THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



21 



BLUEWATER VALLEY 



:::: NEW MEXICO :::: 



BY OLANDER. 



Inquiries received from our article of last mouth 

 on the Bluewater Valley in Valencia County, New Mex- 

 ico, prompted us to make a more detailed investigation 

 of the results obtained from this year's cultivation by 

 the Bluewater Development Company. We found that 

 about 2,000 acres had been in cultivation at various 

 times, that alfalfa produced about a ton and a half 

 per cutting and that it sells at an average of sixteen 

 dollars per ton on board cars Bluewater, that oats pro- 

 duce from sixty to seventy-five bushels per acre, and are 

 selling at about one dollar per bushel, as we said last 

 month; that potatoes grown in the valley equal the 

 famous Greeley potato and produce from 30,000 to 40,- 

 000 pounds to the acre; sugar beets planted in July 

 when pulled in September weighed four pounds and a 

 half, and beets from the valley have tested as high as 

 21 per cent in saccharine matter; onions produce boun- 

 tifully; cabbages and cauliflower reach a size not at- 

 tained elsewhere, and, in fact, apparently all kinds of 

 garden truck and field crops are raised successfully and 

 produce net results that are difficult to believe. 



Some of the reports of experts on the soils found 

 in the valley may be of interest to our readers. 



President Tight, of the University of New Mex- 

 ico, has said of these lands : 



"The agricultural lands of the company lie wholly 

 in one of these basin-like filled sections. The soils, 

 therefore, are very deep, and as they are composed of 

 elements from the decay of sandstones, volcanic rocks 

 and limestones, they are very fertile and light. They 

 have the property of retaining their moisture so that 

 not so much moisture is required for irrigation or as 

 many other types of soil." 



Another interesting comment is by George G.' 

 Anderson, consulting engineer and a well known mem- 

 ber of all the more prominent engineering societies of 

 the United States and Canada. 



Mr. Anderson has written : 



"The soil throughout almost the entire irrigable 

 area is a red clay, of uniformly good quality and great 

 depth. The color is due to the presence of oxide of 

 iron, a valuable constituent for crop producing, and 

 while the soil is of decomposed sandstone, it is not 

 sandy in character. Both soil and sub-soil are ex- 

 tremely fertile. 



"The soil is of a character that does not require 

 much water for the propagation of crops, it is not 

 lumpy, nor does it show signs of 'baking.' The soil 

 conditions will result in a high duty of water, higher, 

 in my judgment, than I have placed it elsewhere in 

 this report, with the prospect of an extension of the 

 irrigable area with a given quantity of water. 



"The irrigable land presents, generally, a uniform 

 surface, with gentle and regular slopes, well adapted 

 for irrigation purposes. 



"A wide range of products can be successfully 

 raised, including all the cereals, alfalfa and other 



grasses, sugar beets, vegetables of all descriptions and 

 the hardier fruits." 



Mr. A. J. McCune, former state engineer of irri- 

 gation for Colorado, made an examination of the Blue- 

 water project some time ago and says of its soil: 



"The very fine quality of soil, the healthful cli- 

 mate, the abundance of building material and fuel and 

 its cheapness, the abundance of free range for stock 

 contiguous to the farming land on every side, will en- 

 able men with small means to make homes and build 

 up valuable properties at a very small cost. 



"It seems to me to be an excellent place to make a 

 community of small stock gtowers and stock feeders. 

 My observation for several years has been that stock 

 growing under conditions as they appear to exist there 

 is the safest business for men of small means. Being 

 on a through line of railroad, the facilities for shipping 

 any of their products are good. 



"The limited area of irrigable lands in that and 

 contiguous territory will always give the farmer in that 

 neighborhood a good market in the mining camps, gov- 

 ernment posts and lumbering camps adjoining." 



James J. Armstrong, irrigation expert of Denver, 

 has thrown an interesting light upon the lands by 

 comparing them with the fertile lands of northern 

 Colorado. ' He says: 



"There was about twenty thousand acres of very 

 fine land in sight which lays first rate for irrigation, 

 quite as good as the best of our lands in northern 

 Colorado. 



"After looking over the ground there can be no 

 question as to the fertility of the soil. The whole 

 valley is covered with a rank growth of weeds ex- 

 cepting where it is covered with a heavy growth of 

 wild hay or alfalfa. It is plain that with a good water 

 service heavy crops of all kinds can be raised in this 

 valley. 



"To sum up the whole situation, I would say that 

 there is an opportunity here for quite a large settle- 

 ment with comfortable homes and profitable farming 

 operations, as the markets are close at hand." 



Richard J. Hinton, a prominent member of the 

 American Society of Irrigation Engineers, writing of 

 the soil in Bluewater Valley, says : 



"As to the fertility and adaptability of the soils 

 and lands, under the Bluewater system, I have no hesi- 

 tancy in expressing an entire approval. As it lays out 

 of doors, I have seldom seen 25,000 acres so perfectly 

 adapted to irrigation as these. About one-half the 

 acres the western section consists of the famous red 

 loam so eagerly sought after in our region. It is 

 charged with mineral elements, deep, warm, easily 

 worked and retentive of moisture. This is largely the 

 product of volcanic rocks. There is a distinct di- 

 vision between it and the lower, or gray limestone made 

 lands. 



"The latter are excellent vegetable, grape, small 

 fruit and forage lands. Both soil divisions are tractable, 

 deep and readily watered and drained. The surface 

 loam or deposits are from 15 to 30 feet in depth. Be- 

 neath the tufa or volcanic soil there is at about forty 

 feet a volcanic hard pan. 



"The limestone soils are underlaid with gravel and 

 hard strata. Drainage waters for well use can be ob- 

 tained in the volcanic or red soils at from thirty to 

 forty feet. The subplane waters are about the same 



