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T IT H I R R I G A T I N AGE. 



DEMING NEW MEXICO 



IRRIGATION NEWS 



NEW MEXICO AND THE MIMBRES VALLEY* 



In this age of unrest and when social and economic 

 conditions press ever more heavily upon the producing 

 and intermediate classes, the air is full of panaceas, doc- 

 trines and dogma, but the solution of the riddle of the 

 sphinx to be applied wholesale is still to be found. 



It is useless to expect the application of any doctrine 

 of political or social economy to release the worker of the 

 cities or the tenant, or fee-simple-farmer of the worn-out 

 acres of the East or Middle West, from industrial bondage, 

 not, at least, within the span of life of those to be bene- 

 fitted now. The only solution, so far available, remains 

 the one that has stood the test of the ages individual 

 effort but the centralization of industries has greatly 

 minimized the opportunities for betterment of self in the 

 commercial and industrial spheres of action. 



It requires but little reflection upon the underlying 

 causes to determine that the "back to the land" move- 

 ment is not a fad but is founded upon correct basic prin- 

 ciples. If an argument of more direct application be 

 demanded, let the constantly increasing cost of food-stuffs 

 and the ever-widening breach between production and con- 

 sumption supply material for the answer. 



Given the right conditions and farming today almost 

 in the irrigated sections an exact science can be made 

 one of the most gainful of occupations as it already is 

 the most normal and healthful. 



This remark is addressed with equal force to the 

 farmer east of the 95th meridian and to the "city man" 

 cramped and stifled for lack of an horizon. 



What is the solution not academically but in a 

 practical way? The virgin soil. It is not to be assumed 

 that all who "return" to the soil will make the experi- 

 ment succeed, failures in a constantly decreasing ratio 

 are to be expected here, as elsewhere, but such failures 

 cannot be attributed to economic defects the opportunities 

 are there latent, but at every man's hand. 



The question then resolves itself into one of very 

 concrete proportions, viz: "Where can I find the right 

 conditions out of the mass of material thrust upon my 

 attention?" 



Many people are disposed to deplore the passing of 

 the good old days when Uncle Sam had a farm for 

 everyone unaware that the pioneer of thirty and forty 

 years since paid a price greater, in a score of ways, for 

 his "160" or "320" than does the homeseeker of today 

 whose path of inquiry, settlement and development is 

 made easy in the multitude of ways devised in the ad- 

 vancement of the last quarter-century. Uncle Sam still 

 has land for the hungry, but the conditions of twenty- 

 five years ago -at that time without a parallel in the 

 history of civilization, no longer exist. The eyes of the 

 homeseeker are still turned toward that West of glow- 



ing promise and fulfillment, but with an increased knowl- 

 edge of conditions, the question is no longer "where 

 can I get something for nothing," but "where may I se- 

 cure title to land that is productive, at values not inflated 

 beyond earning capacity, and where transportation facili- 

 ties and markets are such that I may convert the products 

 of my labor into real money; where livable conditions 

 of a twentieth century standard exist and the horrors of 

 old-time pioneering need not rob this generation of the 

 joys of living for the benefit of future peoples; where 

 a real water-right instead of a 'fictitious wrong' may- 

 be secured as a basis for that irrigation without which, 

 except in a few negligible instances, intensive farming 

 of small tracts west of the 100th meridian is impossible." 



It is the purpose of this article to set forth the merits 

 of one of those districts which are called "new" in the 

 light of abundance of virgin opportunities and real ad- 

 vantages. 



First of all, what are the factors necessary to suc- 

 cessful farming which provide a decent living? In all 

 localities, irrespective of latitude or longitude, the right 

 soil conditions fertility in the original sense and in the 

 supplementary method of replenishment as well, by ro- 

 tation or growing of nitrogenous crops, and in an irri- 

 gated region, especially good natural drainage, good 

 water storage capacity, absence of alkali in injurious 

 amounts, climatic conditions, long growing seasons, ab- 

 sence of killing frosts at unseasonable periods, of de- 

 structive winds, and for plants and humanity alike 

 sunshine and equability. "Plants need sunshine and good 

 air to thrive, so does man" is an axiom. Transportation 

 and markets good wagon roads over a level country; 

 steam roads affording easy access to cities and to markets 

 of stable purchasing power at a non-competitive dis- 

 tance and with demand for the profitable luxuries of the 

 table fruits and vegetables as well as hay and dairy 

 products. Water good water for domestic and stock 

 use, and of paramount importance good water free 

 from injurious chemicals, seeds and organic matter, in 

 ample quantity to be used when and where needed, and 

 under a fee-simple and indefeasible title for irrigation. 

 Add to these physical factors the other necessaries of 

 enlightened living such as are afforded by proximity to 

 modern cities, and we have the ideal conditions of life 

 in an irrigated section fulfilled. 



The writer will, therefore, endeavor to set forth, from 

 the most authentic sources available, the conditions in 

 a well-known section of New Mexico the Deming Dis- 

 trict. It is assumed that the intelligent investigator of 

 this era is not eager for glowing "hot air" panegyrics,, 

 but facts buttressed by expert and disinterested testi- 

 mony. So far as this district is concerned there is, 

 fortunately, plenty of reliable evidences at hand in the 

 form of government investigations, and the reports of 

 these upon all pertinent facts, supplemented where neces- 

 sary by personal studies of other disinterested parties. 

 as herein set forth, are the authority for all statements 

 presented the exact phraseology being borrowed at 

 times. These citations are as follows: Senate Docu- 

 ment No. 41, Fifty-second Congress, First Session, page 

 224 ; L. Clapp, Jr., Engineer, Office of Experiment Sta- 



"Editor's Note: This is the first of a series of articles to be presented to our readers from time to time, dealing with the 

 agricultural and other resources of the country at large particularly of those irrigated districts of proven merit where 

 real opportunities exist. They will embrace the results of careful observations of a traveling correspondent a man whose 

 familiarity with all phases of rvestern development places him in the first rank as an authority upon these subjects. 



None but districts or projects of demonstrated value will be described, the policy of the IRRIGATION AGE being to make 

 these articles sources of real information and assistance to those interested. 



