VALLEY OP THE RIO GRANDE. 
33 
productions. There are about 16,000 acres in what is commonly known as the Mesilla valley, 
of which about 10,000 acres are under this partial cultivation. 
The products for the year 1853 were as follows, viz: 
Corn, 50,000 bushels, at 10 cents... $35,000 
Wheat, 1,000 bushels, at $1.. 1,000 
Beans, 15,000 bushels, at $2..... 30,000 
and melons, fruits, and vegetables, in the most unlimited profusion. 
For a population, therefore, of about three thousand, we have products which, with a very 
indifferent market, and under very unfavorable circumstances, have been worth about $80,000. 
An approximate estimate can be formed from these data of what would be the value of the 
products of these lands, with proper encouragement of security and good markets. 
The most valuable feature, however, of the valley of the Rio Grande, is yet but partially 
developed; and as it ministers to the luxuries rather than to the necessities of life, it cannot, in 
the absence of demand for sucb things, occupy a very important place in the present wealth of 
New Mexico. I refer to the peculiar adaptation of the valley to the culture of the grape. The 
east side of the Rio Grande is faced by chains of lofty mountains, at an average distance from 
the river of fifteen miles, which, at San Felipe at the north and El Paso at the south, impinge 
directly upon the banks. A semi-circular sweep of country is thus enclosed from the northern 
and eastern winds, and in consequence we find within it a very mild and equable climate, little, 
subjected to the changes of the seasons. The river having a general course to the southeast, 
and the ranges of mountains on the east side being nearly parallel to it, the whole of this area 
has a southern and western exposure, and with a soil sufficiently fertile, and of great warmth, 
it is most wonderfully adapted to the culture of the grape. It attains here a flavor and richness 
unknown to any grape I have ever seen in the United States, and is produced, where cultivated, 
in the most profuse abundance. 
An examination of tbe character and climate of this region exhibits a striking resemblance 
to those of the south side of Madeira, and it is much to be doubted whether this portion of New 
Mexico and Texas is at all surpassed in the quality of its grapes, even by that favored island. 
As I said before, grapes and wine being articles of luxury rather than of necessity, the people 
of New Mexico are little able to develop this rich agricultural feature of their country; and 
without facilities for reaching a market, this source of wealth is completely useless. 
There are comparatively few vineyards in the country, but they produce most abundantly a 
delicious grape, and the wine, although very rudely and imperfectly manufactured, and drunk 
in the same year, and probably within a few months after fermentation, is of very fine flavor, 
and of several varieties. It is, a matter of regret that no specimens of the wines were brought 
in for examination. 
I am convinced that one of the most important elements of the future wealth of New Mexico 
is to be found in its peculiar adaptedness to the manufacture of wine, and it needs but oppor¬ 
tunity and encouragement to confirm the truth of this opinion. 
The excellent pastoral character of the table-lands, which have been before referred to, has 
made New Mexico, for the present, peculiarly a stock country; and the expense of maintaining 
all kinds of stock is so little, that the people are able to drive immense herds annually to Cal¬ 
ifornia, and sell them at a very large profit. These expeditions are attended with great diffi¬ 
culty and some danger, and it is with much reluctance that the New Mexican overcomes his two 
besetting evils, timidity and indolence, sufficiently to induce him, even with the prospect of the 
largest gains, to undertake the journey to California. 
Sheep and mules, because more easily taken care of, are probably the most numerous of their 
possessions of this kind; but the country is remarkably favorable to any kind of stock, both in 
climate and pasturage. 
A brief review of this subject exhibits the three great natural divisions of the country along 
