NEW MEXICO 



NEW MEXICO 



1083 



energy and some skill, but its rewards are great and 

 sure. The farmer in the rainfall states does well if he 

 makes two acres of land keep one cow or horse or steer 

 summer and winter. Here one acre will carry two 

 animals. In a great measure this applies to the crops 

 of the garden and the orchard. There need be no 

 droughts nor floods; the land can be made to do its full 

 duty every season. Thei'e 

 is no doubt that the aver- 

 age weight of garden and 

 orchard crops in any ten 

 years under wise irriga- 

 tion will be twice as 

 great as in most regions 

 in which it is considered 

 unnecessary or impossi- 

 ble. Hence it seems that 

 within the limited dis- 

 tricts of the semi-arid 

 belt of the United States 

 that are susceptible of 

 irrigation, there is an 

 important field for the 

 horticulturist. In this 

 field he will find his 

 greatest rewards. Lands 

 in horticultural crops 

 will produce from two to 

 ten times as much neces- 

 sary human food as lands 

 under the common crops 

 of agriculture. The 

 parts of this continent 

 in which irrigation hor- 

 ticulture is possible is 

 but a small fraction of 

 the whole area. New 

 Mexico has probably a 

 larger proportion of irri- 

 gable lands adapted to 

 horticultural use than 

 any of our states or terri- 

 tories. 



All garden crops suc- 

 ceed well in all parts of 

 New Mexico where water 

 can be commanded for 

 the land. All orchard 

 crops succeed admirably 

 in some parts of the ter- 

 ritory, and the most im- 

 portant of all, the apple, 

 is a successful crop in 

 nearly all parts. In that 

 portion of the territory 

 lying on the eastern 

 slopes of the Rocky 

 mountains, in the coun- 

 ties of Lincoln and 

 Chaves, the apple seems 

 to reach its most perfect 

 development. There are 

 beautiful apples without 

 blemish grown in many 

 parts of the arid west and 

 along the Pacific coast ; 

 but in too many cases the fruit is disappointing in 

 quality. But in the counties named all varieties of 

 apples that have been fruited show a very high apple 

 quality. The freedom from defect is remarkable, and 

 the unexampled beauty of color and clear complexion in 

 bushel after bushel as they come from the trees is a 

 constant surprise. The Yellow Bellflower and Newtown 

 Pippin reach great perfection. 



In most of the old apple-growing states, the apple is 

 subject to many insects and diseases. In the arid 

 region of the country we have escaped many of these 

 evils. While we shall not escape all the troubles of the 

 orchardist, yet the elevation of the country, the control 

 of the water supply, the purity and dryness of the air 

 and the everlasting sunshine will combine to protect 

 from those serious evils born of humid climates and 

 low altitudes, or that result from weather conditions 



where man has destroyed the delicate balance of the 

 seasons by the widespread destruction of native for- 

 ests. It is apparent to some of us that this wide, high 

 region, which never had great areas of forest to be de- 

 stroyed, possesses more permanent conditions of suc- 

 cessful fruit-growing than are possible in any country 

 where the vicissitudes of flood and drought, of great 



cold and great heat, are the inevitable associates of 

 the year. Parker Earle. 



In New Mexico the apple grows very well. The coun- 

 ties of Chaves and Lincoln in the southeast,San Juan and 

 Santa F^ in the north, and Grant and Dona Ana in the 

 south, are well known for their fine apples. Four varie- 

 ties from Mesilla Park, in Doiia Ana county, received 

 second premium at the World's Exposition, in Paris, 

 1900. The following are the varieties: Ben Davis, grown 

 by Frank Burke ; Missouri, Pippin, grown on the fa- 

 mous Woodland Orchard ; and the Gano and Lawver, from 

 the Agricultural college. At present the apple is free 

 from the common diseases. The only insect enemy is 

 the codlin moth, which in some sections is coming to be 

 a serious pest. The early varieties, such as the Red 

 June, Red Astrachan, Early Harvest and Yellow Trans- 

 parent, are almost free from the codlin moth, while on 



