372 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



MANY YEARS OF PLENTY 



Lands in Antelope Valley, New Mexico, Near French 

 Land and Irrigation Company's System, Have Long 

 Demonstrated Wonderful Fertility 



The real test of the value of farm land is the amount of 

 money it will produce per acre. While its sentimental value, 

 due to location, proximity to large cities, and climate, is 

 sometimes considered and tends to increase its selling value, 

 as a commercial proposition, and an interest paying invest- 

 ment the amount of cold, hard dollars you can derive from 



Alfalfa 5 tons per acre, worth $12.00 per ton. 



This gives the value per acre of these four staple crops 

 as follows: Oats, $48.00; barley, $48.00; wheat, $45.00. and 

 alfalfa, $60.00. 



These may appear large to the eastern farmer, but these 

 figures are fully borne out by the facts. It is simply the old 

 question of an extremely fertile soil made productive by sup- 

 plying sufficient water when it is needed. There is no ques- 

 tion of drouth, excessive rainfall, or driving storms to ruin 

 the crops. It is just the right amount of water applied when 

 it is needed that produces these results. These same results 

 could be obtained in the fertile lands of the Mississippi Val- 

 ly if that one question of sufficient rainfall at the right time 

 could be eliminated. Besides these four staple crops the 

 Antelope Valley will and does produce immense yields of 

 fruits, vegetables and sugar beets. 



Reservoir No. 2, Showing Intake from Rivers. French Land and Irrigation Company's Property. 



it is what the average business man and farmer really con- 

 siders. 



While the lands of the French Land and Irrigation Com- 

 pany are new and figures from these lands are consequently 

 impossible to obtain, we have the experience of a large num- 

 ber of farmers in the Antelope Valley, who have been culti- 

 vating lands on all sides of the French tract for a number 

 of years.- These early pioneers while laboring under all the 

 disadvantages which greet the first settler of any new coun- 

 try, have crowned their efforts with results such as we have 

 seldom seen in any country we ever visited. 



From the most careful and conservative figures that can 

 be obtained from men who are thoroughly reliable and have 

 successfully farmed in the Antelope Valley for years, one 

 can not fail to realize that the French Laud and Irrigation 

 Company, have a project that as a money maker either to 

 the investor or the farmer cannot be excelled anywhere in the 

 country. 



The main crops that have been grown in the Antelope. 

 Valley are oats, wheat, barley, alfalfa, fruits and vegetables. 

 Corn has been grown to some extent and yields of from 

 forty to fifty bushels per acre have been obtained. We do 

 not intend in this article to give what can or have been 

 raised under extraordinary circumstances, but what every 

 farmer should and will raise under careful and intelligent 

 management. 



Oats 75 bu. per acre, average price, $2.00 per 100 pounds. 



Barley 50 bu. per acre average price, $2.00 per 100 pounds. 



Wheat 45 bu. per acre, average price, $1.00 per bu. 



At the National Irrigation Congress, held at Albuquerque, 

 New Mexico, in 1908, sugar beets from the Antelope Valley 

 took the first prize in competition with practically every 





Cauliflower Grown Near French, New Mexico. Weight, 30 Ibs., when 

 Taken from the Ground. 



sugar beet country, and sugar beets grown here excel in sugar 

 (Continued on page 397.) 



