174 



THE I R R I G A T I O -\ AGE. 



His able and accurate presentations of the resources of 

 the state are to be recognized in the interesting bulletins 

 published by the bureau. The bureau during the past has 

 been limited to the work as outlined. It is confidently ex- 

 pected, however, that the legislature, which is now in session, 

 will provide largely increased appropriations, enabling the 

 bureau greatly to amplify its scope of operations and 

 to collect statistics in systematic fashion. The policy of 

 the bureau has been, consistently, that of co-operation 

 with the railroad immigration departments and with such 

 land and irrigation companies as are demonstrably relia- 

 ble, only. Little can be presented in an article of the 

 scope to which this is limited about the state itself which 

 many thousands of California tourists know only as ob- 

 servations are possible from the car platform and which 

 from the tourist standpoint contains marvels of wonder 

 and interest to be seen in no other section of the country. 

 The state has long, and justly so, been famous for its 

 climate. A few cardinal facts may be presented, however 

 some well known, others known to a lesser degree. The . 

 state is one of the largest in the Union, containing, in 

 round numbers, 78,000,000 acres, ranging in altitude from 

 3,100 feet above sea level to the 13,000 foot level of some 

 of the mountain peaks. With its varied topography it 

 embraces climatic conditions in variety, equalling even 

 California itself. The state, through territorial grants 

 and the new grants provided in the Enabling Act, is 

 endowed with an enormous estate of land to be selected, 

 and in fee, totaling 12,000,000 acres of which amount the 

 revenue of 10,000,000 acres is irrevocably dedicated to 

 educational purposes, it will be seen that ample funds 

 will accrue to the state for these purposes from the lease 

 and sale of these lands. The father of a growing, or pros- 

 pective, family will know how to value this feature. As 

 much of the remaining public domain is embraced in 

 forest reserves or is already "entered" the state will have 

 the right of lien selection from the best of the remaining 

 lands. The old Spanish and Pueblo Indian grants num- 

 ber between six and seven hundred with an area of ap- 

 proximately seven million acres. ' While the Indian grants 

 are not subject to disposal, the titles to all of the Spanish 

 grants have been confirmed and they are being partitioned 

 for sale and rapidly passing into American ownership. 

 As these grants, under Spanish dominion, were selected 

 from the best lands lying along water courses in Cen- 

 tral and Southern New Mexico and include valuable graz- 

 ing and timber lands, they offer in many instances fine 

 opportunities for the investment of capital for agricultural, 

 mineral or timber development. The national forests also 

 afford abundant opportunities for the : lumberman. The 

 American Lumber Company by way of ?tn interesting 

 example operates at Albuquerque one ot the largest mills 

 in existence with capacity of 300,000 feet daily. Last year 

 700,000 railway ties were floated down the Rio Grande, 

 a distance of 120 miles, to the Domingo railroad station. 

 The national forests contain also much land available tot 

 homestead entry under forest reserve regulations. 



The public lands open to homestead and desert entry 

 having been largely filed upon, attention is being focused 

 upon the more valuable irrigated land. Irrigation in New 

 Mexico has been almost uniformly successful and the state 

 has had but few failures of large irrigation projects, 

 owing to the enactment, in 1907, of a thoroughly good 

 code of irrigation laws and to their conservative adminis- 

 tration. Irrigation by pumping and from flowing wells 

 also has been the means of successfully reclaiming much 

 excellent land and the state has been enlightened enough 

 to adopt a model code of laws governing flowing wells. 

 Opportunities to secure good land at reasonable figures 

 exist in several proven districts of artesian flow and shal- 

 low water-pumping, where necessary, being done with 

 individual plants power being supplied independently, or 

 from a central power station. In the well known Pecos 

 valley there are at the present time some 700 flowing wells 

 and there is a large area outside of the zone of these 

 wells where an ample supply of water can be secured with 

 a maximum lift of 40 feet. In the Portales district, in 

 central eastern New Mexico, 10,000 acres are ready to be 

 served with power furnished from a central station; in 

 the Deming district, in southwestern New Mexico, an 

 estimated total of 200,000 acres is available for this service. 

 Abundant opportunities for irrigation by low-lift pump- 



ing are to be found in the "first bench" lands of the Rio 

 Grande valley from the central part of the state to a 

 point not far from its northern boundary, the soil being 

 an alluvial deposit of inexhaustible fertility and requiring 

 only the planting of nitrogenous crops. 



Prices of lands irrigated, or to be irrigated, are still 

 very reasonable raw lands in proven fruit districts com- 

 manding from $50 to $100 per acre. Apples can be grown 

 successfully in almost any part of the state where the alti- 

 tude exceeds 3,5ffO feet. The successes achieved in the 

 Pecos valley and in San Juan county in this direction are 

 too well known to require mention. 



The Carlsbad government project in the Pecos valley 

 and the first unit of the famous "Rio Grande" project 

 the 25,000 acres tributary to Las Cruces, served by the 

 "Leasburg" dam have amply justified the anticipations 

 of the water users. With a reliable water supply during 

 the past four years, unrivaled soil and climatic conditions, 

 and long growing seasons, profitable crops are practically 

 assured while "excess holdings" under both projects can 

 yet be secured at a reasonable figure. With great areas 

 of fertile land upon which water can be placed, with diver- 

 sities of climate favoring the growing of a wide range of 

 crops, with the opportunities for stock raising upon the 

 range and within the national forests, for lumbering and 

 mining, the state needs only capital and an influx of citi- 

 zens to make it a fit abiding place for the best American 

 stock. 



H. B. Hening, to whose ability and industry the state 

 owes much, is not a native, but emigrated to New Mexico 

 from New York state after graduating from Syracuse Uni- 

 versity some ten years ago, his health having suffered 

 from too close application to studies. His first occupa- 

 tion was upon the range as a cow-man, after which he 

 was employed upon the staff of the Albuquerque "Morning 

 Journal" until four years ago when his recognized stand- 

 ing as a publicity expert led to his appointment to his 

 present office. 



IRRIGATION AND CULTIVATION OF POTATOES.* 



BY JOHN M'PHERSON. 



Burbank potatoes dp not grow as well and keep their 

 shape as well in clay soils as in sandy soils. If you have a 

 sandy soil, good drainage and good cultivation, a Burbank 

 potato would not be objectionable. 



Any of the long potatoes have a tendency to grow large. 



Have moisture in the soil when potatoes are put in the 

 ground. 



The first cultivation of potatoes should be deep about 

 8 inches. This gives a good seed bed and makes a reservoir 

 for holding water. 



The first irrigation would depend upon the amount of 

 moisture in the ground at the time potato was planted. 



Under reasonable conditions potatoes should not be irri- 

 gated until June 1st. 



After each irrigation there should be a cultivation. 



There is just one time to cultivate and that is when 

 the soil is not too wet or too dry when the soil will fall 

 off the cultivator blade. 



Get away from as much water as possible and use 

 cultivator. 



Use cultivator first, and when tiilling up potatoes use 

 single shovel plow after cultivator. 



When you can see the rows well get in there with culti- 

 vator. 



When you water potatoes give them a good one, but 

 do not saturate the soil. Turn water in and let it run until 

 you find down about 2 inches there is dry soil, and below 

 that it would be moist to the hill. 



Cultivation will check dry rot. 



Dry rot appears when ground is kind of damp and t he- 

 plant is making a vigorous growth. 



Leave potatoes unbilled as long as possible without 

 cultivating. 



Do not let last irrigation be a heavy one, but at all 

 times keep potatoes in even moisture. 



I do not think it is advisable to plant potatoes on new 

 land for commercial purposes. 



From Bulletin No. I, Movable Schools of Agriculture, Univer- 

 sity of Idaho, issued by the Hub City Irrigationist. Wendell. Idaho. 



