210 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



advantage in temperature. It is possible Arizona should be included, 

 but as I have not visited it I cannot speak of it. There is no better 

 place of resort for those suffering with pulmonary complaints than here. 

 It is time for the health seekers of our country to learn and appreciate 

 the fact that within our own bounds are to be found all the elements of 

 health that can possibly be obtained by a tour to the eastern continent, 

 or any other part of the world. And that, in addition to the invigor- 

 ating air, is scenery as wild, grand, and varied as any found amid the 

 Alpine heights of Switzerland. And here too, from Middle Park to 

 Las Vegas, is a succession of mineral and hot springs of almost every 

 character. 



The productions of New Mexico, as might be inferred from the variety 

 of its climate, are varied, but the staples will evidently be cattle, sheep, 

 wool, and wine, for which it seems to be peculiarly adapted. The table- 

 lands and mountain valleys are covered throughout with the nutritious 

 gramma and other grasses, which, on account of the dryness of the soil, 

 cure upon the ground and afford an inexhaustible supply of food for 

 flocks and herds both summer and winter. The ease and comparatively 

 small cost with which they can be kept, the rapidity with which they 

 increase, and exemption from epidemic diseases, added to the fact that 

 winter feeding is not required, must make the raising of stock and wool- 

 growing a prominent business of the country ; the only serious draw- 

 back at present being the fear of the hostile Indian tribes. But as these 

 remarks apply equally well to all these districts, I will speak further in 

 regard to this matter when I take up the subject of grazing in this 

 division. 



The cattle and sheep of this Territory are small, because no care seems 

 to be taken to improve the breed. San Miguel County appears to be 

 the great pasturing ground for sheep, large numbers being driven here 

 from other counties to graze. Don Eomaldo Baca estimates that be- 

 tween five hundred thousand and eight hundred thousand are annually 

 pastured here ; about two-thirds of which are driven in from other sec- 

 tions. His own flocks number between thirty thousand and forty 

 thousand head; those of . his nephew twenty-five thousand to thirty 

 thousand ; Mr. Mariano Trisarry, of Bernalillo County, owns about fifty- 

 five thousand j and Mr. Gallegos, of Santa Fe, nearly seventy thousand 

 head. 



Don Eomaldo Baca stated to me that his flocks yielded him an annual 

 average of about one and a half pounds of washed wool to the sheep ; 

 that the average price of sheep was not more than two dollars per head; 

 that the wool paid all expenses and left the increase, which is from fifty 

 to seven ty-flve per cent, per annum, as his profit. From these figures 

 some estimate may be formed of what improved sheep would yield. 



Wheat and oats grow throughout the Territory, but the former does 

 not yield as heavily in the southern as in the northern part. If any 

 method of watering the higher plateau is ever discovered, I think that 

 it will produce heavier crops of wheat than the valley of the Eio Grande. 



Corn is raised from the Yermijo on the east of the mountains around 

 to the Culebra on the inside ; in fact, it is the principal crop of San 

 Miguel County, but the quality and yield is inferior to that which can 

 be produced in the Eio Grande Valley, and along the Eio Bonito. The 

 southern portion of the Eio Pecos Valley and the Canadian bottoms are 

 probably the best portions of the Territory for this cereal. 



Apples will grow from the Taos Valley south ; but peaches cannot be 

 raised to any advantage north of Bernalillo in the central section, but it 

 is likely they would do well along some of the tributaries and main 





