THE NEW AGRICULTUKE. 99 



is averred that in the hands of New York dealers, the Mesilla label 

 is not infrequently replaced by the legend " Fine Old Sherry'" 



" The onion is a famous product of the Mesilla Valley ; it grows 

 to an enormous size larger than I have ever seen or heard of 

 elsewhere. Onions seven or eight inches in diameter are not 

 uncommon. 



" The Acequias madres, the " mother canals " of the irrigating 

 system, broad and shaded by fine trees, are a beautiful feature of 

 the scenery. Their water is of a tawny orange, and flows as rap- 

 idly as the river. It is genially warm ; delightful for bathing, 

 despite the abundant earthy matter held in suspension. The fear 

 has been expressed that it would be hardly possible to irrigate the 

 Mesilla Valley much more extensively than at present, as the water 

 Hupply is scanty, and in some seasons the river runs dry alto- 

 gether ; but it is likely that a system of wells would make the 

 water supply ample enough for all demands. 



" In Syria extensive vineyards are irrigated from large wells dug 

 for the purpose, and some day it may be found profitable to apply 

 the same idea to the Mesilla Valley. The water of the river under- 

 lies the whole valley bottom. A few feet below the ground at any 

 place water is always found in abundance. This accounts for the 

 magnificent trees in La Mesilla. Their roots strike down into the 

 ground water, so that in the driest of weather and fiercest of heats, 

 they are never athirst, but always proudly lift up their crowns of 

 deep emerald. Fruit trees, after a good start, never require irri- 

 gation. They grow very large here, and in the enormous peach 

 trees one would hardly recognize the short lived tree of the 

 North." 



