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Dona Ana County 
 
 IN- 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 Containing the Fertile Mesilla 
 
 Valley, Cradle of Irrigation 
 
 in America 
 
 THE GARDEN SPOT OF THE GREAT 
 SOUTHWEST WHERE RETURNS FROM 
 THE LAND ARE GENEROUS AND SURE 
 
 Compiled by Dr. R. E. McBride, Las Cruces, New Mexico 
 Published by Authority of the 
 
 BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION OF NEW MEXICO 
 1908 
 

 \y\o 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 IN 
 
 NEW MEXICO 
 
 Containing the fertile Mesilla Valley, Garden Spot of 
 the Great Southwest, where Modern Irri- 
 gation is now being brought to its 
 highest development 
 
 Compiled by Dr. R. E. McBride, for Publication by the 
 New Mexico Bureau of Immigration 
 
 IN DONA ANA COUNTY ARE 
 
 Two million acres of the Public Domain open to entry. 
 
 One hundred thousand acres of valley land soon to be reclaimed by 
 the Elephant Butte National Irrigation project. 
 
 Forty thousand acres now under cultivation, with permanent and 
 assured water supply. 
 
 The soil of the Mesilla valley is rich and deep. The climate is ideal 
 for the pursuit of agriculture and for health. With intelligent, 
 energetic labor a crop failure on irrigated land is impos.siblp. The 
 returns are generous and sure. 
 
 A ten acre farm in the Mesilla Valley, intelligently and industriously 
 cultivated will yield an independent income. Turned to fruit 
 culture and intensively cultivated it will produce a moderate 
 fortune. ; 
 
 Land values here as elsewhere in New Mf'xif^o, are advancing rapidly. 
 The time to investigate is now. 
 
 For information not contained in this book about Dona Ana County, 
 the Mesilla Valley or any section of New Mexico, address H. B. Hening, Secretary of 
 the Bureau of Immisration, .Albuquerque. N. M. 
 
 1908 
 
D 6 W 5 3 
 
 THIS BOOK has been compiled and published by direc- 
 tion of the Bureau of Immigration of New Mexico in 
 order to meet in an intelligent and comprehensive way 
 the rapidly increasing demand for information about that 
 wonderfully fertile section of the Rio Grande valley in New 
 Mexico known as the Mesilla Valley and comprising the major 
 portion of the settled area of Dona Ana 
 FOREWORD county. General attention has been directed 
 to the Mesilla valley through the Elephant 
 Butte Irrigation ])roject, to be built by the National Reclama- 
 tion service at a cost of $7,200,000.00 and to reclaim 180,000 
 acres of rich land, approximately 100,000 acres of which are in 
 Dona Ana county. This project, the greatest irrigation enter- 
 prise ever undertaken, is fully described in the succeeding 
 pages. The public nature of the work, its magnitude and the 
 large area of rich land which it opens to farmers have united 
 to bring forth a flood of requests for information which it is 
 sought to supply in these pages. 
 
 Every statement made in this book has been carefully veri- 
 fied and may be relied upon. In discussing the resources of 
 the valley and the productivity of its soil the effort has been to 
 extreme conservatism. The pages dealing with climate, soil, 
 field crops, horticulture, etc., are by experts who have verified 
 every statement by experiment and experience. The pros- 
 pectix-e visitor to the Mesilla valley may therefore feel assured 
 that insofar as it goes, this book descrilx's r(^nditions as he will 
 find them. 
 
 The compiler of this book has had material aid in his work 
 from many residents of Las Cruces and the surrounding 
 valley, from the experts. of the New Mexico College of Agri- 
 culture and others, and; .to these the thanks of the compiler and 
 the Bureau of Immigration are extended. 
 
 A Mesillii \ :ille.v Home 
 
 /d- 
 
Dona Ana County 
 
 Its Location, Topography and History 
 
 HE COUNTY of Dona Ana, having its 
 
 name from the daughter of a Spanish 
 
 colonel, who in the olden days of the 
 
 Spanish occupation, was stationed at an 
 
 army post near the present village of that 
 
 name, lies in the extreme south-central 
 
 section of New Mexico. On the south it 
 
 is bounded by the Republic of Mexico and El Paso county, 
 
 Texas. On the north lie Socorro and Sierra counties; on the 
 
 east Otero county, and on the west Luna and Sierra counties. 
 
 The county has an area of 3,818 square miles, or 2,443,- 
 635 acres, its area being about twice that of the state of 
 Delaware. 
 
 The Rio Grande enters the county in its northwest corner 
 and, flowing in a southeasterly direction, divides the county 
 into two almost equal parts, the land running back from the 
 river in a broad expanse of fertile valley and rolling upland, 
 bringing up sharply on either side against towering mountain 
 ranges. All that portion of the valley of the Rio Grande 
 lying in Dona Ana county is known as the Mesilla Valley. 
 In the northwestern section of the county are the Good Sight. 
 Caballo and Magdalena mountain ranges while the Organ and 
 San Andreas mountains pass through the eastern part, rising 
 in a series of broken, majestic peaks, rich in minerals into 
 which the pick of the prospector has as yet hardly been driven. 
 The Organ mountains, the principal range wMthin the county, 
 rise to a height of from eight to nine thousand feet and lend a 
 background of rugged and magnificent scenery to the sheltered 
 valley below. 
 
 Dona Ana was one of the original counties established 
 upon the creation of New Mexico into a territory of the 
 United States and extended across the entire territory from 
 east to west. In 1855 all of the Gadsden purchase was an- 
 nexed to the county and remained a part of it until the organi- 
 zation of the territory of Arizona when the county's western 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 5 
 
 boundary was reduced to that of the present western boun- 
 dary of New Mexico. From Dona Ana County have been 
 created in wliole or in part the present counties of Grant. 
 Luna. Otero, Eddy, Chaves, Roosevelt and Sierra. The old 
 town of Mesilla and later Las Cruces as seat of goverment 
 of southern New Mexico have from the very organization of 
 the territory played an important part in its history. 
 
 A writer in "Farm and Orchard" for November, 1907, 
 thus describes the Mesilla Valley : 
 
 "The Mesilla Valley, from which the bustling town of Las 
 Cruces, "The Crosses," seat of government of Dona Ana 
 county, derives its growth, may well be likened to a vast gar- 
 den that will extend its area over 
 THE MESILLA VALLEY many more thousands of richly 
 
 soiled acres when the full flood of 
 the Government irrigation system pours over it. This gar- 
 den, spreading out between the majestic mountain ranges over 
 whose tops the few fleecy clouds of an almost perpetual spring 
 float in the sunshine like birds of soft plumage at play in the 
 bowl of heaven, gives invitation to the people of the world to 
 come and make homes of delight and plenty for themselves. 
 The invitation is meeting wdth response. This is a spot to- 
 ward which thousands of pleased eyes are turned, where 
 thousands of new people will soon be residing." 
 
 Rhetorical as it is, the writer's description of the valley 
 is not at all misleading, nor is it overdrawn. 
 
 The Mesilla Valley, the name given to that section of the 
 Rio Grande valley in Dona Ana county from Rincon on the 
 north to the Texas line on the south, is one of those favored 
 sections "high enough to escape humidity and far enough 
 south to protect it from severe cold". Practically all of the 
 land in New Mexico to be irrigated by the Elephant Butte 
 project lies in this valley. The land, particularly that in the 
 river bottoms, is very fertile. This does not mean that the 
 land wdll produce fabulous crops without labor. No claim of 
 the miraculous is made for this valley. Here, as elsewhere, 
 the soil will not yield its best returns without hard work, and 
 
Shaded Lane Leading to Alameda Ranch, Near Las Cruces 
 
DONA ANA COL"NT\ / 
 
 proper cultivation. The claim is made, however, that with 
 proper cultivation, this land will produce results equal if not 
 superior to those to be had from the richest irrigated districts 
 in the world. 
 
 The soil is, for the most part, a mixture of sand and adobe 
 (clay, or clayey soil that is very sticky when wet and that 
 bakes very hard when dry). Between the clay on one hand, 
 and the coarse sand on the other are to be found every grada- 
 tion of clay-loam, loam and sandy loam. Generally the soil 
 is easy of cultivation. 
 
 That section of the Mesilla valley north of the town of 
 Rincon, is known as the Rincon valley, conditions there being 
 substantially the same as in the lower valley. The altitude 
 of the Mesilla valley as about 3,800 feet while north of Rincon 
 it rises to about 4,000 feet. 
 
 Quoting again from the writer in "Farm and Orchard" : 
 "Farming in the Mesilla valley has no element of speculation 
 about it. The only thing that taxes the genius of the grower 
 is to choose those products that will bring the largest returns. 
 With the necessary labor applied all crops will bring profit. 
 The soil will respond with gratifying liberality to the hand of 
 the energetic tiller. The returns are enormous in comparison 
 with the amount of capital and labor expended." 
 
 There is no difficulty in finding a market for e\ery pound 
 of produce grown in the valley and transportation facilities 
 are ample. 
 
 The description of the valley may be easil\- followed upon 
 the accompanying map of the Elephant Butte project and its 
 adjacent territory. 
 
 Herding Gont« In the Orgnn MonntnlnK 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 L 
 
 A Las Cruces Home 
 
 AS CRUCES, the 
 City of Crosses, is 
 the county seat and 
 principal town of Dona Ana 
 county. It was laid out in 
 1848, at the close of the 
 Mexican war, by United 
 States army officers from the 
 military post at Fort Selden 
 18 miles to the north. The town is beautifully situated on the 
 eastern edge of the Mesilla valley at an altitude of 3875 feet. 
 Until comparatively recent years Las Cruces was one of the 
 picturesque "show places of the south- 
 LAS CRUCES west". But the magic wave of develop- 
 ment that has swept over all New Mexico 
 within the past five years, has found Las Cruces and has trans- 
 formed it from a one time sleepy "adobe" town into a rapidly 
 growing, hustling little city of the most progressive type. It 
 is forty-three miles north of El Paso, Texas, and 210 miles 
 south of Albuquerque, on the main line of the Atchison, To- 
 peka and Santa Fe railroad from Albuquerque to El Paso. 
 
 Incorporated in 1907, Las Cruces now has municipal water 
 works, electric power and light plant, ice factory and cold 
 storage plant, two flour mills, a fruit and vegetable cannery, 
 a steam laundry and all of the conveniences of the typical, 
 hustling southwestern city. The population is now about 
 4,000. Should the present rate of increase continue it will 
 have considerably passed the 
 5,000 mark before the census of 
 1910. There are two excellent 
 hotels and a number of first class 
 rooming houses, two strong 
 banks, a handsome Roman Catho- 
 lic cathedral and several buildings 
 owned by the Protestant denomin- 
 ations. 
 
 Las Cruces is very justly 
 proud of the educational facilities 
 
 Dona Ana Court House 
 
 the town affords. 1 he public Las cmces 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 1 I 
 
 F'irst National Bank BIcIk 
 Las Criices 
 
 school system is excellent. Three 
 buildings are used, the North ward, 
 the South ward and the Central 
 building. This latter, completed 
 during 1907, contains eight class 
 rooms, an office and library, is 
 heated by steam, lighted by elec- 
 tricity and equipped with city water 
 and all conveniences. The grounds 
 are ample to allow of an addition the same size as the present 
 building and this will be found necessary within the next two 
 years, as the present enrollment of between five and six hun- 
 dred taxes the capacity of the present buildings. The schools 
 are under direction of a superintendent and a corps of thirteen 
 teachers. They are thoroughly graded, carefully directed and 
 only the most competent teachers are employed. The length 
 of the school term is nine months. These schools compare 
 favorably with those of any town of equal size in any section 
 of the United States. 
 
 Graduates from the common branches of the Las Cruces 
 public schools are granted entrance without examination to 
 the courses of the Agricultural college without examination. 
 This institution, located two miles from Las Cruces will re- 
 ceive special attention in the following pages. 
 
 The Sisters of Loretto maintain a large convent and a 
 thoroughly equipped academy accommodating 150 pupils, the 
 enrollment being always full. This institution, which has re- 
 cently been enlarged and improved, is one of the best equipped 
 schools of its kind in the southwest. It is under direction of 
 Sister Abertina who has the assistance of twentv Sisters. 
 
 The Santu Ke Uepot Las ('ruce» 
 
12 
 
 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 The Park and Park Hotel Lag Cruces 
 
 Two English and three Spanish weekly newspapers are 
 published in Las Cruces, as well as a monthly journal devoted 
 to agriculture and horticulture. All of the more important 
 fraternal societies are represented. 
 
 Headquarters of the United States district court for the 
 third district of New Mexico are located in Las Cruces, as is 
 ;ilso the United States land office for the southwest district of 
 New Mexico. The Mesilla Valley Chamber of Commerce is 
 a strongly established institution which has been the means 
 of doing much for the development of the town and the valley. 
 It is fairly representative of the business community of Las 
 Cruces which is well served with able lawyers, physicians and 
 other professional men; while all lines of staple business are 
 represented by up-to-date houses. Several reliable real estate 
 firms are doing much good in advertising the valley and in 
 bringing in the more desirable class of citizens. The Western 
 Union and Postal telegraph companies maintain commercial 
 offices in Las Cruces wdiile the town is connected by telephone 
 with all parts of the valley, and many points in New Mexico 
 and Texas. 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 13 
 
 M 
 
 ESILLA, the second largest town in the county, was 
 the county seat, as well as the seat of the court and 
 United States land office until 1880. The town is one 
 of the oldest in New Mexico and in the stirring early days 
 was the scene of many history-making events. Save for a 
 
 magnificent new brick cathedral 
 OTHER SETTLEMENTS recently built by the Catholic 
 
 parish, it is an "adobe" town, pic- 
 turesque, but not yet awakened to the new life that has found 
 its more energetic neighbor. 
 
 Mesilla Park, two miles south of Las Cruces, on the 
 Santa Fe railroad, is a suburb of Las Cruces and is chiefly 
 important as the station for the Agricultural college. 
 
 Anthony and Bering are small towns on the Santa Fe 
 railroad in the southern part of the county and on the east 
 side of the Rio Grande. They are shipping points for pros- 
 
 Fublic Schools at Las Crii<-es — Ceiilnil Building 
 and Southward Building 
 

DONA ANA COUNTY 15 
 
 perous farming districts and a large flour mill is located at 
 Anthony. 
 
 San Miguel, La Mesa and Chambering are small set- 
 tlements on the west side of the river, in the midst of a rich 
 farming district just beginning to go forward. Around each 
 of these villages -large tracts of most favorably located land 
 are awaiting to be put under cultivation. At Chamberino, 
 General B. J. Viljoen, late lieutenant general of the Boer 
 forces in South Africa, has located a colony of his energetic 
 people who are materially aiding in the development of that 
 section. Until recently the west side of the Rio Grande has 
 been without communication with the railroad save by ford- 
 ing the treacherous river. There is now, however, a substan- 
 tial bridge near San Miguel, while another, further south, will 
 soon be built. 
 
 Dona Ana, five miles north of Las Cruees. is one of the old 
 adobe towns. 
 
 In the northern part of the county are the towns of Rin- 
 con, Colorado and Garfield. Rincon is an important junction 
 point on the Santa Fe railroad and with the completion of the 
 Elephant Butte project will become an important shipping 
 point for the northern part of the valley. 
 
 A View in Old Las Cruees 
 
Irrigation In the Mesilla Valley 
 
 Its History and Development The Elephant Butte Project 
 
 11 KN Coronado, most daring and most 
 successful of the Spanish Conquesta- 
 dores, marched north from Sonora into 
 what is now New Mexico in search of 
 the fabled seven cities of Cibolla, 
 stories of whose untold wealth of gold 
 had captured his fancy, he found the Indians along the Rio 
 Grande diverting the waters of the river through crude ditches 
 to irrigate their lands. The story of Coronado's wonderful 
 march and its discoveries is not for this brief bulletin, but we 
 know beyond question that irrigation as found by him was 
 practiced in the Rio Grande valley long before Columbus dis- 
 covered America, while there is ample basis for the theory 
 of many writers and scientists that irrigation along the Rio 
 Grande antedated irrigation in the valley of the Nile. The 
 Rio Grande valley, therefore, has full justification in claiming 
 title as the cradle of irrigation in America ; and there is a 
 splendid justice in the selection of a portion of this valley as 
 the site for the greatest irrigation project ever undertaken by 
 individual or government, the Elephant Butte, or Engle, 
 storage reservoir project. 
 
 To the man who is interested in irrigation there is an in- 
 tense fascination in the story of the development of irrigation 
 in the Rio Grande valley, from the first crude ditches of the 
 Pueblo, or village Indians, through the early struggles of the 
 pioneers with their community ditches, up to the great Ele- 
 phant Butte reservoir and its broad canals, representing the 
 highest development of the modern science of irrigation. 
 
 As nearly as can be learned from the early Spanish records 
 prior to and immediately succeeding the great Indian uprising 
 of 1680 when all Spaniards were driven from the country, the 
 agricultural population living along the Rio Grande and cul- 
 tivating their land by irrigation consisted of the Tiguax, 
 Pecos, Taos. Picuries, Queres and other pueblo tribes. The 
 village Indians were the constant prey of the roving Apaches 
 and their farming was only that necessary to furnish the bare 
 
1 8 DOKA ANA COUNTY 
 
 necessities of life. It is impossible to arrive at any accurate 
 estimate of the amount of land cultivated along the Rio 
 Grande prior to 1800. 
 
 The Spanish priests and officials established missions and 
 settlements generally at the points where they found Indian 
 settlements, adopting the methods of the Indians in cultivating 
 the soil and raising not a few of the same crops which are 
 today being profitably grown under modern methods on the 
 same soil. This desultory form of farming continued from 
 1598 to the time of the American occupation. It is from the 
 American Occupation in 1846 that modern irrigation in New 
 Mexico dates. In this year General Stephen W. Kearney took 
 possession of the territory. The records of the Kearney cam- 
 paign furnish abundant evidence, were evidence needed, of the 
 extent of cultivation of the soil by the natives along the river 
 valleys. 
 
 There is no record of the fiow of water in the Rio Grande 
 prior to 1880. From that time the supply, particularly in the 
 lower valley, has been uncertain, chiefly because of inadequate 
 ditch and diversion systems. But the government reclamation 
 service has begun work on the Elephant Butte project; the 
 first unit in this great project, the Leesburg diversion dam, has 
 been completed and the days of water famine and uncertain 
 supply for irrigation in the Mesilla valley are gone forever. 
 That there should have been w^ater famines in the past is not 
 surprising when it is recalled that the ditches used were in 
 many cases those used by the Indian three centuries before: 
 
 The Rio Grande occupies first place in number of irriga- 
 tors, acreage and length of canals in use. Rising in Colorado 
 
 it flows through the entire 
 THE RIO GRANDE SYSTEM length of New Mexico. 
 
 Upon its entrance into the 
 territory it passes through a series of long, deep canyons to 
 emerge near Embudo, just north of Santa Fe. Thereafter it 
 possesses the characteristics of a typical desert stream, — "too 
 thin for successful cultivation, too thick for a constant bever- 
 age and reasonably deep if turned on edge". It is not to be 
 assumed from this oft quoted sentence that the Rio Grand car- 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 19 
 
 ries little water. — No greater error could be made. The vol- 
 ume of its flood is enormous, while its constant flow is large, 
 although chiefly in the gravels beneath its bed. 
 
 Today there are more than 100,000 acres irrigated from 
 the Rio Grande in New Mexico, the water from which is led 
 through more than 1,000 miles of canals built at a cost of 
 considerably more than $1,000,000.00. A very large portion 
 of this acreage is in the Mesilla valley although large areas 
 are in cultivation near Albucjuerque and at intervals from 
 there through the entire length of the valley to El Paso, Texas. 
 
 Two of the most surprising things noted by the newcomer 
 in the Rio Grand valley are the wonderful opportunity for the 
 utilization of its water supply and the limited extent to which 
 this opportunity has been taken advantage of. Two principal 
 influences have operated to hold back irrigation along the Rio 
 Grande, particularly in the Mesilla valley. The first was 
 an ancient and doubtless honorable treaty with Mexico by the 
 terms of which the storing of flood water was prohibited for 
 the ridiculous reason that such storage interfered with naviga- 
 tion. The only navigation on the Rio Grande is about 1,000 
 miles south of the southern boundary of New Mexico. This 
 treaty has at last been abrogated, "for which relief much 
 thanks". The second cause for retarded development was the 
 unsettled condition of title to most of the lands which could be 
 
 A Meailla Valley Cantaloupe Field 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 2 1 
 
 irrigated ; and this latter reason has also happily passed away. 
 The control of the river and its use for the beneficial purpose 
 of irrigation is now assured and on it are to be built several 
 of the greatest of the government projects. 
 
 The present Mesilla Valley irrigation system consists of 
 all the ditches along the Rio Grande from Rincon to El Paso, 
 eight in number, known as community ditches, or canals main- 
 tained in common by the com- 
 THE MESILLA VALLEY munities of farms served with wa- 
 IRRIGATION SYSTEM ^^^ therefrom. These ditches all 
 
 take their water from the Rio 
 Grande and head from above Rincon on both sides of the river, 
 carrying the water in a southerly direction. They are 75 
 miles long with an average width of 13 feet and an average 
 fall of two feet per mile. 
 
 These ditches were first constructed in 1848, in the stren- 
 nous days when the workman held the spade in one hand and 
 a musket in the other, enduring all sorts of privations and 
 dangers for the sake of obtaining water for the land. The 
 initial cost of construction of this ditch system was $43,725. 
 The flow of water has not been measured up to within the 
 past year, but the average is about 128 feet a second, although 
 the estimates run as high as 1,000 feet a second. The water 
 is given to the users proportionately, the system used being 
 substantially that of the i6th century. The annual assess- 
 ment has been about seventy-five cents an acre, but the amount 
 varies according to the work necessary to keep the ditches in 
 serviceable condition. There has been a scarcity of water in 
 late years, due to engineering difiiculties in the operation of 
 diverting the water from the river, and as a result crops have 
 been below the average. Through the completion in 1908 of 
 the Leesburg diversion dam, fully described further on, these 
 difficulties have been disposed of forever and the days of short 
 crops, due to scarcity of water, are over. 
 
 North of Rincon, in Dona Ana County, is another com- 
 munity ditch, known as the Acequia de Colorado. This also 
 takes its water from the Rio Grande, was first used in 1875 
 and cost $7,500 to build. It is 12 miles long and conditions 
 thereon are quite similar to those in the lower valley. 
 
22 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 ALL OF THE MANY MILES of community ditches, 
 working on a system dating from the days of Coro- 
 nado, are to be retired by the magnificent, modern 
 system of canals to be supplied from the mighty 
 Elephant Butte Storage reservoir. 
 
 The terms of the National 
 THE ELEPHANT BUTTE Reclamation Act. signed by 
 RECLAMATION PROJECT President Roosevelt June 17th, 
 
 1902, are now well known to 
 all who are interested in irrigation. "This law places at the 
 disposal of the Secretary of the Literior the proceeds of the 
 sale of public lands in the thirteen arid States and Territories, 
 to be used in the construction of irrigation works." 
 
 The Elephant Butte dam and reservoir, known also as 
 the Engle dam and the Rio Grande project, is the largest of 
 the twenty-five projects thus far approved and ordered to be 
 constructed by the officers of the National Reclamation serv- 
 ice. The following description of the Elephant Butte project 
 is from an article which appeared in the "Earth" for Septem- 
 ber, 1907, with the approval and authority of the officers of 
 the Reclamation service : 
 
 The Rio Grande project in New Mexico is one of the 
 largest and most expensive of the several great engineering 
 works which the Government is now engaged in building. 
 Aside from the stupendous engineering 
 HISTORY OF works involved in this project, a peculiar in- 
 THE PROJECT t^rest attaches to it by reason of the region 
 in which it is located. Successful farming 
 by irrigation was practiced here centuries before the Puritan 
 fathers landed on the bleak and inhospitable shores of New 
 England. Primitive as were these methods of agriculture they 
 sufficed to sustain a large population in peace and contentment. 
 Strangely, too, their communal system of farming, with homes 
 in the pueblos and small cultivated areas nearby, is essen- 
 tially now being adopted by our later civilization as best 
 adapted to desert conditions. During the last twenty years 
 conditions in the valley of the Rio Grande in Southern New 
 Mexico and Texas have been growing acute. Numerous di- 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 23 
 
 versions of the stream in the upper reaches in New Mexico 
 and Colorado gradually deprived the old canals below of their 
 supply. Colorado took from New Mexico, New Mexico from 
 Texas and Texas in turn robbed Old Mexico. The fight 
 became interstate and international and it grew intense in 
 years when the river was low. The comity of nations was 
 threatened more than once, while the feeling between citizens 
 of New Mexico and Texas was at fever heat. 
 
 A treaty was made with Mexico which prevented further 
 diversions of the Rio Grande in Colorado and which recog- 
 nized Mexico's prior rights and the justice of her claim for 
 damages to property of her citizens. For fifteen years we 
 have ignored those claims, every attempt to secure Congres- 
 sional action having failed. 
 
 One day a long-legged engineer of the Government, a man 
 with an inquisitive mind, entered the valley and wandered up 
 the river. He studied the records of the stream flow, exam- 
 ined old plans for irrigation works, but he didn't like them. 
 As one Texan said, "He wasn't suited by a Dam site." It was 
 really all a matter of a dam site, and when he found what he 
 wanted, as he finally did, he went back to Washington and 
 reported. 
 
 Surveyors were sent into the valley. Diamond drills 
 punched holes in the river bed, and canals were projected. 
 Then a board of engineers went over the plans, approved them 
 and sent them to Washington, where they were accepted. The 
 problem was only partly solved, however, for here was a valley 
 divided against itself with citizens short on temper and quick 
 on the trigger, and a dozen 
 other plans to dispose of. 
 
 An engineer who com- 
 bines the qualities of an Eric- 
 son and a Richelieu was 
 dispatched to present the 
 Government's new plan. His 
 patience, tact and persever- 
 ance were rewarded. A great 
 mass meeting was held in El 
 Paso and Mexico, Texas and Home of n. i.. Hines at Mesuia 
 
24 
 
 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 MesUla Valley Cantaloupes 
 
 New Mexico enthusiastically 
 ratified a pact of peace and 
 pledged support to the Govern- 
 ment plans. 
 
 The proposition of the Gov- 
 ernment engineers was this : 
 The United States agrees to 
 construct irrigation works 
 which will furnish an adequate 
 supply of water for 180,000 acres of land in New Mexico and 
 Texas, and to permit enough water to flow down the river to 
 irrigate the lands in Mexico, which had been deprived of their 
 water supply. 
 
 The landowners in New Mexico and Texas, whose prop- 
 erty is to be benefitted, agreed to mortgage their lands as se- 
 curity for the repayment of the cost of the work, and Mexico 
 promised to cancel her claims for damages in return for the 
 water delivered her. Today Texas and New Mexico citizens 
 are working as one man for the success of the project. It will 
 succeed, for there is no richer, finer land out of doors than 
 this same valley from El Paso, Texas, to Engle, New Mexico. 
 
 The most striking feature about the Rio Grande project 
 is the Engle dam. It is difficult to describe this ponderous 
 structure of masonry which will rise 255 feet from foundation 
 to parapet and will be 11 50 feet long on top. If you can 
 imagine a structure nearly as high as the Flatiron building 
 and more than three city blocks long, you will appreciate the 
 massiveness of this dam. It will wedge the lower end of a 
 canyon 40 miles long, and it will check and hold the biggest 
 flood ever known in the Rio Grande. The capacity of this 
 storage work makes the Croton reservoir look like a mill pond. 
 It will make a great lake, forty miles long, more than a 
 hundred feet deep and containing sufficient water to cover 
 2,000,000 acres one foot deep. Even the great Assouan Dam 
 of Egypt stores only half as much. 
 
 The Engle dam, with its great gates, its sluicing tunnels 
 and capacious spillways, will cost $5,300,000. Its stored wa- 
 ters will be led in broad canals to irrigate 180,000 acres of land 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 2^ 
 
 or twice the acreage now supplied by the entire stream in this 
 country. The cost of the entire work is estimated at $7,200,- 
 000, or an average of $40 for each acre irrigated. 
 
 Under the terms of the Reclamation law the irrigated lands 
 must be sub-divided into farms of not more than 160 acres 
 each, to be occupied by an actual resident who must cultivate 
 the land. Every dollar expended must be returned to the 
 Government by the land owners in ten years after completion, 
 but without interest. 
 
 Unafraid of what in other sections would seem an im- 
 possible tax, the farmers of the Rio Grande Valley had no 
 hesitation in mortgaging their lands to the Government as 
 security for repayment for the cost of the works. 
 
 LAND WITHOUT WATER IN THE VALLEY IS 
 VALUELESS WHILE IRRIGATED LAND SELLS 
 READILY FOR FROM $100 TO $600 PER ACRE. 
 The principal market for the farm products of the valley is 
 El Paso and the irrigated lands are traversed by two trans- 
 continental lines of railway. 
 
 At best it will require four or five years to complete the 
 stupendous w'ork of building the Engle dam and owing to the 
 limited condition of the Reclamation fund at the time the pro- 
 ject was approved, it was not possible to 
 THE LEESBURG commence construction on the main pro- 
 Dl VERS ION DAM i^^^ ^^ once; but $200,000 was set aside 
 for construction of the Leesburg Diver- 
 sion dam and the enlargment of the main Las Cruces canal, 
 a unit of the main project. W^ork was begun on this diversion 
 dam in November, 1906, and water was turned into the 
 ditches with appropriate ceremonies on Wednesday, Febru- 
 ary 1 2th, 1908, in the presence 
 of several hundred enthusiastic 
 citizens of the valley, who saw 
 in the turning on of the water 
 the passing of years of worry 
 over short water supply for 
 irrigation : For with the com- 
 pletion of this dam all possibil- 
 ity of a water famine in the MesUU VaUey watermelons 
 
26 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 canals now in use is impossible, so long as there is water in the 
 river. This diversion dam is no small structure. It is of con- 
 crete, six hundred feet long, connected with the old Las Cruces 
 ditch system by a canal six miles long and supplies water to 
 40,000 acres. It is strictly a diversion dam, however, and 
 stores no water for use when the river is low. 
 
 The Diversion dam sinks into insignificance as a mere 
 temporary expedient when compared with the greater pro- 
 ject. The Engle reservoir will be forty miles long and will 
 
 have a storage capacity of 
 THEORY AND DIMENSIONS two million acre feet of 
 ^_ Till- i-Rirki I- nAim watcr. It will submerge 
 
 OF THE ENGLE DAM 33,^,^ ^^^^3 S^^^^^ .^^^^ 
 
 AND RESERVOIR of the stupendous charac- 
 
 ter of the project may be 
 had from the following, taken from the third annual report of 
 the Reclamation service: 
 
 The Rio Grande is essentially a torrential or storm water 
 stream, subject to great floods, so irregular in their occur- 
 rence that the total flow in some years is less than one-tenth 
 of the total flow of other years. The Rio Grande is a very 
 muddy river. It carries in suspension a percentage of silt 
 that varies from year to year and from month to month, but 
 that is sufficient to have made a mud deposit in the last seven 
 and one-half years equivalent to 1.8 per cent of the total vol- 
 ume of water that has come down the river. It appears that 
 the best solution of the mud question, as well as of the stor- 
 age question, is the construction of one big reservoir of great 
 depth, with a capacity to store all the water and equalize the 
 irregular flow over a number of years, and with a surplus 
 capacity for mud storage, until posterity can take advantage 
 of its great depth to sluice it out economically. 
 
 This was the reasoning that brought forth the great dam 
 with dimensions as follows: 
 
 FBET 
 
 Heighth from bed-rock to top of parapet walls 255 
 
 Heighth from river bed to top of parapet walls 190 
 
 Thickness at bottom 180 
 
 Thickness at crest 20 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 27 
 
 Length of crest 1 1 50 
 
 Length at river level 400 
 
 Roadway — 
 
 Below crest between parapet walls on each side 5 
 
 Wide 14 
 
 Depth of water from river bed to spillway 175 
 
 Spillway to have a length of 800 
 
 Reservoir 40 miles long 
 
 Storage capacity 2,000,000 acre feet 
 
 Will furnish 600,000 acre feet per annum for irrigation 
 and will irrigate 180,000 acres of land. 
 
 This, then, is the Elephant Butte reclamation project the 
 culmination of centuries of irrigation in the Mesilla valley, the 
 largest body of artificial water of its kind in the world, the 
 greatest irrigation project ever attempted, and insuring to the 
 Mesilla valley a generous, unfailing water supply from year to 
 year, sufficient for every acre of land within the valley, making 
 the farmer, great and small, independent of weather conditions, 
 the yield to be had from his land depending solely upon his own 
 intelligence and industry. With such backing it is small wonder 
 
 A YooDg Orchard — Soil Moisture Test Plats N. M. 
 Clollege Ezjteriment Station 
 
 Agricultural 
 
SITE OF THE GREAT DAMi 
 The Lower Photograph is from the Reservoir Looliiiig; North from Elephai 
 
 the Bend Aliove Elephant Butte; Ele 
 
gjl I—Ill IBM 
 
 ^ > 4 
 
 ^ £? 
 
 XEPHAXT BUTTE PROJECT 
 
 futte. Above from Left to Right are the River Bed nt the Reservoir Site from 
 
 int Butte and the Site of the Dam. 
 
30 
 
 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 that land in the Mesilla valley and under this project is ad- 
 vancing in value by leaps and bounds and that from all sections 
 of the world are coming demands for information about this 
 land of certain plenty. 
 
 The land under the Elephant Butte project is held in pri- 
 vate ownership and for the most part, is covered by land grants 
 
 duly confirmed by the United States 
 court of private land claims. This 
 land can be acquired only by purchase 
 from the owners. The land grants 
 in Dona Ana county cover a total 
 acreage of 90,183 and a fraction, 
 distributed in the following grants: 
 
 LAND UNDER THE 
 ELEPHANT BUTTE 
 PROJECT 
 
 Dona Ana Bend Colony Grant 35>399-Oi7 
 
 Santa Tomas de Yturbide 9,622.34 
 
 Jose Manuel S. Baca 3,530.60 
 
 Refugio Colony 11,524.30 
 
 Mesilla Colony 21,628.52 
 
 Santa Theresa 8,478 . 51 
 
 Total 90,183.287 
 
 Of this area so held under confirmed grants from the Span- 
 ish or Mexican governments, several of the grants have been 
 partitioned, or divided among the claimants, while others have 
 been sold outright. Title in these grants is perfect. The land, 
 for the most part valley land, is extremely fertile and prices 
 range from $25 to $200 an acre, depending, of course, upon 
 location, character of soil, extent of improvements, develop- 
 ment and the other condi- 
 tions generally governing 
 the value of real estate of 
 this kind. In and around Las 
 Cruces the price of land is 
 higher, land suitable for 
 town lots or market garden- 
 ing being very desirable. 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 3I 
 
 LAND SUITABLE FOR AGRICULTURE in Dona Ana 
 county is by no means confined to that which will be 
 reclaimed by the Elephant Butte project. There are 
 now 1,923,176 acres of the public domain within the county 
 open to entry under the land laws of the United States, of 
 
 which 1,406,622 acres 
 LAND OPEN TO HOMESTEAD have been surveyed. Prac- 
 AND DESERT ENTRY ^ically none of this land 
 
 will be brought under 
 irrigation by the Elephant Butte project, but upon much of it 
 an artificial water supply may be developed, chiefly by pump- 
 ing from deep wells, a means of reclamation in which the ex- 
 periment station at the Agricultural college has conducted ex- 
 tensive and satisfactory experiments. 
 
 New Mexico has become famous, the whole world over, as 
 "The Land of Sunshine". Its climate is peerless and the shel- 
 tered, sunny valleys are now recognized as ideal in 
 all conditions for the health - seeker and particularly 
 for the man or woman who is fighting the dreaded consump- 
 tion and diseases of the throat and lungs. For the alleviation 
 of these troubles the dry atmosphere, the great 
 CLIMATE percentage of sunshiny days, and the mild tem- 
 perature combine to make a climate almost per- 
 fect. The Government of the United States has given sub- 
 stantial recognition to the climatic advantages of New Mexico 
 by establishing at Fort Stanton its great Sanitorium for the 
 treatment of Tuberculosis in the Marine Hospital service, and 
 the equally famous institution at Fort Bayard which cares 
 for consumptive patients from the regular army. These in- 
 stitutions are among the greatest of their class in the world 
 and the results obtained at both have attracted the attention of 
 scientists throughout the nation. 
 
 Even as New Mexico stands for climatic perfection in 
 America, so the MesilFa valley is entitled to rank among the 
 most favorably located sections of New Mexico. Annually 
 many healthseekers from all parts of the United States seek 
 health while resting in the delightful sunshine and on every 
 hand are found the happy, prosperous homes of one time 
 health seekers, PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME IN TIME. 
 
32 
 
 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 (annual 
 ( annual 
 
 The climate of the Mesilla valley is as nearly perfect as can 
 be found on earth. It will bear comparison of the severest 
 kind. The following data, giving a general summary of cli- 
 matic conditions in averages covering a period of forty years, 
 is taken from a bulletin published by the New Mexico Agri- 
 cultural college entitled "Forty Years of Southern New Mex- 
 ico Climate", issued in May, 1906: 
 
 Mean maximum temperature, average, 76.8 
 mean). 
 
 Mean minimum temperature, average, 41.4 
 mean ) . 
 
 Average annual rainfall, 8.82 inches. 
 
 Average number of cloudy days, per year, 49. 
 
 Average number of partly cloudy days, per year, 91. 
 
 AVERAGE NUMBER OF SUNSHINY (CLEAR) 
 DAYS, PER YEAR, 225. 
 
 Snow seldom falls in the Mesilla valley and when it does 
 is soon melted. The thermometer sometimes shows a high 
 summer temperature, but lack of moisture enables one to bear 
 this high temperature without half the discomfort experienced 
 in a temperature ten degrees lower in the humid sections of 
 the country. Sunstroke is unknown in the valley and there is 
 absolutely no record of a blizzard. 
 
 Ample accommodations for the health seeker are to be 
 had in Las Cruces, the valley and in near-by mountain ranges. 
 These latter resorts, particularly for those not bed-ridden, are 
 very attractive. One of these places, Van Patten's Mountain 
 ranch, located in a beautiful canyon 18 miles from Las Cruces, 
 is much frequented by health seekers. A modern sanitarium 
 is promised for the near future. The price of board ranges 
 from eio^ht to fifteen dollars a week. 
 
 Hauling lu the Crop 
 
Field Crops in the Mesilla Valley 
 
 By J. J. VERNON 
 Expert, New Mexico College of Agriculture 
 
 THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY is often called "The Nile 
 of the West", and in many of its conditions bears a 
 striking similarity to the valley of the Nile. The Mesilla 
 Valley, one of the largest of the numerous divisions which 
 taken together form the Rio Grande valley system, comprises 
 110,000 acres in New Mexico, of which approximately 35,000 
 acres are in cultivation. Practically all crops grown in the 
 temperate zone flourish and produce from fair to heavy crops 
 in this valley. 
 
 ALFALFA is now the leading crop and because it is the 
 surest and easiest crop grown, is likely to continue so. While 
 alfalfa is well adapted to conditions and to the present farm- 
 ing population, it is peculiarly well adapted to the needs of 
 the new settler because it is easy to grow and is at the same 
 time very profitable. A farmer who has never grown alfalfa, 
 or for that matter, a city bred man who knows nothing about 
 farming, can in two weeks time gather enough information 
 from his neighbors to insure his success as an alfalfa grower; 
 thus immediately assuring himself of a permanent income. 
 
 Alfalfa in the Mesilla valley produces from four to six 
 crops or cuttings per year. The yield is from three-fourths of 
 
 a ton to two tons per acre for each cut- 
 BIG PROFITS ting, or from three to six tons per acre 
 
 FROM ALFALFA P^' season. There are many exceptional 
 
 fields that produce more than six tons per 
 acre per year. It costs from $2.50 to $4.50 per ton to 
 produce alfalfa, including all expenses. The large grower 
 can place his alfalfa on board the cars, direct from 
 the field at about $2.50 per ton. For obvious reasons the small 
 grower cannot reach so low a figure. Many growers who are 
 prepared to do so store their hay until winter when the price 
 is invariably much higher than at time of cutting. Storing 
 alfalfa, including shrinkage, will add from 50 cents to 75 
 cents per ton to cost of production. 
 
34 
 
 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 ALFALFA SELLS AT FROM $8.00 TO $11.00 PER 
 TON, BALED, during the growing season. When stored 
 until winter it sells for from $12.00 to $15.00 per ton. 
 
 A GROSS RETURN OF FROM $40.00 TO $60.00 
 PER ACRE IS NOT EXTRAORDINARY AND A NET 
 PROFIT OF FROM $20.00 TO $50.00 PER ACRE is quite 
 
 common in the Mesilla Valley. 
 
 Alfalfa has no equal as a for- 
 age crop. It is not only highly 
 nitrogenous, but its palitability for 
 all kinds of stock is unsurpassed. 
 Feeds carrying large percentage 
 of digestable 
 proteids are 
 absolutely es- 
 sential to the 
 greatest suc- 
 cess in dairy 
 husbandry 
 and since 
 alfalfa 
 consti- 
 tutes one 
 of the best 
 feeds for 
 cows, this 
 
 Karin Scenes at Liiterne Kaiich Near C'liainl>erino, Mesilla Valle.v. 
 
 1 and 2. Hay Baler at Work. 
 
 3. Reaper and Binder at Work. 4. Plowing in January. 
 
 5. A Prize Hay Field. 6. A Late Cutting of Alfalfa. 
 
 7. One of the Lucerne Ranch Houses. 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 35 
 
 crop will in time make this valley one of the foremost dairy 
 regions in the southwest. 
 
 WHEAT AND CORN probably stand next to alfalfa in 
 importance at the present time. Wheat is a sure crop and the 
 average yield per acre is from 25 to 35 bushels, considerably 
 above the average yield in the "wheat belt". The New Mexico 
 Agricultural College Experiment station has developed a few- 
 varieties that give a much better yield than the present average 
 for the valley. One variety is now being distributed among the 
 farmers which has produced 40.7 bushels per acre as an average 
 for four years. The station has produced two or three varie- 
 ties that have given still better results. These will be available 
 in a couple of years. The price of wheat ranges from $1.50 
 per hundred pounds at threshing to $2.00 per 100 pounds in 
 the winter season. 
 
 Corn is a crop requiring more attention through a longer 
 season than wheat and the acreage of corn is therefore not so 
 large, although it is now being extended very rapidly. The 
 yield of corn when known productive varieties are planted, 
 will equal the average yield in any of the corn growing dis- 
 tricts of the country. 
 
 The saccharine and non-saccharine sorghums produce 
 heavy crops, though owing to the great favor of alfalfa, the 
 area devoted to these crops is comparatively small. 
 
 Oats, barley and rye form excellent crops, barley probably 
 being the heaviest producer of the three. Seventy bushels to 
 the acre has been grown on the experiment station farm. Oats 
 and barley will undoubtedly receive more attention when it 
 becomes generally known that they are heavy producers. 
 
 Mangel Wurzels have received little attention from Me- 
 silla valley farmers though the tonnage yield has proven 
 very satisfactory. With development of the dairy industry 
 this crop will become important in order to supply the needed 
 succulency during the winter season. 
 
 Cow peas are known and highly regarded in the south and 
 the Mesilla Valley is located so far south that cow peas grow 
 luxuriantly and produce heavy crops. They may be used as a 
 regular crop, or as a catch crop after wheat, oats, etc. As a 
 soiling crop for cows they have no superior while they make 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 39 
 
 ticultural branches and the opportunities for their extensive 
 and profitable development are very promising. 
 
 The apple is now the most extensive fruit crop grown in 
 the valley. This fruit, in its size, coloring and flavor, comes 
 
 well up to the standard demanded by 
 APPLE CULTURE the best judges. Mesilla valley apples 
 
 have attracted attention and have won 
 prizes at many fairs and expositions and were among the prize 
 winning American collection at the Paris Exposition. In 
 September, 1905, the writer collected an exhibit of fruit from 
 this valley which he exhibited before the American Pomologi- 
 cal society which met in Kansas City. The Mesilla valley 
 apples compared favorably and in many respects were superior 
 to those exhibited from other sections. At this meeting a 
 great many of the practical as well as scientific fruit growers 
 of the United States were present and the judge's selected 
 from their number to pass upon the merits of the various 
 exhibits, awarded one of the six Wilder medals to the apples, 
 Mission grapes and peaches from the Mesilla valley. 
 
 The apple trees in this valley bear early and yield good 
 and heavy crops. The yield will vary with the variety and 
 with the season. During every other season the trees produce 
 heavy crops and while we have no recorded data on the yield, 
 the writer has in mind a 12-year-old Ben Davis apple tree in 
 the old Casad orchard in Mesilla, from which he helped pick 
 fifteen 40-pound boxes of good, sound apples. 
 
 While there are numerous varieties that are well adapted 
 to our conditions the following are the leading ones: Red 
 June, Yellow Transparent, Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, Mis- 
 souri Pippin, Gano, Huntsman's Black Arkansas, Mammoth 
 Black Twig and Ben Davis. 
 
 The pear and quince thrive liere as well 
 PEARS, PEACHES, as the apple, but these have not as yet 
 GRAPES ETC. ^^^" planted in large areas. The pear 
 
 tree is one of the longest-lived fruit 
 trees grown and the varities successfully cultivated here in- 
 clude the Doyenne d'Ete, Tyson, Clapp's Favorite, Elemish 
 Beauty, Bartlett, Idaho, Buerre Easter, and Colonel Wilder. 
 
40 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 The coddling moth is the worst insect pest the apple and 
 pear growers have to deal with. Its destructive work can be 
 successfully checked by proper and frequent spraying. At 
 present an experiment is being conducted to eradicate the 
 coddling moth by starving it out. 
 
 The Peach, which is also well adapted to this valley, be- 
 gins to bear the third season after being transplanted. The 
 tendency is to overbear making it necessary to thin so that the 
 fruit may not be over-crowded. The only serious drawback 
 to the peach is the late spring frosts which occasionally come 
 late enough to kill the peach buds, though other fruits are sel- 
 dom seriously injured. The late ripening varieties are not as 
 regular bearers here as the early kinds. This is because the 
 early varieties are the late bloomers and generally bloom from 
 8 to 15 days later than the late ripening kinds. The more 
 profitable early varieties are the Sneed, Alexander, Hyne's 
 Surprise, and Waterloo, while the Texas King, Elberta, Be- 
 quette's Free, Chinese Cling and Crothers are the leading 
 late ripening kinds. 
 
 The apricot, while a long-lived tree, is less successful than 
 the peach. All varieties tried here have proved too early 
 bloomers for the spring frosts and for this reason are not suc- 
 cessful as a commercial fruit. Cherries, also, particularly the 
 sweet varieties, do not do very well. The native and Japanese 
 plums are not as satisfactory as the European varieties, the 
 Japanese group being practically worthless. The European 
 plums, however, do admirably. Coe's Golden Drop, Jeflfer- 
 son, Imperial, Transparent Gage, Yellow Egg , Pond's Seed- 
 ling, Robe d'Sargant and the French and German Prunes 
 have been found very satisfactory. 
 
 The Grape may be given second or third place in import- 
 ance in Mesilla valley horticulture. The European or so- 
 called California varieties succeed well here and are the ones 
 being grown for commercial purposes. The Mission grape 
 was about the first fruit to be grown in this valley. The Mis- 
 sion, Muscat of Alexander and to a lesser extent the Gros 
 Coleman and the Flame Tokay constitute the commercial 
 vineyards. The Mission grape, while not very attractive in 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 4I 
 
 appearance, is the most popular and a very good table variety. 
 Many other good varieties will grow well in this valley, as has 
 been shown by grape culture work at the experiment station. 
 The grapes now being grown are mid-season varieties and the 
 shipping season is therefore short. If earlier and later ripen- 
 ing varieties were added the shipping season and the profits 
 could be materially extended. All vines are trained on the 
 stump system and begin to bear the third year after being 
 planted. The yield from old bearing plants varies from 30 to 
 50 pounds. As many as 682 vines can be planted to an acre. 
 
 For a long time it was thought that all small fruits would 
 not flourish in this valley. Results from recent plantings 
 show that strawberries and gooseberries succeed well provided 
 proper varieties are used. While the writer has no definite 
 data on other small fruits showing their adaptability to our 
 conditions, it is believed that many of them will be found to 
 succeed. 
 
 Watermelons and cantaloupes do very well and the grow- 
 ing of cantaloupes especially is going to prove one of the im- 
 portant industries of the valley. " The Rocky Ford canta- 
 loupe has proven entirely suc- 
 THE MELON INDUSTRY cessful both as to flavor and 
 
 yield. The results at the experi- 
 ment station show that in 1906 295 dozens of Rocky Ford 
 cantaloupes of marketable sizes, were picked from half an 
 acre, or nearly 600 dozen to the acre. The same year half an 
 acre planted to watermelons produced 1,193 marketable speci- 
 mens weighing 15,120 pounds, or at the rate of 30,240 pounds 
 to the acre. 
 
 The cantaloupe experiments at the station and elsewhere 
 have demonstrated to the satisfaction of large shippers and 
 commission companies that the Mesilla Valley melon has a 
 high commercial value. I^liese melons ripen at a time between 
 the California melons and the ripening of the Rocky Ford 
 crop and being between seasons, v.'ill find a very ready and 
 profitable market. Lyon and Coggins, one of the largest 
 wholesale commission firms in the country, having charge of 
 the shipping from the famous Brawley, California, melon 
 
4- DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 district, have contracted for over four hundred acres of Me- 
 silla valley cantaloupes for the season of 1908. There is 
 every reason to believe that the returns will be large and the 
 first season is being watched with interest. The success of this 
 first large shipping contract, which is reasonably sure, means 
 the extension of shipping facilities for all varieties of Mesilla 
 valley fruits and produce. 
 
 Cucumbers, squashes, pumpkins do well, and the sweet po- 
 tato is one of the easiest crops to grow. The large Bermuda 
 type and the Nansemond, or Yellow Jersey 
 VEGETABLES varieties do well. The Jerseys are not as 
 large as the Bermudas and the acre-yield is 
 not so large. At the experiment station in 1906 a half-acre 
 plat of white and red Bermudas produced 10,809 pounds, or 
 at the rate of 21,618 pounds per acre. 
 
 Results with Irish potatoes have not been found satisfac- 
 tory and it is only occasionally that a fair crop is produced. 
 
 Tomatoes do well, although the field planted crop is slow 
 in coming into bearing and the picking season is therefore 
 shortened. The estimated yield per acre from results of the 
 plats at the experiment station have varied from 8 to 9 tons. 
 Practically all tomatoes grown here are canned at the local 
 cannery at Las Cruces and as a rule the demand is in excess 
 of the supply. 
 
 Celery is a comparatively new crop in this valley and while 
 no one is growing it in large quantities, it does well. 
 
 Chili, or red pepper, is another good crop and one that has 
 been grown in the valley for years unnumbered. It is a vege- 
 table rapidly coming into popular favor not only locally, but 
 throughout the country both in the red and green forms. A 
 great deal of the green chili used in this country is canned by 
 Mr. T. Rouault of Las Cruces, who operates one of the two 
 chili canneries in the United States. The cannery's price for 
 the green chili has been i }i cents per pound. The yield per 
 acre of green chili is greater than that of the ripened pods. The 
 average yield obtained at the station in 1907 from a number 
 of differently treated experimental plats was 14,683 pounds 
 for green and 4,862 pounds for ripe chili, per acre. 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 43 
 
 The Mesilla valley produces excellent onions, although 
 the quantity grown thus far is very limited. It has been 
 claimed for the El Paso onion which gave the Rio Grande 
 valley its reputation as an onion growing section and the seed 
 of which seems to have been lost, that it was not uncommon to 
 see specimens weighing 13/2 pounds. During the work with 
 onions at the experiment station it has been quite common 
 to produce specimens weighing from two to two and a half 
 pounds while in 1907 one onion (gigantic gibraltar) weighed 
 two and three-quarter pounds. The yield per acre is equal to 
 
 and in many cases greater 
 lished onion growing 
 yield per acre in pounds at 
 from small 
 plats has been 
 250 and 40,450 
 t i 1 i z e d with 
 Many other 
 well here but 
 to are the most 
 
 An Onion Weighing S% 
 Founda 
 
 than that had in estab- 
 districts. The estimated 
 the experiment station, 
 unfertilized 
 as high as 31,- 
 from plats fer- 
 sodium nitrate, 
 vegetables d o 
 those referred 
 important of the 
 
 commercial crops now being grown. Aside from fruits and 
 vegetables the valley is well adapted to the growth of many 
 ornamental plants. The Arbor Vitaes, Euonymus, Red Cedar, 
 Cypress and other evergreens 
 as well as many dicidous trees 
 and shrubs are now being 
 planted in the ornamental home 
 grounds. The rose, chrysan- 
 themum, sweet-peas, violets, 
 pansies and other familiar flow- 
 ering plants are easily grown 
 and by proper attention to the 
 blooming periods, tiowers may 
 be had in the garden during the 
 growing months, from spring 
 until late in the fall. 
 
 Mesilla Valley Sweet Potatoes 
 
44 
 
 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 THE FARMER OR GARDENER and fruit grower in 
 the Mesilla Valley, may, in his spare moments, turn his 
 attention profitably to two industries now rapidly grow- 
 ing in popular favor; bee culture and poultry raising. Either 
 of these industries may be profitably followed alone. The 
 
 alfalfa flowers and many other 
 BEE CULTURE AND flowering plants of the valley furnish 
 POULTRY RAISING abundant food for the bees, while 
 
 the honey produced is delicious and 
 brings the best price. Poultry raising is now being followed 
 by many farmers with profit. Natural conditions are favor- 
 able and the results obtained are good. There is a steady 
 market for both fowl and eggs and prices are so high as to 
 make the profits worth striving for. The demand is always 
 greater than the supply. Turkeys do well here and owing to 
 the dry air and equable temperature, flourish with less care 
 than elsewhere. 
 
 There is a ready market for every pound of produce of 
 every kind grown in this valley, while the development of 
 heavy shipping to distant markets has begun 
 MARKETS ^vith the cantaloupe industry. For the truck 
 farmer, poultry raiser and dairyman El Paso 
 furnishes a splendid local market while Las Cruces and the 
 towns along the Santa Fe railroad are important factors in 
 creating the demand. The maintenance of the price of alfalfa 
 from year to year proves conclusixely the market for that crop 
 and the fruit and trucking interests have never yet been able 
 to meet the demand. 
 
 The vast extent of open 
 range in Dona Ana county 
 affords a 
 STOCK splendid op- 
 
 G ROWING Portunity for 
 cattle and 
 sheep raising which is not 
 being overlooked in the gen- 
 eral development of the 
 county. The mildness of the 
 climate does away with need ^ coiony of iJe..K at «.ui Mesma 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 45 
 
 The Picturestiue Organ Mountains — The Magniflcent Background 
 of the Mesilla Valley 
 
 for shelter. Sheep raising has long been one of the established 
 industries while cattle growing has been followed since the 
 American occupation. Recently Angora goat raising has 
 assumed important proportions. The mild climate makes this 
 section peculiarly well adapted to successful growing of An- 
 goras and mohair will in the near future be one of the coun- 
 ty's important products. 
 
 The mineral resources of Dona Ana county have thus far 
 scarcely been more than touched. Enough of intelligent pros- 
 pecting has been done to demon- 
 MINES AND MINING strate clearly that vast wealth of 
 
 copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc is 
 hidden away in the mountains, but of systematic development 
 little has been done aside from a small group of important 
 properties in the Organ mountains. These mines include the 
 Torpedo, Memphis, Modoc, and Stephenson-Bennett, known 
 in the mining world as steady producers and it is in their dis- 
 trict that most of the development work in the county has been 
 done. A railroad has been projected into the Organ mountains 
 
Front View Loretto Academy, Las Cruces 
 
 Within the Grounds Loretto Academy, Las Crucea 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 47 
 
 and when it is built rapid development of a large section will 
 speedily follow. Some desultory mining has been done in the 
 San Andreas and Black mountains. All engineers who have 
 examined this district have agreed as to the large extent of the 
 ore bodies and only proper transportation is needed to bring 
 speedy and profitable development. 
 
 Aside from the excellent public 
 DISTRICT SCHOOLS school system of Las Cruces. all sec- 
 tions of Dona Ana county are sup- 
 plied with well conducted district schools. As a result of the 
 great influx of new settlers 
 into the county and especi- 
 ally into the Mesilla valley 
 the school population is in- 
 creasing very rapidly. New 
 school buildings are being 
 built, better salaries are be- 
 ing paid to teachers and bet- 
 teachers are being employed. 
 There are nineteen districts 
 in the county each one of which has its school building. The 
 law requires at least three months of school each year and 
 most of the districts hold from six to nine months. In these 
 district schools all the common branches are thoroughly taught 
 and the newcomer to the Mesilla valley may be assured that 
 his children will obtain here as sound a common school educa- 
 tion as can be had in any farming community in the country. 
 The county schools, here as throughout New Mexico, are be- 
 ing graded according to the Nationalized Illinois course of 
 study recently adopted by the New Mexico department of edu- 
 cation and recognized as the best course of study for common 
 schools now in use. All public schools in New Mexico have 
 an uniform series of text books in compliance with a recent 
 law. These text books are standard and up-to-date and a 
 family moving from one section of the territory to another, 
 will find the same books in use. 
 
 New Mexico's educational system has advanced very rap- 
 idly in the past few years, keeping pace with the general de- 
 
 Stepliensoii-Bennett Mines, Organ 
 Mountains 
 
J m... .. jya.- AJ.i-yju.-..^.4.j JJULL i|l ^.t^f-^fffiMMMMMWlWlWI' i 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 49 
 
 velopment. In 1907 close to half a million dollars was ex- 
 pended in maintenance of the public schools. The county 
 schools are under the direction of a county superintendent who 
 is directed by the superintendent of education, who in turn 
 derives his authority from the board of education, of which 
 he is a member. County teachers' institutes are regularly held 
 and rigid examination is required for the three grades of 
 teaching certificates granted. Salaries paid to teachers range 
 from $35 in the small districts to $60 in more populous rural 
 and village schools and will probably advance in the near 
 future. 
 
 The New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic 
 Arts is an institution of which the people of New Mexico are 
 \'ery justly proud and which has done and is doing an im- 
 portant work in the development of 
 THE AGRICULTURAL the country and in training young 
 QQ|_j_^Q^ men and young women to taken an 
 
 active and intelligent part in that 
 development. The college, ranking today as one of the lead- 
 ing institutions of its kind in the west, is training its student^ 
 to make their way in the practical, homely, every-day indus- 
 tries of life. It gives no classical course ; it has no law or 
 theological departments, but it is turning out men who are 
 engineers and chemists, practical fruit growers and stock 
 raisers and farmers, assayers and book-keepers and stenog- 
 raphers, and young women who are competent housekeepers 
 and nurses and thoroughly trained in all branches of domes- 
 tic economics. 
 
 This institution, created by the New Mexico legislature 
 in 1899, is tw^o miles from Las Cruces on the Santa Fe rail- 
 road. Its grounds are healthfully and pleasantly located, it 
 has its own postH9fBce and is in close touch with the business 
 and social life of Las Cruces. It is supported jointly by New 
 Mexico and by the federal government. 
 
 The equipment of the institution is the best to be had and 
 is adequate for the work offered which consists, briefly, of 
 complete courses in practical and theoretical agriculture, hor- 
 ticulture and stock growing, mechanical, electrical and civil 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 51 
 
 engineering, full courses in chemistry and the sciences, with 
 courses in domestic science for young women. A fine com- 
 mercial course, a course in music, and a preparatory depart- 
 ment are also maintained. The seven buildings now in use 
 are to be added to during the year, through large appropri- 
 ations recently made by the territorial government. 
 
 The agricultural experiment station has been granted addi- 
 tional appropriation by recent act of congress and additional 
 appropriations iiave been made by the legislature. The total 
 income for the present year is $70,000 and this will increase 
 by $7,000 a year for the next four years. In addition $30,000 
 was appropriated for new buildings by the last legislature and 
 $25,000 under a previous appropriation, has just become avail- 
 able. The student body is composed of a splendid class ot 
 young men and young women and the total enrollment for 
 1908 is 308, the largest in the institution's history. 
 
 The record made by graduates of the institution of whom 
 there are seventy and by the many students who have taken 
 short or partial courses are sufficient guarantee of the char 
 acter of the work. 
 
 PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION 
 
 ,000 Gallons a Minute from a 6-lnch Well; Experiment 
 Station Farm. Mesilla Park. 
 
52 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 /^s. LTHOUGH practical education for his sons and 
 /cJlLs\ daughters is of first importance to the 
 //^jjr^J^sV farmer and homeseeker, perhaps the most 
 /V>C^i^^^\\ important direct benefit the farmer ob- 
 
 /%4|j|^^^^^^V\ tains from the college is in the work 
 -^3 -f^ >. of the experiment station. The sta- 
 
 tion is constantly making careful study of soils, seeds, plants, 
 plant adaptability, animal husbandry, field crops, irrigation 
 plant diseases, insect pests, and in fact into every branch of 
 industry having its basis in the soil. The results of these 
 
 experiments are given to the farmers 
 THE EXPERIMENT of New Mexico in the form of bulle- 
 
 QTATIflM AMn ^^"^ ^"*^ through the newspapers. 
 
 b I A MUIM AIMU ^^.j^-jg ^^^ college farm is always open 
 
 FIELD WORK to the inspection of farmers who de- 
 
 sire information and instruction. 
 Moreover, the experiment station maintains an expert in the 
 field, whose duty it is to hold farmers' institutes, give general 
 instruction in irrigation and all branches of farm work and to 
 furnish practical advice where desired. With recent develop- 
 ments in dry farming and irrigation the experiment station is 
 proving itself indispensible in inaugurating proper methods of 
 culture, introducing suitable crops and giving expert advice 
 in the development and use of water supply for irrigation 
 The helpfulness of the station and its corps of experts to New- 
 Mexico at large and the Mesilla valley in particular is apparent 
 on every hand. The farmers of New Mexico may, if they de- 
 sire, keep In close touch with the station. They may ask 
 advice on the many questions that come up particularly to the 
 newcomer and it is to the farmer who is just becoming ac- 
 quainted with the country that the experiment station is most 
 helpful. With the increased demand of the farmers to be 
 posted on the results of its investigations and its increased ap- 
 propriation for work and for making public its results the 
 station is steadily growing in interest and \-akie to the agri- 
 cultural industry of New Mexico. 
 
DONA ANA COUNTY 53 
 
 SOCIAL conditions in Dona Ana county will be found to 
 vary little from and compare favorably with those in 
 the older agricultural districts of the central states. The 
 religious life of the community finds expression in well es- 
 tablished churches. There is a large and commodious Roman 
 
 Catholic cathedral at Las 
 SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS Cruces, a mission at Dona 
 CONDITIONS Ana, a handsome church at 
 
 Mesilla and missions at San 
 Miguel, Chamberino, La jMesa and Colorado. The Episcopal 
 church maintains a well organized parish at Mesilla Park, the 
 southern branch of the Methodist church has a flourishing- 
 organization at Las Cruces, with a membership of ninety-five. 
 This church has an organization of thirty members at Cham- 
 berino and maintains small missions both at Las Cruces and 
 Dona Ana. The Methodist Episcopal church has a mission 
 at Dona Ana and a buildino- at Las Cruces. The Presbyterian 
 church has an organization at Las Cruces and at Mesilla Park. 
 The Baptist and Christian churches also have organizations 
 in the county. 
 
 The important secret societies are well represented. 
 
 Dona Ana county is well governed and its financial condi- 
 tion is satisfactory. Its people are law abiding and the records 
 of the criminal court are gratify ingly brief. The assessed 
 
 valuation of the county in 
 TAXATION I907» niade on a basis of about 
 
 I nPAi mwcDMMCMT one-third of the actual valua- 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ^-^^^ ^^.^^ $2,451-383. a consid- 
 
 PROPERTY VALUATION, erable gain over the valuation 
 
 of 1906. When it is considered 
 that the county and territorial tax is made on a valuation and 
 assessment about one-third of the actual valuation, the rate 
 of taxation is low. With the rapid increase in population and 
 in valuation now going on, the tax rate will go still lower 
 while the county's revenue will allow of much in the' way of 
 road and bridge construction now needed. The business men 
 of Las Cruces have recently done much toward improving 
 
54 DONA ANA COUNTY 
 
 roads in the vicinity of the town and roads generally through 
 the valley are in fair condition. The entire county is served 
 by telephone. 
 
 Farm hands in the valley receive from 75c to $1.00 per 
 day for day labor and from $18 to $25 per month with board. 
 The cost of living varies little from that in other farming 
 
 communities of the western and mid- 
 COST OF LIVING die western states. A small percentage 
 AND WAGES "^^^ ^^ added for freight on certain 
 
 commodities, but these are few. The 
 cost of furniture, farm implements, etc., is about the same as 
 in other sections of the west. No intending settler need bring 
 his household goods, etc., with him unless for some special 
 reason, since the well equipped mercantile establishments of 
 Las Cruces can supply all needs. 
 
 Under the stimulus of the general wave of progress and 
 advancement that has swept over all New Mexico during the 
 past two years, and especially stimulated by the building of 
 the Elephant Butte irrigation project, 
 DEVELOPMENT Dona Ana county and the Mesilla valley 
 are advancing more rapidly, perhaps, than 
 any section of the great southw^est. It is not an exaggeration 
 to say that the growth of population in the valley has been 
 marvelous during the past two years. Hundreds and thous- 
 ands of acres of land have changed hands, the land passing 
 chiefly into the hands of farmers who are buying it for homes. 
 There has been very little of the element of speculation in the 
 real estate activity and almost every land transaction recorded 
 on the books of the county has meant the arrival of a new 
 citizen. This inflow of settlers and land buyers will increase 
 steadily as the Elephant Butte project nears completion and 
 there will be a natural and probably a very rapid advancement 
 in land values. The time to investigate conditions in the Me- 
 silla valley is now, when it is possible to take advantage of 
 the oportunities offered by the early stages of the development 
 of a wonderfully fertile district the future of which is assured. 
 
 PD 1.0.4 
 
MUCH that has been said and written about this won- 
 derful Mesilla Valley, its phenomenally fertile soil, 
 its magnificent climate, its splendid and certain future 
 may be called into c^uestion. But the facts are here to prove 
 away the doubts of any skeptic, whoever he may be. Volumes 
 might be written and read by untold readers, yet 
 L'EWVOY we would find some still unconvinced. The way 
 to find out is to see and the way to see is to come. 
 A hearty welcome awaits the prospective homeseeker and 
 the tiller of the soil. 
 
 The compiler of this book has seen the dreary, cheerless, 
 sage-brush waste of desert and the mesquite covered plain 
 transformed into productive farms and orchards by the magic 
 influence of water. Long ages ago it was prophesied that 
 "The Desert shall blossom as the rose" and here in the Me- 
 silla Valley we have the fulfillment of the prophecy, bringing 
 to us the realization that "after all, there is no desert." 
 
 The development of New Mexico during the past two years has been phe- 
 nomenal. During that period 30,000 entries have been made upon the public 
 domain. There has been an increase of more than 100,000 in population. More 
 than half a million acres of land have been brought under cultivation and such 
 an era of development has set in as has never been 
 dreamed of before. The time to come to New Mexico is 
 INFORMATION now, whUe this era of development is In Its infancy. 
 IIUI V^llivini 1V^I\I .pj^g Bureau of Immigration is an official body organized 
 OM DCnilCOX under the laws of New Mexico, its members, of whom 
 U IM ntvalUto I there are six, being appointed by the Governor, and con- 
 
 firmed by the upper house of the legislature. The duties 
 of the members and the secretary employed by the 
 Bureau are to proinole the development of New Mexico, induce immigration and 
 furnish information to those who desire it. The officers and members of the 
 Bureau as now constituted are: 
 
 President, Joseph W. Bible. Silver City; Vice-President. C. E. Mason. 
 Roswell; Treasurer. John A. Haley. Capitan; D. A. Macpherson, Albuquerque; 
 Geo. A. Fleming. East Las Vegas; A. M. Edwards, Farmington. 
 Requests for information should be addressed to 
 
 H. B. HENING, Secretary, 
 The Bureau of Immigration, Albuquerque, N. M. 
 
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