PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



PLENTIFUL WATER SUPPLY. 



CARLSBAD, N. M., April 26, 1900. 



The ["coming season promises to be the 

 banner year for the Pecos Valley. The 

 effect of the lying, meretricious advertis- 

 ing that for years past has kept the valley 

 "in the hole" is gradually dying out and 

 plain and truthful statements of condi- 

 tions here, are rapidly bringing to light 

 the fact that fertile soil and abundant 

 water will win in the end as an agricultur- 

 al proposition. 



These vast lakes here, huge storage res- 

 ervoirs, could almost inundate a state. 

 There is on hand now enough water to 

 supply the canals and ditches of this vast 

 irrigating system for two years to come 

 without drawing another gallon from the 

 Pecos river or a drop from the clouds. 



It must be said, however, that many of 

 the crops irrigated, especially the forage 

 crops, need occasional rains and as a rule 

 them get them during the summer months. 

 The average rainfall here is very nearly 

 fifteen inches yearly. Many plants must 

 receive moisture from above for their 

 leaves. 



The waters of the lakes, with their rich 

 sediment, irrigate and stimulate the roots, 

 but the sugar beets, the celery, the or- 

 chards, need now and then an occasional 

 washing from the clouds. This is a fact 

 in every irrigating district. It is so at 

 "Chino", Cal. 



The dense fog from the Pacific ocean 

 that envelopes the land during the spring, 

 and the early summer months constitute 

 the life of the sugar beet crop there, as 

 there is little irrigation water available. 



There is small question now, after all 

 these years of experimenting and con- 

 jecture, that this Pecos Valley is about 

 the most successful irrigating proposi- 

 tion now in the West. It has the water, 

 and it has the soil and as Prof. Agaziz 

 used to say in his lectures on "Natural 



Phenomena," "Combine water and soil 

 and bread stuffs appear." 



This country has both. Soil and water. 

 It simply needs the people to develop the 

 fact that, as the Professor said, it can pro- 

 duce food for the multitude. 



An advantage of the farming in this 

 valley is that it does not take long to get a 

 small tract of land into a condition where 

 it will pay the farmer a living. Six 

 months is enough. A year is ample. The 

 sterile farms of. the North require years- 

 sometimes to bring into a paying basis. 

 Nearly all these southern lands are the 

 same. Of course as the years go by this 

 soil, rich as it is, will require to be fertil- 

 ized. The great adobe lands of the 

 Sacramento and the San Joaquin districts 

 did too. They now need it. The valley 

 soil, however, is thus far '' virgin." Corn, 

 does fairly well here. Wheat, oats and 

 barley do not thrive. The crops adapted 

 to this dry atmosphere are alfalfa, fruit, 

 celery, asparagus. All kinds of fruit 

 trees do well and alfalfa is a never failing 

 crop. 



). H. HUTCHINS. 



CONGRESS GROWS GENEROUS. 



Demand from all over the country for 

 information as to water supply and for ir- 

 rigation investigation and surveys have 

 been so great that the modest appropria- 

 tion made by last Congress to the Geolog- 

 ical Survey for this purpose has been ex- 

 hausted long before the end of the fiscal 

 year, and such work has been brought to 

 a standstill. But now, in one of its gen- 

 tler moods, Congress after considerable 

 persuasion on the part of the western leg- 

 islators and after several attempts to 

 throw it out, has made a deficiency appro- 

 priation of $20,000 to be immediately 

 available for carrying on this work till. 

 June 30, 1900. 



"I am particularly gratified," said Mr. 

 F. H. Newell, the Hydrographer of th e . 



