WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 929 



alfalfa produced in the high arid region of New Mexico is not so coarse 

 and watery, and is more nutritious. The crop can also be kept through 

 the winter with less damage, and usually in better condition than in the 

 agricultural country east. 



There is not a single county in the Territory where irrigation farming 

 may not to some considerable extent be followed successfully. This 

 fact is evident from the success already achieved in every county of 

 New Mexico. Some counties will naturally have larger areas than 

 others; but this will be equalized by a general distribution of products 

 raised so that every county can assuredly find a home demand for 

 all the alfalfa or other crops it will produce. At present the land irri- 

 gated and producing crops is but a little more than 1 per cent of the 

 entire area of the Territory. This percentage does not include all of 

 the area under ditch. The water supply of New Mexico, taking the 

 Territory as a whole, is comparatively well distributed, nearly all 

 the counties in the Territory having their small rivers, and some of 

 them large ones. Perhaps no other portion of the Rocky Mountain 

 region offers better opportunities for the construction and profitable 

 operation of large irrigating canals or systems of ditches, on account 

 of the abundance of water and of the great extent of arable mesa 

 land, than do some of the counties of New Mexico. 



The success and further development of irrigation means not only 

 a profitable undertaking for those engaged in the production of crops 

 by giving them an exclusive home market for all that they will ever 

 be able to produce, but it means a great deal more for the animal in- 

 dustry, which is now and will always continue to be the leading enter- 

 prise of the Territory. And it also insures and encourages the grow- 

 ing of better stock by improved methods, and correspondingly larger 

 profits. It will put the animal industry on a permanent basis. Live 

 stock will increase greatly in value if not in numbers. In fact, irriga- 

 tion is an agricultural advantage that insures a bright outlook for the 

 sheep industry of New Mexico. It is a necessary adjunct to future 

 success, and without which a serious decline would be certain. 



NAVAJO INDIAN FLOCKMASTERS. 



A report on the sheep industry of New Mexico would be incomplete 

 without at least a brief mention of what the Navajo Indians are doing 

 in sheep husbandry. In truth, these Indians may be said to be the 

 pioneer flockmasters of the Great West, for according to old Spanish 

 records the Navajos were engaged in sheep-raising during the sixteenth 

 century and have continued their pastoral pursuit ever since by priinj- 

 tive methods. 



The Navajo Reservation is located in the northwestern portion of 



New Mexico, one-half of the reservation extending into Arizona. The 



Indians now number 17,000, and are said to be increasing. They are 



credited with owning live stock as follows: Sheep, 800,000;; horses, 



22990 59 



