grain, alfalfa and 

 vegetables, apples, cherries, pears, apricots and 

 peaches and all small fruits yield in abundance. 

 Combined with stock raising, for which the free 

 ranges and mild winters of the Montezuma valley 

 offer excellent advantages, farming in this favored 

 region may be made extremely profitable. 



THE MARCOS VALLEY. 



The Marcos valley, to the east of Montezuma val- 

 ley, also affords a profitable field for the agriculturist. 

 Irrigation is from the Marcos river, the farmers own- 

 ing their own ditches. The system of a large number 

 of small ditches is an extremely wasteful one, and 

 while millions of gallons of water go to waste during 

 the early part of the irrigating season there is a 

 shortage for late irrigation. Cooperation on the part 

 of the farmers is needed, either to put in reservoirs 

 for storage or employ a large main canal in place of 

 numerous small ones. The duty of water is but little 

 understood and crops often suffer from too much 

 water rather than too little. 



The total acreage of Montezuma county under cul- 

 tivation is 19,600 acres. The acreage of wheat in 1893 

 was 5,500, on which was raised 148,000 bushels; 500 



acres of corn produced 20,000 bushels ; 600 acres of 

 oats produced 22,200 bushels ; 6,700 acres of alfalfa 

 produced 20,100 tons; 800 acres of potatoes yielded 

 4,800 tons. Eight thousand quarts of small fruits 

 were marketed. 



Throughout Montezuma and Marcos valleys are 

 countless traces of extinct races of men, showing that 

 the valleys were densely populated at some remote 

 period. The town of Marcos is the outfitting and 

 starting point for exploring parties and tourists 

 visiting the homes of the cliff dwellers of the Marcos 

 canyon. 



Across the western boundary line of the county in 

 the canyon of the San Juan are famous placer mines 

 where a large force of men are constantly at work 

 washing gold from the sands of the river bed. At 

 Marcos are belts of gold-bearing quartz which are 

 being developed at the present time. 



With its water resources carefully utilized and irri- 

 gation intelligently applied, Montezuma county, with 

 its diversity of resources and perfect climate, will 

 become one of the richest counties in the State. 



LA PLATA COUNTY. 



La Plata county is rich in agricultural, grazing, 

 mining and manufacturing resources. It embraces 

 an area of 2,700 square miles, 1,728,000 acres. The 

 northern portion is mountainous and is being pros- 

 pected constantly for the precious metals, the middle 

 portion or foothills contain the coal measures, while 

 the southern belt is agricultural. The county is 

 well timbered and lumber of excellent quality is 

 manufactured and exported in large quantities. 



WELL WATERED. 



Four large rivers, the La Plata, Animas, Florida 

 and Pine, flow through the county, affording ample 

 water, if properly utilized, to irrigate all of La Plata's 

 agricultural land and large areas of that in New 

 Mexico. 



Although mining and manufacturing are the lead- 

 ing industries ofthe county, agriculture affords a sure 

 way to wealth and the farmers of the county are 

 among the most prosperous citizens. " Denver prices 

 with freight added " make profitable selling figures 

 for the farmer who raises alfalfa, oats, wheat, pota- 

 toes, vegetables and small fruits, and farming under 

 these conditions pays handsome profits. 



IRRIGATED DISTRICTS. 



There are at the present time four irrigated districts 

 in the county. That watered by the Animas extends 

 along both sides of that river for twenty miles north 

 of the city of Durango. Water is taken from the 

 river in gravity ditches by the individual farmers. 

 In many localities the supply is a hundred fold 

 greater than needed at the commencement of the 

 irrigating season and insufficient, as now used, at its 



