84 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



BLUEWATER \T\LLEY 



x _ : . : NEW MEXICO :::: 



BY OLANDER. 



Farmers in the Bluewater Valley are busy plowing and 

 building fences and getting their land in shape for culti- 

 vation this year. The lime kilns are now in operation and 

 give employment to those who desire more work than their 

 farms require. 



Celery and onions, in addition to the forage crops, will 

 be largely planted and good results are expected, as the New 

 Mexico celery is especially crisp and tender. Mr. Walker, 

 who will plant several acres of celery, is one of the best cel- 

 ery culturists in New Mexico, and other settlers are planning 

 to profit by his experience. The 'navy bean will also be 

 planted on quite an acreage. 



The JBluewater Development Comoan}-. is also about to 



and warm, sunshiny days. The mountains surrounding the 

 valley are covered with a heavy fall of snow, and the out- 

 side grazing lands are in the best possible condition. When 

 the snows on the watershed melt in the spring the water, 

 after filling the immense main reservoir in the Zunis, will be 

 stored in the many small basins which lie in the lava beds. 

 These small ponds thus formed are of great value to the set- 

 tlers who own stock in the valley, as the water in them lasts 

 all summer, and the cattle graze on the nearby hills and find 

 their way at will to the water ponds in the valley. 



If the toiler back east only knew what joy there is to one 

 living in a perfect climate, the clear, crisp ozone filling one's 

 lungs and nostrils, making every breath a positive delight; 

 and that a small bunch of cattle, increasing in weight every 

 minute, almost without expense, would make more money 

 than the average man's salary at the end of the year, far less 

 congestion would exist "back east" today. 



Another advantage in Bluewater is the system of water 

 distribution. It is so easy just to request the company, by 

 'phone, for water when needed, and then find it ready for 

 use in your ditches at once; just the same as buying water 

 from a city water works. And such water! no alkali, just 



These Hogs Were Raised on Alfalfa and Fattened on Corn, Near Keystone, in the North Platte Valley. 



establish a model forty-acre farm tract under the supervision 

 of a man of long ^experience in vegetable farming, and who, 

 in the last seven years, has produced results almost unbe- 

 lievable in the way of profits. His method is the one which 

 always brings the profits that it pays to raise only the 

 best. 



The Bluewater Development Company has been furnish- 

 ing all the water necessary for stock and the settlers always 

 find the company willing to accommodate them in any way 

 possible. As fine a bunch of range cattle runs at large 

 through the free grazing lands in the valley as can be seen 

 anywhere. 



The weather has been delightful, crisp and clear nights 



clear, crystal mountin snow water. Bluewater reservoir is 

 at the junction of two mountain streams near the headwaters, 

 so the water has no chance to gather harmful minerals during 

 a long passage through an arid alkaline country, as is often 

 the case in other locations. 



One of the needs of the valley is large horses and mules. 

 In fact, the breeding of horses and mules for farming and 

 government purposes will prove a lucrative business in the 

 future. There are few large horses in New Mexico, and all 

 sections of the country want them. 



Christmas was duly celebrated by all and the new year 

 dawns on a happy and prosperous community just one more 

 instance of the miracles of irrigation. 



