BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 -> 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
The PEC OS 6 
 
 VAL L E Y 
 
 -/H 
 
 New 
 
 Twentieth Thousand. 
 January, I go 3. 
 
THE PECOS VALLEY. 
 
 00 
 
 Why This Book Is Published. 
 
 00 
 
 This little book is issued to inform those who may be inter- 
 ested in knowing of the conditions in the irrigated agricultural 
 district known as the Pecos Valley of New Mexico. It is intended 
 to relate in the plainest fashion the facts as they may be found 
 and demonstrated by any investigator facts as to climate, agri- 
 culture, stock-raising, fruit-raising and other industries, markets, 
 cost and all the other details of importance to every prospective 
 settler. 
 
 The information has been gathered at first hand from the 
 men who have done and are doing the very things here described. 
 The pictures interspersed through the book are typical of the 
 region, and are selected to illustrate graphically the facts related 
 in the text. There has been no effort to embellish the tale with 
 picturesque descriptions or glowing prophecies. The plain facts, 
 plainly stated, may better speak for themselves. 
 
 It will be shown that in this region the farmer and the stock- 
 raiser may find conditions peculiarly favorable for his industry 
 and his profit, wholesome in the surroundings and generally 
 attractive. The Pecos Valley proper is a district where highly 
 developed farms, stock ranches, orchards and gardens and 
 thrifty communities prove the possibilities. 
 
 The Pecos Valley has made wide fame for itself in the last 
 fifteen years as the scene of noteworthy agricultural and indus- 
 trial development by means of some of the most comprehensive 
 irrigation works ever attempted in the world. Geographically, it 
 it a particularly well-defined region, not to be confused with any 
 other. 
 
 The Rio Pecos, a historical river of importance since the days 
 of the very earliest of the Spanish explorers, rises in a range of 
 the Rocky Mountains in north-central New Mexico, near Las 
 Vegas, and not far from Santa Fe, the ancient and modern capital. 
 Receiving in its upper course numerous small mountain tribu- 
 taries, it then flows almost directly south through the eastern half 
 of the territory. Its ultimate river outlet is into the Rio Grande, 
 
Geography of the Valley, and Some History. 
 
 after a tortuous course southeastward to the international bound- 
 ary between the United States and Mexico. 
 
 What is known agriculturally and commercially as the Pecos 
 Valley, and therefore described in this pamphlet, is that favored 
 part of the river course through Chaves and Eddy counties, the 
 southeastern counties of New Mexico. The Pecos Valley Lines, 
 a portion of the great Santa Fe System, extend north and south 
 throughout the length of the valley, uniting all the flourishing 
 towns and rural communities and affording facile communica- 
 tion with all the outlying markets in either direction. 
 
 The entire district thus characterized is thoroughly watered by 
 comprehensive irrigation systems, and the richest of alfalfa, fruit 
 and vegetable crops are produced here, as well as the finest herds 
 of cattle and sheep. 
 
 It seems but fair to allot a paragraph to the history of this 
 interesting region, which is to have more ample space for an 
 account of its later development and its present condition. In the 
 prehistoric days what we know as the Pecos Valley was undoubt- 
 edly one of the favored abiding places for those primitive races 
 which depended upon their flocks and herds for sustenance, and 
 for the few who tilled the soil. True it is that the more moun- 
 tainous, rocky regions to the north and west have better preserved 
 the curious architectural remains of the cliff dwellers and their 
 kin, but enough is found in this valley to prove that it was the 
 happy home of peaceful tribes. 
 
 Coming down to the days of the Spanish occupation, the valley 
 rises into immediate importance. Coronado himself, the great 
 explorer, in his marvelous march to Quivera, which ended in 
 northern Kansas in 1541, crossed the Pecos river on his northward 
 journey and again on his return toward Mexico. Forty years later 
 Espejo entered the valley with an expedition from the northwest, 
 and marched southward throughout the entire length of it. He 
 found the plains covered with immense herds of buffaloes, fatten- 
 ing on the rich grasses that have brought wealth to so many 
 ranchmen in later years, since beef cattle succeeded those wild 
 herds of the past. 
 
 From that time the Pecos Valley was a familiar road for many 
 
More History; a Land of Peace. 
 
 an explorer and missionary of the Spanish regime. As soon as 
 industrial life extended this far from the southern provinces of 
 Mexico under Spanish rule, cattle began to be bred and grazed 
 on these plains, as they were throughout the great Southwest. 
 Then through all the political changes, from Spanish to Mexican 
 rule, and from Mexican to that of the United States, there was 
 little alteration until the era of railways and irrigation began, less 
 than twenty years ago. The Pecos Valley was favored by man as 
 it was by nature, for even warfare troubled it but little. The 
 Mexican war never disturbed it. The Confederate invasion to 
 Santa Fe in 1862 barely crossed it. And even the wars with the 
 Indians Pueblo, Apache and Chiricahua barely intruded upon 
 the peaceful valley, when the rest of the territory was harassed 
 and terrified by the restless red men. 
 
 While a dozen centuries of the Pecos Valley have been dis- 
 missed upon a single page, the last dozen years and the present 
 dispensation are worth a book. For the new era in this fertile, 
 
Irrigation: the Key to the Valley's Success. 
 
 sun-blessed, well-watered land is not more than fifteen years old, 
 even if one measures from the time the plans for development 
 began to be formed. Throughout the territory of New Mexico the 
 most noteworthy feature of the American development has been 
 the modification of the primitive ideas of the first inhabitants as to 
 agricultural methods to fit the needs of a more intelligent and 
 more energetic people. Irrigation, planned and directed by skilful 
 and scientific men, has brought back into profitable cultivation this 
 smiling valley, long abandoned to pastoral use. This science of 
 irrigation, which makes the agriculturist the absolute master of 
 his acres and his crops, carried to perfection as it is here, is still 
 the same influence which in cruder form was enlisted by the very 
 races which lived in the valley and passed away a thousand years 
 ago, the same which to-day gives all the wealth to Egypt by the 
 aid of the River Nile. 
 
 The only things required to develop this smiling valley into 
 one of the most productive regions of all our broad land were to 
 
 A Reservoir Spillway, North of Carlsbad. 
 
Where Farming Needs No Luck. 
 
 provide it with means of reliable and rapid access and to prepare 
 irrigation systems which would water it. Both necessities have 
 been supplied in ample degree. 
 
 By the completion in March, 1899, of the Pecos Valley Lines, 
 a portion of the great Santa Fe System, direct communication is 
 furnished to all the principal markets, north, south, east and west, 
 so that shipments may be made regularly and promptly, and resi- 
 dents of the valley have all the advantages of such a service at 
 their command. 
 
 By the construction of storage reservoirs and canals, at a cost 
 of millions of dollars, water is ready at hand for every farmer 
 when he wants it for the best treatment of his crops. Instead of 
 depending upon erratic rainfall, "that inferior substitute for irri- 
 gation," he commands his water supply, thus insuring the highest 
 degree of productivity for his industry. The result is that settle- 
 ment and prosperity have advanced rapidly in the valley, hand in 
 hand, until to-day it is recognized as a most desirable region for 
 the progressive agriculturist. 
 
 This little book is intended to present, in condensed form, 
 plainly stated, an account of the exact conditions in the Pecos 
 Valley. There is no purpose to magnify any of its good qualities. 
 The book will describe the scope of the great irrigation works and 
 the climate and soil conditions which make agriculture so success- 
 ful here. It will give detailed information concerning the fruit, 
 vegetable and farm crops which have proved such a source of 
 profit, and the raising of cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, all carried 
 on with unusual success. The towns will be described, the mar- 
 kets, the railway and shipping facilities and the conditions of land 
 purchase and water rights. All of these things will be made clear 
 by direct testimony from the men who have done and are doing 
 things in the Pecos Valley and who know exactly what they are 
 talking about. The illustrations included in the handbook have 
 all be made directly from photographs taken in the valley; not 
 exceptional ones, but such as may be duplicated many times by 
 any one seeking verification. 
 
 The climatic conditions with reference to agriculture are espe- 
 cially inviting, but even more inviting as a health proposition. 
 
Climate; No Zero Weather for Twenty Years. 
 
 The average winter is short and a large portion of that is open 
 and mild, permitting comfortable outdoor work. The spring opens 
 early and the autumn holds late, so that throughout the entire year 
 there are comparatively few days when outdoor labor is in any 
 sense trying. The atmosphere is clear, warm, dry and bracing, 
 there being as many as 240 days in each year clear and forty in 
 which moisture is precipitated. The winters are mild and brief, 
 and the summers are not oppressively hot. The frailest invalid 
 can enjoy the benefits of outdoor life nearly every day in the year. 
 The porous, sandy soil permits of perfect drainage, and malaria 
 is unknown. Persons afflicted with consumption in its earlier 
 stages, bronchitis, asthma and affections of the kidneys and liver, 
 are almost immediately benefited. The entire valley can truthfully 
 be termed a health resort, its average altitude being 3,200 feet. 
 
 The recorded mean temperatures are as follows: Spring, 63.1 ; 
 summer, 79.5; autumn, 63.4; winter, 43.9. Occasionally during 
 June, July and August the thermometer registers an apparent heat 
 of over 100, but such warmth is exceptional and never long 
 continued, and is not as oppressive as 80 in the humid atmos- 
 phere of the East. The nights, even in the hottest weather, with 
 very few exceptions are pleasant. The usual winter minimum is 
 from 12 to 20 above zero. Only once in twenty years has the 
 mercury fallen below the zero mark. The comparative freedom 
 from serious discomfort even in the warmest weather is due to 
 the rapid evaporation of perspiration, preventing the clammy, 
 uncomfortable feeling so common to lower altitudes. 
 
 The secret of getting the best results of the Pecos Valley cli- 
 mate lies in adopting as far as possible an outdoor life. The man 
 with weak lungs and weak stomach, who has been taking medicine 
 for months and perhaps years, usually finds that moderate exercise 
 in the open air and sunshine in this climate will very soon enable 
 him to digest plain, simple food, and he begins to gain strength, 
 provided he has not come too late. No climate will perform mira- 
 cles, but an outdoor life in this climate has cured many and will 
 cure those who come in time. Few localities can be named where 
 the necessary agricultural conditions are so happily combined with 
 attractive climatic conditions and pleasant surroundings. 
 
Uncle Sam Sends Disabled Soldiers Here. 
 
 It is an evidence of the salubrious conditions to be found in 
 this region that two sanitariums have been started by the United 
 States Government for the climatic treatment of soldiers and sail- 
 ors afflicted with pulmonary troubles. One of these, that intended 
 for the Marine Hospital Service, now occupies the abandoned 
 military reservation of Fort Stanton, a short distance west of 
 Roswell. The other, intended for the army, is at Fort Bayard, 
 near Silver City, in the southwestern part of New Mexico. To 
 these sanitariums all soldiers and sailors thus afflicted are brought 
 from all over the United States. 
 
 Induced by the remarkably favorable health conditions of the 
 valley, an important sanitarium is about to be established at Carls- 
 bad for the treatment' of such patients as desire the most favorable 
 circumstances around them. High medical authorities unite in 
 declaring that the location chosen for this institution, on Hager- 
 man Heights, across the Pecos river from the city of Carlsbad, 
 possesses conditions which will make it noteworthy throughout 
 the country. A splendid mineral spring near to the town from 
 which it takes its name, pours into the Pecos river every minute 
 five thousand gallons of water strongly impregnated with valu- 
 able mineral substances. The health-giving qualities of this 
 spring are an important factor in the general attractions of the 
 vicinity, no less than in the sanitarium enterprise. 
 
 The soil in the Pecos Valley is of the most highly fertile and 
 
 A Beet Field, Pecos Valley. 
 
Nature of the Soil, and Its Virtues. 
 
 tillable quality, as a rule a rich alluvial soil, formed in the course 
 of ages by the Pecos river and its tributaries. The surface is 
 generally very smooth and easy to cultivate and irrigate. The 
 soil varies from what is locally called sand, through sandy loam, 
 to adobe, a heavy, sticky soil, but not strictly clay. The prevailing 
 color is a chocolate brown, changing in places to a dark gray, red 
 or black. The base of the soil is limestone. The so-called sand 
 consists not of silica, but of minute particles of lime and soil 
 which disintegrate under irrigation. The sandy soil has, there- 
 fore, a tendency to become heavier with use. In a few of the 
 depressions there is some black, waxy land, but of this there is 
 very little. Nearly all of the soils scour and plow well and can 
 generally be broken with two ordinary horses, and are then very 
 mellow. Plowing can be done at any time in the year, as the soil 
 can be moistened at the farmer's pleasure and be ready for the 
 plow within twenty-four hours. 
 
 There is an abundance of potash and phosphoric acids in these 
 lands for all crops, but in the raw lands nitrates are deficient and 
 there is very little humus. These are characteristics of all desert 
 and semi-arid soils. It is this lack of humus which gives the 
 peculiar light appearance to the soil, so noticeable to the Eastern 
 farmer, who is surprised that anything can grow upon earth which 
 looks like that. Upon this naturally prolific soil the processes of 
 irrigation at frequent intervals distribute a fresh layer of silt, 
 
 A Scene on the Slaughter Ranch. 
 
Alfalfa; the Best Fodder in the World. 
 
 nature's own fertilizer. Rich in mineral base, the natural home of 
 alfalfa, a proper rotation of crops insures increasing productive- 
 ness, with no call for costly commercial fertilizers, as is the 
 inevitable fate of the less lasting soils of the rain belt, leached and 
 water-soaked through countless ages, but still full of vegetable 
 mold and humus unavailable for plant food. 
 
 Although any crop suitable to the temperate zone which can 
 sustain an arid atmosphere can be raised in the Pecos Valley, the 
 experience seems to show that what are known as the forage crops 
 are most peculiarly adapted to this vicinity. Primarily a live-stock 
 country, as this is, the raising of alfalfa, kaffir corn, milo maize, 
 sorghum and other forage crops preserves the economy of nature 
 in the highest degree. These crops raised and fed to cattle 
 which, while on pasture, contribute fertilizers to the fields where 
 the crops are raised, are the most logical products to be considered 
 by the general agriculturist. 
 
 The remarkable development in the West of the species of hay 
 known as alfalfa has contributed largely to the prosperous devel- 
 opment of these regions. It seems but fair to say that alfalfa is 
 the best fodder crop in the world. It is a species of lucerne or 
 clover, a perennial, an enormously prolific grower, containing a 
 very high percentage of nutritive matter, and is of such a hardy, 
 aggressive character that once it is firmly rooted it requires little 
 attention other than an occasional irrigation and harvesting of the 
 heavy crop of hay which it produces. 
 
 In the Pecos Valley, alfalfa is cut four times in the season, and 
 in some instances, where fields are small, five times. As much as 
 two tons of hay per acre have been made at one cutting, -but a 
 good average on the large farms is three-fourths of a ton per acre 
 to the cutting. Where properly cared for and not too heavily 
 pastured, this is a permanent crop. It furnishes considerable pas- 
 ture throughout the winter. A prominent local breeder, after 
 weaning bull calves which he is crowding for next spring's sale, 
 usually pastures them on alfalfa, when they are as fat, sleek and 
 smooth as grain calves under cover in the North. 
 
 The best time to sow alfalfa is from August 20 to October 10. 
 It is slow to start and in this climate root growth goes on all 
 
 13 
 
Four Crops a Year, and Their Profits. 
 
 winter. Planted at this season, the crop gets ahead of the weeds 
 in the spring and should yield good profit the first year. Planted 
 in the spring, there is a hard fight with weeds, and unless con- 
 ditions are very favorable there will be no profit and much labor 
 throughout the year. Alfalfa, properly cared for, has a long life 
 without reseeding. Gen. R. S. Benson, of Florence, New Mex- 
 ico, has alfalfa ten years old, pastured by cattle and hogs, and 
 mowed only to keep down the growth of weeds, producing abun- 
 dantly, with increasing instead of diminished growth. Mr. D. S. 
 Horton, on his farm near Otis, has eleven-year-old alfalfa in fine 
 condition. Examples might be multiplied. 
 
 Not all land is suited for permanent alfalfa. This is one of 
 the deepest rooted crops known, and upon shallow land is not 
 fully productive. It is then used in rotation as a soil renovator 
 and enricher with wonderful results, often increasing the pro- 
 ductiveness of the soil as much as fifty per cent, while at the same 
 time producing profitable crops of hay. In August, 1901, hay 
 sold for $7 per ton, in the stack, and the average winter price in 
 Carlsbad has been $10 per ton. It is hardly to be expected that 
 such prices as these can be maintained permanently, for the con- 
 ditions have been peculiarly favorable and the shortage of corn 
 throughout the Western States last year raised the price of 
 alfalfa hay. Nevertheless, it is evident that the price might be 
 materially scaled down and there would still be a very large 
 profit per acre from four cuttings of this remarkable crop, 
 which promises for many years to be of highest importance in the 
 prosperity of the valley. 
 
 Owing to the dry atmosphere, the Pecos Valley is not an Indian 
 corn country. It takes rain to fertilize the ear of the Indian corn, 
 and rain can not be depended upon. As many as forty bushels per 
 acre of shelled corn have been grown on alfalfa sod, but the 
 average yield is not over fifteen bushels. The stalks grow ten to 
 thirteen feet high, but there is little leaf, and the fodder is practi- 
 cally worthless. Nevertheless, as irrigation becomes more and 
 more adapted to all purposes, the cultivation of Indian corn is 
 certain to improve. 
 
 With the valuable grains which do produce generously in the 
 
 14 
 
Kaffir Corn and Milo Maize Pay Well. 
 
 valley, farmers have a complete substitute for Indian corn. Kaffir 
 corn and milo maize are the grain crops chiefly cultivated. They 
 produce from thirty to fifty bushels of shelled corn to the acre, 
 and the former yields from three to five tons of most excellent 
 fodder. This fodder has a characteristic in the Pecos Valley 
 which is almost unique and hardly observed at all in the rain 
 belt. The leaves of the stalk, which are abundant, remain green 
 after the grain is ripe. There is not the change to woody fiber 
 common to the stalks of all other grains at ripening. Thus a 
 full crop of ripe grain can be harvested, and if the stalks are cut 
 immediately afterward, they will be in perfect condition for feed. 
 The ordinary price for these grains at harvest time is $13 to $15 
 per ton, threshed, sacked and delivered, or $9 per ton delivered in 
 the head from the field. As a result of the recent season of 
 drought in the corn belt of the Mississippi Valley, the price rose 
 far above these figures, and old corn sold last year in the Pecos 
 Valley as high at $30 per ton. 
 
 Kaffir Corn, by Irrigation. 
 
The Grains ; Sorghum and Beets ; Cotton. 
 
 In addition to these important forage crops, which are of 
 special value when considered in connection with stock-raising, 
 other farm crops prove profitable to those who give attention to 
 them. Winter wheat yields twenty bushels to the acre on raw 
 land, and rye, barley and oats in proportion. Very little of these 
 grains is raised, however, as there are no mills and, except for 
 oats, no local market. Some millet is planted and thrives well, 
 and sorghum also has proved a valuable crop. Most of the acre- 
 age of sorghum is used for forage, but good syrup has been made 
 from the juice. The sugar beet, with a high percentage of sac- 
 charine, grows very plentiful crops in the valley. 
 
 In the southern part of the valley, cotton was grown for the 
 first time last year, and proved to be a good crop. About a bale 
 to the acre was produced. The staple was long, the crop good, 
 the price obtained favorable, the demand for cotton of this qual- 
 ity is great, and beyond question the acreage will be increased 
 rapidly as the possibilities of the crop are realized. Cotton makes 
 
 Stacking Alfalfa. 
 
Facts About Market=Gardening. 
 
 a good rotation with corn, is not exhausting to the soil, and the 
 seed is so valuable an item in the crop that its successful cultiva- 
 tion should be very important to the prosperity of the valley. 
 
 The intelligent truck gardener in the Pecos Valley has an 
 assurance of large profit. Market gardening has been neglected, 
 owing to the indifference of general farmers and ranchmen to 
 what they considered small matters, but the reward of success is 
 great for the vegetable grower. It is true that the local conditions 
 of soil and climate make it necessary to adapt irrigation to the 
 market garden, but this also enables the gardener to control his 
 products. The adjacent markets in the valley and those imme- 
 diately accessible by rail in every direction guarantee a constant 
 demand for choice vegetables. 
 
 Potatoes, cabbage, turnips and beets sell at from 1 5/2 to 4 cents 
 per pound, while early vegetables of all descriptions retail as 
 high as 10 cents per pound. Berries sell at from 20 to 30 cents 
 a box. Onions, peppers, tomatoes, turnips and squash are pecul- 
 iarly adapted to the soil and climate, although some of these 
 incline to be late. Cabbage and cauliflower also promise satis- 
 factory commercial results. A few details concerning these crops 
 will serve to indicate the conditions. 
 
 Asparagus grows well, even on alkali land, for it is fond of 
 salt. It can be put upon the Kansas City market as early as 
 March 10. The flavor is excellent and the stalks are remarkably 
 tender and not stringy. Experts pronounce it unsurpassed. 
 
 The Pecos Valley is gaining special fame for its celery. It 
 has been cultivated with great skill by expert growers, who have 
 tested all the conditions, and the result is that now an important 
 industry is developing and the markets are beginning to notice 
 the fine quality of the crop. The most extensive production of this 
 delicacy is near Roswell, on the Spring Brook celery farm. The 
 constant sunshine, the saline quality of the soil, the ample supply 
 of water from a fine spring on the farm and the attention that has 
 been given to the cultivation have brought rich reward. The 
 celery leads all competitors in every market to which it has been 
 introduced, although it came into competition with the most 
 famous celery farms in the United States. The soil of the val- 
 
More About Gardens, and Other Industries. 
 
 ley seems to possess in a high degree the constituents which 
 impart to this delicacy that peculiar nutty flavor so prized by 
 epicures. The following paragraph from the Roswell Register 
 indicates the commercial success of the Spring Brook farm: 
 "W. M. Farmer has just received returns from his last shipment 
 of celery. The total figures show that in addition to supplying 
 the local demand, he shipped 88,815 pounds. The express bill on 
 this was $1,389.80. The gross income realized at the farm for the 
 crop of twenty acres was over $6,000." 
 
 Spinach, lettuce and radishes are hardly known in the local 
 markets and when offered bring very high prices. Yet the cli- 
 matic conditions are such that they could be supplied by local 
 growers almost without interruption during the entire winter, 
 when prices in the city markets are the highest. 
 
 Sweet potatoes produce most abundantly upon the sandy lands. 
 No fertilizing is necessary. J. O. Cameron, of Carlsbad, bought 
 a five-acre tract last spring for $150. He will realize $300 from 
 his sweet potato crop on less than three acres of this land. The 
 whole crop is sold at 3 cents per pound, the usual price for sweet 
 potatoes. Willis Cadwell, of Malaga, in 1900 sold $150 worth of 
 tomatoes from one-half acre. In 1901 his sales were even 
 greater. The crop is shipped chiefly to Texas points. The vines 
 bear continuously till stopped by frost. 
 
 The average weekly import of cabbage into the State of Texas 
 is about one hundred carloads, and the price ranges from I cent 
 to 2^ cents per pound, wholesale. It has proven possible in the 
 Pecos Valley to net $120 an acre from cabbage after deducting 
 freight charges and crates. Onions have produced in the valley 
 below Carlsbad at the rate of 45,000 pounds to the acre. With 
 one-fourth of this yield, at the current prices in the Texas mar- 
 ket, the profit would be more than $50 per acre. 
 
 As the general farming industries of the Pecos Valley multi- 
 ply and the railway systems tributary to the valley extend, both 
 the local and the outer markets for vegetables and fruits increase 
 rapidly, so that the profit steadily rises. Some of the expressions 
 of opinion on this subject, which are quoted herewith, indicate 
 the exact situation very clearly. 
 
 18 
 
The Center of Irrigation Interests. 
 
 Chaves and Eddy counties are the two counties which contain 
 the more valuable and accessible portions of the Pecos Valley. 
 From the northern limit of Chaves county, north of Roswell, to 
 the southern limit of Eddy county, south of Carlsbad, and across 
 into the State of Texas, the irrigation works in operation are 
 capable of supplying all the water necessary for an acreage many 
 times greater than that now under cultivation or demanded by 
 the present population. Roswell in the north and Carlsbad in the 
 south, the county seats of these counties and the most popu- 
 lous of the valley towns, thus become the chief local markets and 
 the centers of activity, though there are several other flourishing 
 towns rising into prominence. 
 
 As an evidence of 'the completeness of the irrigation systems 
 of the valley, attention may be called to the statements of the 
 Governor of New Mexico, the Hon. Miguel A. Otero, in his 
 annual report to the Secretary of the Interior, made last year. 
 His graphic description of the system centering around Carlsbad 
 
 A Flock of Sheep, Pecos Valley. 
 
From the Report of the Governor. 
 
 can not fail to impress the reader. He says in part on this sub- 
 ject: 
 
 " The largest irrigation plant in the Territory and probably the 
 largest stable water supply in the whole West, are what make 
 Eddy county peculiarly favored among her sisters. The Pecos 
 river rises above Las Vegas in the northern part of the Territory, 
 embracing a watershed nearly two hundred miles long and aver- 
 aging seventy-five miles in width until it reaches Carlsbad, trav- 
 erses the county from north to south nearly through the center, 
 and is the source of supply of what is destined to be, if it is not 
 to-day, a world-famous irrigation system. 
 
 "By damming this river, the Pecos Irrigation Company has 
 created two enormous reservoirs, with a capacity of 90,000 acre 
 feet. From the most southerly of these, Lake Avalon starts its 
 magnificent irrigation canal 45 feet wide on the bottom and carry- 
 ing 2^/2. feet of water in depth to the berme. Two and one-half 
 miles above Carlsbad this enormous canal is divided and one 
 branch is carried to the west bank of the Pecos in an immense 
 wooden flume, 20 feet wide, 562 feet long and 7 feet deep, and 37 
 feet above the river bed. The canal is in active operation for a 
 distance of twenty-five miles, and serves with its life-giving 
 streams thousands of acres of land. There are hundreds of miles 
 of distributing canals, not including the small farm ditches. The 
 two dams, each over one-fourth mile long and nearly 50 feet high, 
 built of loose rock with massive earth aprons protected with rock 
 riprap, with their immense headgates set in masonry and their 
 huge spillways to carry off flood water, are a never-ceasing source 
 of wonder and admiration to the casual visitor, the expert engi- 
 neer or the drought-stricken homeseeker from less fortunate sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 " These reservoirs are the insurance of a stable water supply 
 against seasons of unusual drought; but seldom is it necessary 
 to draw upon them, as the ordinary flow of the Pecos is ample 
 for all requirements. The first six months of this year nearly 
 one hundred thousand acre feet of flood water was allowed to 
 pass unused down the river, April being the only month that water 
 was not spilled at the dams. When one remembers that this 
 
Artesian Wells ; Another Source of Prosperity. 
 
 is a year of disastrous drought and that the local rainfall for the 
 six months was only 3.6 inches, as shown in the Government 
 reports, no argument is necessary to convince the most skeptical 
 of the adequacy and permanency of Eddy county's water supply." 
 
 Roswell has a special water supply in the territory tributary to 
 it, which helps to guarantee the prosperity of the Chaves county 
 settler, in addition to the large canal systems of the Roswell Land 
 and Water Company. A remarkable sub-irrigation condition 
 exists, at a depth of about ten feet, which serves generously to 
 supplement the artificial irrigation of the canal systems. Still, 
 in addition to this, is the famous artesian well district, which is 
 about eleven miles wide and seventy-five miles long. This proved 
 area, which begins about ten miles north of Roswell and extends 
 to McMillan on the south, has now in it two hundred flowing 
 artesian wells, and there has never been a failure in finding an 
 artesian well within these limits. The artesian deposit is found at 
 two depths, the first flow being reached at from 150 to 200 feet, 
 with a total well cost of from $200 to $225, while the second flow 
 is usually tapped about 100 feet deeper, at a cost of another $100. 
 The deepest wells are 850 feet deep. The wells of both flows 
 appear to be exhaustless, showing no shrinkage as time passes. 
 
 A fair average of the wells now flowing in this belt is 400 
 gallons per minute. The city of Roswell has eighty of the wells, 
 of which one, in the railway yards, flows 2,500 gallons a minute. 
 Another discharges 1,500 gallons a minute, and several others 
 pass 1,000 gallons. An average Chaves county artesian well will 
 irrigate 160 acres without any other water supply. Some of the 
 finest farms in the valley are irrigated solely by artesian wells. A 
 windmill, tank and reservoir added to the farm equipment make 
 the supply immediately available for the household use as well as 
 the farm, adding materially to the conveniences of life. In addition 
 to the large irrigation systems of the companies, the sub-irrigation 
 that underlies the whole region, the springs that are so plentiful 
 and the artesian wells that are to be had for the boring, there are 
 numerous small " community ditches " owned by the neighboring 
 farmers whose ranches they serve. 
 
 Throughout the valley on land lying above the so-called arte- 
 
Water Right Is Sold With the Land. 
 
 sian belt as at present defined, permanent supply of water can be 
 had at depth varying from 25 feet to 200 feet. One of these wells 
 equipped with a windmill and pump will successfully irrigate about 
 twenty acres of cultivated land. All water used for irrigation 
 purposes around Roswell, except artesian well water, is carried 
 in a number of community ditches under water rights appropriated 
 by the original settlers. This water is a part of and appurtenant 
 to the land it serves and is sold with it. Therefore, in the country 
 immediately surrounding Roswell there are water-rent charges to 
 be paid out, beyond the small assessment levied for ditch mainte- 
 nance. The great distinctive difference between artesian and 
 windmill wells should be thoroughly appreciated. The artesian 
 water rises by its own force and flows unaided into farm reser- 
 voirs sufficient to properly irrigate about one hundred acres of 
 land, while the windmill wells are not nearly so deep and the 
 water from them must be pumped into the reservoirs by some 
 mechanical appliance. 
 
 An Artesian Well in the Valley. 
 23 
 
Water Independent of Surface Conditions. 
 
 A unique feature of the Rio Pecos is the manner in which its 
 waters are replenished as it flows southward. The river is fed 
 not alone by numerous tributary streams, but by thousands of 
 living springs, which flow from fissures in the limestone floor 
 with which the whole region is underlaid. In some parts of the 
 valley are lakes fed by these fountains, the flow from which is so 
 great as to justify the name of river. In the vicinity of Roswell 
 the flow of water from springs is sufficient to irrigate thousands 
 of acres, and from the river bank three miles above Carlsbad 
 a single spring pours forth enough water to supply a city. 
 
 Six miles above Carlsbad is the enormous dam across the 
 river, which, during the storing and irrigating seasons, holds 
 back every drop of the river's flow, which is carried miles away 
 through canals. There is no seepage, and in this distance the 
 river receives no tributaries, yet the outflow of springs in the 
 river bed in these six miles causes a very respectable stream to 
 flow past the town. The sources of water supply are therefore 
 
 By -Products. 
 
Outline of the StocK=Raising District. 
 
 seen to be in a measure independent of surface conditions, being, 
 in fact, practically artesian flows, constituting this supply one of 
 unmatched constancy and reliability in all the arid region of the 
 United States. 
 
 Farming in the Pecos Valley, therefore, begins with the abso- 
 lute certainty that the necessary water supply for the crops is 
 under the entire control of the owner. While there is some rain, 
 floods or excessive rainfall are virtually unknown. The danger of 
 drought is entirely overcome by irrigation, so that the risk of 
 ever losing a crop from any cause whatever is almost entirely 
 removed. 
 
 Along the Pecos Valley Lines and their extensions from 
 Pecos, Texas, on the south, to Woodward, Oklahoma, on the 
 north, numerous prosperous communities have grown up, their 
 character somewhat governed by the local conditions of the 
 country immediately surrounding them. Roughly speaking, it may 
 be said that from Woodward southwest across the " Panhandle " 
 to the boundary line between Texas and New Mexico, the coun- 
 try until recently has been almost exclusively a cattle-raising 
 district, and the towns along that part of the line are supported 
 by the stock industry. The same conditions rule more or less for 
 some distance across the boundary into New Mexico, except that 
 at Potfales is the center of a general agricultural district with 
 characteristics all its own. The Pecos Valley proper, from some 
 miles above Roswell in the north, down to the Texas-New 
 Mexico boundary in the south, is the distinctive irrigated region, 
 where fruits, vegetables, farm crops and fine cattle flourish so 
 abundantly. In Texas, once more, to the terminus of the line 
 at Pecos, stock-raising is the chief industry. Roswell and Carls- 
 bad, therefore, as the metropolitan centers of the richest part of 
 the valley, are the most important towns to be considered. 
 
 Roswell, the county seat of Chaves county, is located at the con- 
 fluence of the Hondo with the Pecos river. Located so fortu- 
 nately, it has long been known as one of the most prosperous busi- 
 ness centers of New Mexico. Its altitude is about 3,575 feet, and 
 its climate the characteristically favorable one of the valley. The 
 important irrigation systems of the valley begin just above 
 
 25 
 
Roswell, one of the Centers of Business. 
 
 Roswell, and have been so long in operation that the test is 
 complete as to just what can be done agriculturally in this 
 vicinity. 
 
 Roswell has a population approximating 3,300 and rapidly 
 increasing. The town is beautifully laid out and its various 
 business houses and private residences are neat, modern and 
 substantial. Brick and stone have been used more generally than 
 in many Western towns, so that the appearance of stability is 
 marked. The town is particularly proud of its multitudes of 
 great cottonwood trees lining every street, and its many large 
 springs and flowing artesian wells. Some of the latter yield two 
 thousand gallons of water per minute, and contribute a valuable 
 supply for irrigation. Churches of various denominations, two 
 large public schools, a $30,000 courthouse, three newspapers, three 
 hotels, three lumber yards, an ice factory, two banks, an elegant 
 club and numerous wholesale and retail houses are some of 
 the more important factors in the city life. The New Mexico 
 Military Institute, considered one of the best educational institu- 
 tions in the Southwest, is located here with an ample equipment 
 of faculty, buildings and grounds. 
 
 Being the headquarters of many large ranchmen, Roswell is 
 consequently one of the most important centers of the stock- 
 raising industry, and trainloads of cattle, sheep and wool are 
 annually shipped east from this point. The volume of traffic by 
 express from such a station as Roswell is an important indication 
 of the general business conditions and of the growing prosperity 
 of the entire vicinity. The records of the Wells-Fargo Express 
 Company show a significant fact in regard to express earnings at 
 Roswell. For the month of August, 1901, Roswell was sixth in 
 the amount of business done of all the offices in the southern 
 division of this company, being surpassed only by New Orleans, 
 Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Beaumont, in the order named ; 
 and, with the exception of Beaumont, Roswell showed twice as 
 much increase as any other in comparison with the same month 
 the year before, and has a greater increase even than Beaumont. 
 
 One of the best evidences of the growing prosperity in the 
 valley is found in the increase of bank deposits within the last 
 
Carlsbad, a City of Enterprise. 
 
 few years. One of the banks, founded some ten years ago, 
 shows an increase in deposits from $48,000 in 1892, to $350,000 in 
 1902, while a new bank, founded less than two years ago, shows 
 an increase in deposits from $59,000 to more than $100,000 in a 
 single year. These figures are particularly impressive when one 
 remembers that in 1890 the census gave to Roswell a population 
 of 391. At this time the mail was brought three times a week 
 from San Antonio, two hundred miles away, and Roswell was the 
 farthest from a railway of all the postoffices in the United States. 
 
 Write to the Roswell Land and Water Company for informa- 
 tion regarding lands and irrigations. 
 
 Carlsbad, the county seat of Eddy county, New Mexico, owes 
 its origin entirely to- the introduction and success of the irriga- 
 tion systems of the Pecos Valley. It was founded some fifteen 
 years ago, on what was then, to all appearances, almost an absolute 
 desert. To-day it is a charming city of more than 1,600 inhabi- 
 tants, while the systematic plan under which it was laid off, and 
 
 Canyon Street, Carlsbad. 
 27 
 
Other Growing Towns and Stations. 
 
 the foresight of the early citizens in the planting of trees on 
 either side of all the streets, has had the effect of making it one 
 of the most beautiful places in New Mexico. Carlsbad is about 
 seventy-five miles south of Roswell, and its altitude is 3,100 
 feet. Consequently, its summers are somewhat warmer and its 
 winters milder than those of the former place. The people are 
 such as would be found in a cultivated, intelligent, energetic 
 community. Enterprise and progressive spirit rule here, as at 
 Roswell and throughout the valley. A first-class water and 
 electric light system, good schools and churches, a prosperous 
 club, conveniently located, a fine hotel, newspapers, banks, a 
 hospital, a wool-scouring plant and thirty miles of handsome 
 shade trees lining the streets of the town and the residence sub- 
 urbs of La Huerta and Hagerman Heights, justify the pride which 
 the people of Carlsbad have in their community. The important 
 mineral spring which suggests the name for the town has already 
 been mentioned in connection with climatological conditions. 
 
 Write to the Pecos Irrigation and Improvement Company 
 regarding land and water in and around Carlsbad. 
 
 Between Roswell and Pecos many small and prosperous set- 
 tlements have been established, all adjacent to the river and the 
 railway, and all promising good markets and easy shipments to 
 the farmers in their vicinity. Among these, some of which are 
 merely stations, while others promise to be thriving towns, are 
 
 A Round-up Near Carlsbad. 
 
Ideal Conditions for StocK=Raising. 
 
 South Spring, Orchard Park, Greenfield, Hagerman, Lake Arthur, 
 Miller, Spring Lake, Penasco, McMillan, Lake View, Otis, Fran- 
 cis, Florence, Malaga, Red Bluff, Palermo, Guadalupe, Arno, 
 Lucerne and Brant. 
 
 Pecos, the southern terminus of the Santa Fe System by this 
 route, is the junction of the Pecos Valley Lines with the railways 
 extending west to El Paso and the Pacific Ocean and east to 
 the Gulf of Mexico. It is the county seat of Reeves county, 
 Texas, and is a well-built town of some 1,500 inhabitants. The 
 surrounding country is devoted almost entirely to stock-raising 
 and consequently Pecos is an important distributing point for 
 ranches in every direction. Business buildings and residences in 
 large numbers are built of the red sandstone which is found in 
 abundance near by. Artesian water furnishes an excellent domes- 
 tic supply. 
 
 Perhaps the most profitable industry of all in the Pecos 
 Valley, for the general agriculturist, is cattle-raising. The 
 remarkable combination of an ideal climate, cheap pastures, pro- 
 lific alfalfa fields, nutritious forage crops and a ready market 
 unite to make the importance of this line of business. Formerly, 
 from the want of some cheap fattening food, the far West was 
 entirely dependent upon the agricultural States for its fattened 
 beef. Cattle were shipped from New Mexico to Kansas or 
 Missouri, fed there on corn and then sent back as beef in 
 refrigerator cars, to be eaten, perhaps, close to the place in New 
 Mexico from where a few months before the thin ox had been 
 shipped, thus requiring a double journey of 600 to 1,000 miles. 
 To-day a good percentage of the beef eaten in New Mexico is 
 fattened there on alfalfa, and large shipments of fat cattle are 
 sent to Kansas City and Chicago, already fattened for the market. 
 
 Superior climatic conditions have long since made the South- 
 west the great cattle-breeding district of the United States. From 
 this source are derived the feeders for the grazing lands of the 
 Northwest and the corn lots of Kansas and Nebraska. The 
 mild climate of the Pecos Valley, free as it is from the dis- 
 astrous northers which are the terror of the cowman of the 
 Texas Panhandle, is peculiarly conducive to full "crops" of 
 
 29 
 
Mutton and Wool ; Two Great Products. 
 
 calves and lambs. The winter losses on the range are prac- 
 tically nothing. The hard time for the range cow in this valley 
 is in the spring, after a dry winter, before summer rains come 
 to fill up the waterholes and to renew the perennial grasses of the 
 plains. 
 
 To a Northern farmer it is almost incredible that stock can 
 be wintered without shelter and with so little feed. But these 
 are facts. Until one has fed in both places, he can not realize 
 the great quantity of feed utilized by the Northern farmer merely 
 to supply animal heat. Try to figure the difference between 
 feeding from Christmas to March 15 under Pecos Valley cli- 
 matic conditions, and feeding full through six months winter. 
 
 March I alfalfa begins to grow, but frosts will cut it back 
 as late as April i to 10. It can, therefore, be used for pasture 
 until that date, even when it is being handled primarily for hay. 
 Cattle breeders find it profitable to pasture breeding cows on 
 alfalfa till nearly May to give them the best possible start for 
 summer's grazing on the range. 
 
 One of the greatest industries of New Mexico is sheep-rais- 
 ing and wool-growing. Southeastern New Mexico has some of 
 the largest and best high-grade flocks in the Territory, there 
 being probably more than 250,000 sheep in Chaves and Eddy 
 counties. The total shipments of wool from Roswell and Carls- 
 bad amount to more than 2,000,000 pounds each season. Sheep- 
 raising on alfalfa has passed the experimental stage and has 
 become an established industry, insuring large profits. Examples 
 of what can be done in that line will be shown in connection 
 with some of the more important ranches of the two counties, 
 to be described in the succeeding pages. Early lambs raised on 
 alfalfa and put on the market in good shape from the Pecos 
 Valley have brought top prices, buyers almost running over 
 each other to bid on them. Intelligent management in the sheep 
 business, either on the range or farm, brings good results in this 
 valley. There is a vast free range on which sheep and cattle 
 may be pastured outside of the irrigated, agricultural district 
 of the valley. From the range the stock is brought to the farms 
 to be finally "topped off" for the market. 
 
 30 
 
Horses and Swine; Profits in Forage Crops. 
 
 The principal demand for horses in the Pecos Valley has been 
 for " cow ponies " with which to handle cattle. The climate and 
 altitude give horses great lung power, and when raised on the 
 range they develop sound feet and remarkable powers of endur- 
 ance. With the increase of population a demand for fine drivers 
 and roadsters has grown up, but has to be supplied from other 
 localities. Men of experience, who are familiar with conditions 
 here, say that there is no locality in the United States where 
 the breeding and raising of horses will produce better animals 
 than the Pecos Valley. 
 
 Hogs raised on alfalfa grow very fast and are healthy, facts 
 which have been demonstrated in a practical manner by many 
 residents of the Pecos Valley. The most important undertaking 
 in that business is that of Mr. Clifton Chisholm, who owns a 
 large farm eight miles from Roswell. He has stocked with pedi- 
 greed hogs and is devoting his attention to breeding, with remark- 
 able success. F. C. Burtis, of the Kansas Experiment Station, 
 has made some very interesting experiments in fattening hogs on 
 alfalfa and Kaffir corn. He declares that according to the results 
 of these experiments, alfalfa hay is worth $17 per ton when 
 fed with Kaffir corn to fattening hogs. When farmers state that 
 they are realizing from $40 to $50 per acre a year from their 
 alfalfa, they are ridiculed by many, but this is not at all impossible 
 if the crop is raised and fed with care. During the winter thou- 
 
 The Otis Ranch. 
 
 31 
 
Concerning Goats; A Good Investment. 
 
 sands of bushels of high-priced corn may be saved from being 
 fed to hogs by " roughing " the hogs through on alfalfa. 
 
 Here is some interesting information in regard to the profits 
 in raising goats. A neighborhood correspondent of the Roswell 
 Register writes as follows : " John Hightower went to Roswell 
 this week with a load of mohair. He secured 28 cents per pound 
 in the Roswell markets last spring for goat fleece, and expects 
 that much or more for this season's clip. Hightower has the 
 finest grade of goats in this part of New Mexico. He began 
 with 500 nannies and a few fine bucks and sheared the first 
 season 1,400 pounds of mohair. Some of his California bucks 
 cost him $150 each. He raised 250 kids, and last August sold 
 102 head of goats, which netted him $450. He sheared again 
 last fall and weighed up 1,600 pounds of mohair. He has already 
 been offered 23 cents for this year's clip. The cow and horse 
 must take a back seat when compared to the goat business, 
 
 Swine, Pecos Valley. 
 32 
 
Experiences of Some Model Farms. 
 
 with the same amount of capital invested. My advice to the 
 small cowman would be to sell his cattle and invest the money in 
 good shearing goats." 
 
 Throughout Chaves and Eddy counties are scattered numer- 
 ous ranches, large and small, where all of the different agricul- 
 tural and stock-raising industries have been tested completely. 
 In some instances large sums of money have been spent in bring- 
 ing these ranches to a state of perfection, and the experience 
 gained by many costly experiments is now at the service of any 
 one who comes to the valley. It is not necessary, therefore, to 
 waste time or money in the effort to discover the most profitable 
 undertakings to enter. 
 
 Some of these ranches are famous all over the country for 
 their products as model farms. Among the more noteworthy of 
 these ranches is that of Gen. R. S. Benson, sixteen miles east 
 of the Pecos river, in a splendid grass country. Here he owns 
 800 acres of irrigated land, where he winters from 1,200 to 1,500 
 head of thoroughbred and high-grade cattle. One branch of his 
 business is raising bulls for range delivery. These bulls are bred 
 by registered Hereford sires on full blood Shorthorn dams. 
 They are sold as yearlings, delivery about May i. They are 
 wintered on alfalfa hay and Kaffir corn in the head. This sea- 
 son's sales were at $65 a round, no cut backs, 135 head, going all 
 to one outfit in Arizona, delivered f. o. b. cars at Francis sta- 
 tion, Mr. Benson's farm shipping point. This is a nice little 
 business in itself. Mr. Benson spares neither time nor money in 
 getting good bulls and has the equal of any in the United States. 
 Of his purchase of new blood last spring, Mr. Kirk B. Armour, 
 in a personal letter, says: "Mr. Benson has just taken six bulls 
 that I feel sure are quite as good as anything I have ever bred." 
 
 Though on so large a scale, there is nothing " fancy " about 
 Mr. Benson's operations. His is a plain, practical business enter- 
 prise, not the toy of a man of independent means. His farm is 
 run to make money, not to spend it. The bank account behind it 
 has come from last year's profits and must be replenished from 
 the business as it runs along. Experience has taught Mr. Benson 
 the profit of feed in connection with free range. He has repeat- 
 
Raising Fine Hogs on Chisholm Ranch. 
 
 edly said that he has seen the time when the feed he raises on 
 his ranch in a single year would have been worth $50,000 to him. 
 
 When irrigation was first established in the Pecos Valley 
 it was believed that cattle could not be profitably fed for market. 
 It was stated that, after the first year or two, steers do not make 
 the bone that they make on the stronger grasses of the North- 
 west. Corn was too dear to be fed. Experience with Kaffir 
 corn has demonstrated the contrary. Mr. Benson, Mr. I. S. 
 Osborne and others fed steers profitably in 1900 and will con- 
 tinue to do so annually. 
 
 Of the many fine ranches in the Pecos Valley, the Chis- 
 holm, eight miles southeast of Roswell, is one of the finest. 
 There, stock-breeding is reduced to a profit-paying business. 
 A recent visitor to the ranch describes the conditions which he 
 found there as follows : " The element of chance has but little 
 to do with the results attained. The aim of the management is 
 to raise, chiefly, fine hogs and to make it pay. To be able t^ do 
 this they located on eight hundred acres of the most fertile land 
 in the Pecos Valley. Fifty acres of this was divided into five ten- 
 acre hog pastures (fenced with five miles of wire net fencing) 
 which had been planted in alfalfa when operated by a previous 
 owner. One hundred and seventy-five acres were planted in 
 Kaffir corn. When there was no rain, water from the irriga- 
 tion ditches was turned on the meadows and -fields, and the crops 
 continued to grow. Three cuttings of alfalfa have been made, 
 with an average of two and one-half tons to the acre. The 
 Kaffir corn will yield about forty bushels to the acre, if not more. 
 On the alfalfa meadows nine hundred head of Poland-China sows 
 and pigs, from the finest registered strains, have been pastured 
 most of the time. The pig crop has reached a high per cent, as the 
 precaution taken to prevent disease is so great that there has been 
 none whatever. A small truck garden furnishes vegetables in 
 plenty for the household and the nine hands who work on the 
 ranch, and besides this a wagon hauls about $10 worth each day 
 to Roswell. An abundance of fruit is grown in the orchard, and 
 the large apple crop sold this year will bring handsome returns." 
 
 At the Vineyard Stock Farm, owned and operated by George 
 
 35 
 
Concerning the Noted Vineyard Stock Farm. 
 
 H. Webster, Jr., and located about three miles south of Carlsbad, 
 there has been established one of the most complete and profitable 
 ranches in the whole district. Mr. Webster's specialty is the 
 raising of spring lambs for the market, and he has brought that 
 business to a high degree of perfection. The visitor finds this 
 ranch a most attractive place, so well kept are the numerous 
 large ranch buildings, the handsomely furnished residence, the 
 wide-spreading alfalfa fields and the multitude of lambs them- 
 selves. Ample barns, corn cribs, ranch quarters, windmills, 
 reservoirs and feeding pens form the material equipment of this 
 model place. 
 
 Mr. Webster's experience in the winter feeding of lambs 
 proved that he could finish the product in shorter time and with 
 nearly one-third less corn for fattening, and infinitely less loss, 
 than the feeders of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska. He gives 
 it as his opinion that lambs can be fed in the Pecos Valley with 
 less risk than in any other section of the country, and that hogs 
 and cattle should be equally well handled. 
 
 In response to a query for definite information, Mr. Webster 
 wrote as follows from the Vineyard Stock Farm : 
 
 "August 30, 1901. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, In reply to your recent request for some details 
 about the lamb-feeding experiment conducted at this farm last 
 winter, I will state that on November 15, last, we placed in open 
 feed lots on the Vineyard Stock Farm about 3,700 head of 
 lambs; 1,600 of these were Shropshire crosses on New Mexican 
 ewes, the balance were Merino grades. All were bred and 
 raised on the range about this valley. The lambs were dipped 
 thoroughly before entering the feed lots. They were at once 
 started on rations of milo maize, with a little bran in it, and all the 
 alfalfa hay they would eat. Plenty of salt and clean water was 
 always before them. The water was pumped by windmills a 
 depth of 125 feet, and was of good quality. The usual so-called 
 Fort Collins method of feeding was practiced a feed of corn 
 early in the morning and another each evening, always at the 
 same hour. Alfalfa hay was kept before them at all times, but 
 they were made to clean it up well. Milo maize was employed 
 
 36 
 
Record of a Shipment of Lambs. 
 
 in preference to Kaffir corn, for the reason that it is much softer 
 and has a larger kernel, which renders it more easily masticated 
 and digestible. I consider, too, that it has a relatively higher 
 nutritive value than Kaffir, and in this valley it is less disturbed 
 by birds during ripening than the more erect Kaffir, while the 
 yield is quite equal to either of the other varieties mentioned. 
 
 " These lambs took readily to feed, and as our winters here are 
 always mild and open, no snow or high winds occurring at any 
 time, the progress was almost phenomenal. Our lambs were easily 
 worked up to full feed and held at about one and a half pounds 
 of corn per day until finished. During the entire feeding period 
 our total loss from all causes amounted to eighteen head out of 
 3,700. We experienced no loss from indigestion, a very inter- 
 esting point, as the exclusive feeding of milo maize was wholly 
 experimental. On February 15, just ninety days after being 
 placed on feed, they were consigned to Clay, Robinson & Co., at 
 Kansas City, where they arrived without loss or inconvenience 
 
Operations Profitable and Satisfactory. 
 
 and with a shrinkage of not full three pounds per head, despite 
 the haul of nine hundred miles. 
 
 " These lambs sold well and weighed over eighty pounds in 
 Kansas City. A week later we consigned over one thousand 
 Shropshire crosses, which had been sheared and dipped ten days 
 previously. This lot reached market in fine condition and 
 weighed eighty-six pounds average in Kansas City. They topped 
 all markets for this year on shorn lambs, selling within ten cents 
 of the highest price paid for the best Colorado wooled lambs. 
 We obtained an average of five pounds of wool from each lamb 
 in addition 1 . The balance of our lambs followed rapidly, and we 
 had shipped our entire flock within one hundred and fifteen days 
 and succeeded in " topping " the market on this occasion with 
 them. The killing test at Kansas City ranged as high as fifty- 
 four per cent, and the flesh was pronounced fully equal to the 
 finest Indian corn-fed lamb. 
 
 " In conclusion, our operations were profitable and satis- 
 factory. We believe that we have established here in the Pecos 
 Valley an exceedingly profitable industry and one which should 
 easily place this section, with its numerous climatic and other 
 advantages, in the foremost rank of lamb-feeding sections. The 
 fact that there are thousands of well-graded and thoroughly 
 acclimated lambs on the ranges all about us which can be pur- 
 chased, delivered at our yards, at reasonable prices, the absence 
 
 Hagerman'' s Ranch. 
 
 38 
 
One=third Less Feed Required. 
 
 of nearly all disease, the mild, dry and magnificent winter cli- 
 mate, the entire absence of crop failures under our irrigation 
 system and the uniformly large yield per acre of hay and corn, 
 offer, in our opinion, a proposition for the feeder which can not 
 easily be excelled anywhere in this country. Trusting the above 
 matter will cover the information desired, and awaiting your 
 further pleasure, I am, Yours very truly, 
 
 " GEORGE H. WEBSTER, JR." 
 
 In an interview on the same subject, Mr. Webster spoke as 
 follows : " Our experience has proven conclusively to me that 
 the Shropshire and kindred breeds of mutton sheep are the ones 
 that should be grown more extensively by Pecos Valley sheep 
 men, as there is much more money for them in the meat than in 
 the wool. Big-framed Shropshires, with light wool and much 
 avoirdupois, are worth 50 cents more per head than the ordinary 
 merino range sheep. It has been my object to so develop this 
 property that it might produce the greatest possible amount of 
 alfalfa and corn, and to that end we have this year planted more 
 than 1,200 acres in these crops. There can no longer be any 
 doubt as to the superior advantages in this locality for the suc- 
 cessful fattening and marketing of live stock. The free range 
 enables us to grow our own feeders at a comparatively low cost. 
 The climate is salubrious, there being no heavy snows or fierce 
 north winds and extreme cold, and the water is abundant and 
 good. El Paso, Fort Worth and Los Angeles to the south and 
 west, and Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago on the north, 
 give us ample markets, and our railroad service, so far as my 
 experience is concerned, leaves nothing to be desired. 
 
 " I had employed all the season an experienced feeder from 
 Rocky Ford, Colorado, and he stated that lambs could be finished 
 off here on one-third less corn than in Colorado and other north- 
 ern feeding points, owing principally to the mildness of the 
 winter. Additionally, this same mildness of weather cuts a big 
 figure in the economy of feeding, as it is unnecessary to build 
 costly storm shelters as in the North, and the percentage of winter 
 losses in this section is practically nothing. I am preparing to 
 feed about 5,000 lambs next winter, and have acquired a largely 
 
 39 
 
Some Other Famous Stock Ranches. 
 
 increased acreage for the growing of feed, which will consist 
 principally of milo maize and alfalfa. Nowhere in America can 
 you find a more perfect combination of climate, water and cheap 
 feedstuffs than is afforded in the Pecos Valley." 
 
 The following extracts from the Live Stock Report, of March 
 14, 1901, issued by Clay, Robinson & Co., Chicago, Illinois, with 
 reference to Mr. Webster's first shipment, need no comment: 
 
 " Our sale to-day of the George H. Webster shorn lambs fed 
 at Carlsbad, New Mexico, was the first clipped stock this season, 
 and we obtained the highest price paid at any market so far, $5 
 straight for the lot." 
 
 " Our Kansas City house sold yesterday for George H. 
 Webster, 235 clipped lambs averaging eighty-six pounds, at $5, 
 the highest price paid for shorn lambs on any market this season. 
 They were fed at Carlsbad, New Mexico, on Kaffir corn and 
 alfalfa. The price is equal to $5.45 in the fleece." 
 
 At the Bolles Farm, W. P. Mclntosh, Jr., manager, 760 acres, 
 six miles south of Carlsbad, old range cows, too poor to winter 
 the range, are bought in the fall and wintered through on alfalfa, 
 to go fat to the block or to produce calves, thrifty and healthy, 
 worth from $2 to $5 per head more than those of their less 
 fortunate companions. I. S. Osborne, on his 1,100 acres, confines 
 his attention to fattening mature steers, at an average profit in 
 three months on alfalfa pasture and some rough fodder of $10 
 per head. 
 
 The accounts of large stock ranches in the Pecos Valley might 
 be extended indefinitely, in order to emphasize the conditions 
 which have been described already, if space would permit. It 
 is only possible, however, to speak briefly of a few of the other 
 more noteworthy ranches. One of the finest irrigated farms and 
 fine stock ranches is that of the Milne & Bush Land & Cattle 
 Company, of which W. M. Atkinson is manager. It contains 
 13,400 acres of patented land in one solid body, beginning two 
 miles from the courthouse at Roswell. About ten thousand acres 
 of this have been fenced and cut up into twenty-seven different 
 inclosures and pastures, each of which is watered by ever- 
 lasting spring streams and irrigation ditches. About 550 acres 
 
A Big Shipment of High=Grade Steers. 
 
 are in cultivation, most of it in alfalfa, and there is an orchard 
 of 400 bearing fruit trees. All improvements are of the highest 
 character. The ranch is devoted to the breeding of Hereford 
 cattle, and the stock here produced is of the most famous strains. 
 Beef from the Milne-Bush herds brings the highest prices in the 
 Kansas City and Chicago market. 
 
 One of the most noteworthy examples of industry in this line 
 is the now well-known " Hereford Home " of C. C. and George M. 
 Slaughter, one thousand acres of rich alfalfa pasture and farm 
 land in the irrigated district near Roswell, where they maintain 
 a large herd of thoroughbred Herefords, headed by the World's 
 Fair prize bull, "Ancient Briton," and another famous sire, " Sir 
 Bredwell," said to be- one of the highest-priced ever brought into 
 this country. This ranch is maintained mostly for the purpose of 
 grading up the great Texas herds of the Slaughter family and as a 
 reinforcement in preparing the finer young stock for the range and 
 the older stock for market. It has proven a most excellent invest- 
 ment and its success is said by its owners to be entirely due to the 
 advantages of climate and soil afforded by the Pecos Valley. 
 
 In June, 1902, upward of 5,300 two-year-old steers were sold 
 from the Slaughter Ranch for shipment to Montana, being the 
 largest delivery of that class of cattle bearing one brand ever 
 made in this section. It comprised 2,000 white-face Herefords, 
 chiefly the descendants of Ancient Briton. Cattle experts pro- 
 
 Trainor's Ranch. 
 41 
 
There Is Room for Hundreds More. 
 
 nounced this the greatest herd of range steers of one age ever 
 brought together. 
 
 Other cattle ranches near Roswell, also very highly improved, 
 are the Otis Ranch and the De Bremond Ranch; the former is 
 owned by a Cleveland, Ohio, capitalist. 
 
 The name of the Littlefield Cattle Company, with its famous 
 " L. F. D." brand, which is burned in the hide of almost countless 
 thousands of range cattle roaming all over the Southwest, is 
 known to every cattle dealer in the United States. Major Little- 
 field is probably the largest individual landowner in the United 
 States, with ranch and farm holdings aggregating about 1,250,000 
 acres. The cattle in his herds vary from 70,000 to 80,000 head. 
 The larger part of his holdings are in Texas, but the headquarters 
 of the company are in Roswell, and of all his land and possessions, 
 he takes the greatest pride in a farm of 1,200 acres near that town. 
 The farm is all in a high state of cultivation and brings in a big 
 annual revenue. A sixty-five-acre apple orchard is one of the 
 
 An Orchard near Carlsbad. 
 
Large Capital Not Necessary to Success. 
 
 profitable tracts on this farm, and his finest cattle are bred here 
 and fattened on the alfalfa and grain produced. 
 
 The foregoing examples of feeding on a large scale are given as 
 typical of what can be accomplished by brains and capital under 
 the favorable climatic and soil conditions of the Pecos Valley. 
 What these men are doing is being done by dozens of others on a 
 smaller scale. There is room for hundreds more. The demand for 
 high-grade bulls and bucks for the improvement of range stock 
 is practically unlimited, and will always exist. No breeding of this 
 sort can be done on the range itself, for without enclosed pastures 
 definite results can not be accomplished. Highly bred bulls must 
 be cared for and fed during the winter months. The average cow- 
 man prefers to hire this done rather than raise the feed himself. 
 
 R. N. Graham, land and cattle broker, of Fort Worth, Texas, 
 writes as follows after a journey into this favored region : " I 
 want to thank you for a most pleasant trip up the Pecos Valley 
 and at the same time inform you that I have a slight attack of 
 'Alfalfa Irrigated Fine Stock Farm ' fever myself and am thinking 
 seriously of starting a herd somewhere in the valley soon. I have 
 also given the fever to at least a half a dozen of our fancy stock- 
 growers, and we are planning a trip up there for the early part of 
 July. I never in all my life saw such a pretty country before, 
 and the possibilities of the Pecos Valley, when settled up by peo- 
 ple who know best how to utilize its products, are beyond compre- 
 hension. I predict that in less than ten years' time this great Pecos 
 Valley country will be the garden spot of America." 
 
 It is not necessary to have large capital to make a success in 
 this country. It is emphatically a good country for the man of 
 small means. Many of the farmers owning only forty acres have 
 sixty to one hundred head of cattle and sell all their corn and their 
 alfalfa hay. The outside range, alfalfa pasture and corn fodder 
 support their herds. Steers and farm products, poultry, eggs and 
 bees pay all their living expenses, and the increase in heifers and 
 the sale of their best young bulls represent clear profit, while the 
 increasing value of their land offers safe insurance for old age. 
 
 J. H. Charless, a prominent stockman of Roswell, says that 
 the time is but a very few years distant when the Pecos Valley 
 
 43 
 
Fruit, the Pride of the Pecos Valley. 
 
 around Roswell and Carlsbad will send to Eastern butcher blocks 
 50,000 head of home-fattened three-year-old steers and at least 
 100,000 home-fattened muttons. The two great factors that will 
 bring about this result, according to Mr. Charless, are the luxu- 
 riant growth of alfalfa in the valley and the short haul and cheap 
 shipment of corn from Kansas over the Pecos Valley Lines of the 
 Santa Fe System. Alfalfa produced last year five cuttings, with 
 an aggregate of six tons per acre. The home fattening of a three- 
 year-old native Pecos Valley beef steer, of Hereford or Shorthorn 
 strain, will consume alfalfa and corn in equal fattening propor- 
 tions, the cost for such feeding, conservatively stated, being from 
 $20 to $25, with a freight rate to market of $3 a head. One of 
 these home-fattened Pecos Valley three-year-old steers will weigh 
 out in the Eastern markets at an average of 1,200 pounds, and will 
 bring from $55 to $60 per head. Eastern market home-fed mutton 
 can be placed in proportion at a similar rate of profit. 
 
 The pride of the Pecos Valley is its fruit. Apples, pears, 
 peaches, plums, prunes, cherries, quinces, strawberries and grapes 
 can be produced here in profusion, of the largest size, the high- 
 est coloring and the most perfect flavors,. Owing to the altitude 
 and the climate, Pecos Valley fruits come into the market at 
 least two weeks earlier than any that could compete with them, 
 and thus are assured of obtaining the highest prices. Up to the 
 present, there has been an entire absence of any pests to trouble 
 fruit in the valley, a condition probably not found in any other 
 locality in the United States. The fifteen-year-old orchards at 
 Roswell have borne eleven successive crops of perfect fruit, the 
 same being entirely free from worms or insect punctures of any 
 kind. 
 
 The specialty of fruit growers in Chaves county, where the 
 oldest orchards are, is apples, while in Eddy county chief atten- 
 tion is being paid to peaches. The latter county being to the 
 southward, the peaches are not subject to the possibility of late 
 frosts. The Pecos Valley apple is a star in the Northern market 
 for size, beauty, flavor and condition. It is recognized that, acre 
 for acre, an apple orchard is more profitable than an orange 
 grove. Bartlett pears, too, are proving a peculiarly valuable 
 
 44 
 
Great Apple Orchards, and Their Products. 
 
 crop here. These facts have made fruit-growing attractive to 
 a great many, and the acreage in orchards in Chaves county is 
 very large. Buyers from Northern and Eastern commission 
 houses are always on hand at Roswell during the season, and 
 the apple crops in all the orchards that offer them for sale are 
 disposed of to the best advantage. The prices paid ordinarily 
 range from 95 cents to $1.50 per hundred pounds, on the trees, 
 the buyer to gather and ship the apples at his own expense. 
 
 The largest orchard in the valley is that of J. J. Hagerman, 
 on the Chisum ranch, a few miles south of Roswell. Mr. Hager- 
 man, the famous railway builder, mine operator and banker of 
 Colorado Springs, has a large ranch of several thousand acres 
 at this point, on which he has planted an orchard of five hundred 
 acres of apples. He has transferred his residence and his chief 
 interests from Colorado Springs to the Pecos Valley, after years 
 of intimate association with the climate and conditions of both 
 regions, and is concentrating his attention upon this splendid 
 orchard. 
 
 The following quotation from a letter addressed to the Pecos 
 Valley Orchard Company, of Roswell, by Moore & Sames, the 
 fruit commission merchants of Texas, testifies to the quality of 
 this fruit : " The car of apples we purchased of you were as fine 
 as we have ever received from anywhere in the United States, 
 and we have received apples from almost all over the country, 
 from Oregon to New England. Notwithstanding the trade was 
 well supplied, when the car arrived we found ready buyers for 
 it and the car was sold the day it arrived, and we could have dis- 
 posed of twice as many more of the same quality. If you can 
 offer us as good fruit another season, we can handle twenty-five 
 or thirty cars and will pay you as much for them as any apples 
 will bring.* The price we paid you this year is, we believe, the 
 highest price that has been paid for any apples." 
 
 Mr. Parker Earl, an authority on horticulture, asserts that 
 this is one of the best if not the very best, places for peach cul- 
 ture in America, both for flavor and quantity. 
 
 Aside from the commercial proposition, the Pecos Valley has 
 made for itself a little chapter of history in the fruit-growing line 
 
 4 6 
 
Pecos Valley Fruit at the Pan=American. 
 
 that should not be omitted from this book. In 1901 the people 
 of Chaves county made up a car of their products, at practically 
 no expense, and sent it to the Pan-American Exposition at 
 Buffalo in charge of Mr. Ava E. Page, who was provided with 
 the sum of only $150 for expenses, and who was in competition 
 with large exhibits from principal fruit-growing districts in Cal- 
 ifornia, Colorado, Washington, Missouri and New York. I 
 have before me letters of notification from the director-general 
 of the exposition to Mr. Page, showing that this small exhibit 
 from a single county won the following awards : 
 
 Chaves county, general display apples, pears and plums, gold 
 medal. 
 
 J. J. Hagerman, Roswell, display apples, gold medal. 
 
 A. E. Goetz, Roswell, display apples and pears, bronze medal. 
 
 George Stevens, Roswell, display apples and pears, bronze 
 medal. 
 
 J. P. White, Roswell, display apples, bronze medal. 
 
 Melons in the Valley. 
 
 47 
 
The Governor's Report on Fruits. 
 
 Samuel Brown, Roswell, display prunes, diploma. 
 
 Mrs. A. C. Rodgers, Roswell, display apples, diploma. 
 
 Mr. Fuqua, Roswell, display apples, diploma. 
 
 Harry Hamilton, Roswell, display apples, diploma. 
 
 D. Mortimar Downs, Roswell, display pears, diploma. 
 
 Governor Otero, in a report which he submitted to the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior in 1900, speaks as follows of the fruit of 
 Eddy county: 
 
 "All fruits are absolutely free from worms. Experience has 
 taught that care must be taken to choose the late-blooming 
 varieties of pears, peaches and plums. Orchards are now old 
 enough here and in Chaves county to be a guide in choosing 
 the most productive and profitable varieties for new plantations. 
 
 " The enormous fruit crop of Eddy county in 1900 proved that 
 ready markets for first-class fruit can be found even in years 
 of universal productiveness. At a time when many peaches were 
 not bringing freight charges, carload lots of Carlsbad peaches 
 
 . 
 
 A Weeping Willow. 
 
Some Testimonials about Valley Peaches. 
 
 sold at 55 cents net, f. o. b. cars at home, for California twenty- 
 pound boxes, and not. a box of perfect fruit brought less than 50 
 cents. 
 
 " The world is the market for such fruit, and its shipping 
 qualities carry it safely anywhere within reason. 
 
 " In 1900, $4,800 worth of peaches were sold from one orchard 
 containing less than 1,500 bearing trees. 
 
 "Apple and pear trees are not yet old enough for comparison, 
 but this year's figures from Chaves county, the neighboring 
 county to the north, will demonstrate what can be done. 
 
 " Rocky Ford cantaloupe are grown commercially for the first 
 time this year. The flavor is equal to the original article, the 
 carrying capacity is .from two to four days longer, while the 
 earlier season and the fact that it can be prolonged to October 
 20, date of first known frost, assures the best of prices." 
 
 This year's crop of Chaves county apples was sold at 3 cents 
 per pound on the trees, while Eddy county peaches brought $1.25 
 per California twenty-pound box, f. o. b. Carlsbad. 
 
 Here are a few unsolicited and disinterested testimonials as 
 to quality: 
 
 " ST. PAUL, MINN., August 6, 1900. 
 
 " Car of peaches that arrived to-day was the finest car of 
 peaches ever received in my thirty years' experience. 
 " (Signed) A. W. FISK, 
 
 " Of A. W. FISK & Co., Kansas City." 
 
 "TRINIDAD, COLO., August 18, 1900. 
 
 " Regarding peaches, can handle all that you can send as high 
 as twenty-five boxes daily. Our Colorados are coming in quite 
 plentifully now, but not up to your quality. We think we can 
 hold our trade even at the figure of your cost as long as the 
 quality remains. Kindly advise what we may expect, so we can 
 figure on enough Colorado to help us out. We want your 
 peaches. THE GERARDI MERCANTILE COMPANY, 
 
 " Imported, Fancy and Staple Groceries." 
 
 " Grand Junction, Colorado, will have to look out or it will 
 lose its laurels, as the peaches at Carlsbad, New Mexico, in the 
 
 49 
 
An Address of Congratulation. 
 
 Pecos Valley, are the finest raised in the United States." From 
 the Kansas City Packer, editorial page, August 18, 1900. 
 
 " TRINIDAD, COLO., July 15, 1901. 
 
 " We want your peaches again this year. We can use up to 
 forty boxes a day. THE GERARDI MERCANTILE COMPANY." 
 
 Melons of all descriptions reach perfection in an arid climate. 
 Cantaloupe were shipped commercially from the valley for the 
 first time in 1900. Some six hundred acres were planted the next 
 year, chiefly at Barstow and Roswell. Shipments also were made 
 from Florence, where the acreage, though small, yielded most 
 satisfactory results. The quality of Pecos Valley melons is quite 
 equal to the Rocky Ford product, while the carrying capacity is 
 several days better and the season both earlier and later. Mr. 
 H. Woods, 127 South Water street, Chicago, Illinois, the well- 
 known cantaloupe commission man, handled the product and 
 will gladly answer any inquiries. Mutual associations have been 
 formed in the different valley towns in order to market these 
 melons in the great Northern and Eastern cities, and all melons 
 shipped out of the valley are conspicuously labeled as a Pecos 
 Valley product. 
 
 Judge J. S. Emery, formerly national lecturer of the National 
 Irrigation Congress, spoke as follows in an address to the 
 people of Carlsbad : " Scholars, physicians and sociologists agree 
 that the altitude of about three thousand feet is the most health- 
 ful. I have often made the assertion that the climate of three hun- 
 dred miles east and west from the foothills of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains and one thousand miles south from the British possessions 
 is the most healthful in the United States. You are in that terri- 
 tory. In Kansas, when we have persons at all feeble, we put them 
 in a wagon and send them to the plains. They live outdoors, 
 just as you can live outdoors most of the time, and they gain 
 weight and become strong. The climate of the Pecos Valley is 
 attracting public attention. With an American population and 
 with your climate and your water, you will become a Kansas 
 City or a Missouri Valley feeder, a pretty good place to feed, 
 because they are large customers. I am in the Kansas market 
 every week, and I tell you that I never saw finer apples there 
 
An Interview with an Enthusiast. 
 
 than I have seen growing in this valley. I visited the Spring 
 Brook celery farm. A man could not have made me believe that 
 you could raise such celery in the Pecos Valley, because I have 
 always been taught that celery is to be raised on sandy land alone, 
 and that you could raise good celery only in Kalamazoo, Michi- 
 gan. I had that idea completely knocked out of me. I saw acres 
 of celery that commands the highest price and is regarded the 
 best in the Western market. I saw cornfields between here and 
 Roswell to-day that are as good as any cornfields on the Kaw 
 bottoms. It is well known that Pecos Valley beets lead the world. 
 I visited fields south of Carlsbad, and they were as fine as any 
 beet-growing district can boast, while in richness of sugar content 
 and purity they excel:" 
 
 Mr. R. W. Tansill, of Carlsbad, is one of the best authorities 
 on conditions in the valley. Mr. Tansill's health failed in the 
 North some years ago, after an energetic career as a cigar manu- 
 facturer and dealer. He sought the Pecos Valley for the benefit 
 
 The Roswell Club, 
 
 1895 and 1899. 
 (A Study in Irrigation.) 
 
 51 
 
Information about Vegetable=Raising. 
 
 of his health and has made his home at Carlsbad for the past 
 twelve years. In a recent interview he spoke in part as follows: 
 " Carlsbad is in a county which, on its free grass alone, sustains 
 vast herds of cattle and sheep. With the alfalfa and other forage 
 crops the fattening of stock is an industry which is rapidly 
 developing. Our lands will produce four crops of alfalfa and from 
 eight to fifteen tons of sugar beets to the acre. The valley is admir- 
 ably adapted to dairying, so that should the settler decide to invest 
 in cows, he can do so with excellent prospects of success. For 
 the pleasant occupation of keeping bees this valley of the West 
 is admirably adapted, as the alfalfa bloom makes honey of the 
 finest quality. Gardening is carried on very profitably, including 
 celery, which is superior to the famous Kalamazoo celery. In fact, 
 Pecos Valley vegetables command top prices wherever they come 
 in competition with the products of other sections. Owing to 
 the abundance of mineral salts in the soil, asparagus attains its 
 highest perfection in the Pecos Valley, and is a weed frequently 
 difficult to keep down along the irrigation ditches. A fortune 
 
 
 On Lake McMillan. 
 52 
 
An Experience with Fruit. Mr. Bryan says: 
 
 awaits the man who will make a specialty of raising and canning 
 asparagus for Eastern markets, for it can be produced cheaper 
 here than elsewhere. The superior quality of the fruit of the Pecos 
 country is acknowledged. The same may be said of cauliflower. 
 As is known, our exhibit took the first premium at the Dallas 
 State Fair and the gold medal at the Omaha Exposition. From 
 a climate and health standpoint, it is well known that no country 
 on earth offers the inducements to healthseekers that are found 
 here. There are many healthy citizens on our streets who came 
 a few years ago as invalids, who will testify that the Pecos Valley 
 is truly a world's sanitarium." 
 
 The Dallas News recently printed an interview with Col. Rich- 
 ard J. Hinton, well known in the United States as the author of 
 the first Government report on irrigation, and an authority on 
 all irrigation regions. He had just returned from a visit to the 
 Pecos Valley, where he had been investigating fruit conditions. 
 He related one experience as follows : " Mr. Sharp, formerly of 
 Michigan and Nebraska, came to Carlsbad in 1891 before the 
 railroad was a dozen miles north of Pecos, Texas. In the section 
 of Carlsbad known as La Huerta, he obtained fifteen acres. He 
 then went home and sold his share of the family place, bringing 
 back enough money to make his improvements here, with a total 
 investment of $1,000. That is all he put in directly. ' Myself and 
 wife/ Mr. Sharp said, 'are the owners to-day of thirty-seven 
 acres, twenty-five of which are in orchards. The land is all paid 
 for, all in bearing, and the market even in the valley is sufficient 
 to consume, at the grower's own prices, all that is produced. 
 There are twenty acres in peach trees, early and late, and about 
 five in apples, pears, prunes, plums, nectarines, cherries, quinces 
 and mulberries. To-day the place is wholly out of debt, in excel- 
 lent condition. I have only had one partial peach failure since the 
 trees began bearing. In less than ten years my wife and I have 
 made a fine home that is worth as a permanency about $30,000. 
 That is, it will pay a fair interest by its earnings, on that much 
 money, invested in ordinary commercial ventures/ " 
 
 Hon. William Jennings Bryan, after a visit to the Pecos 
 Valley, in an official interview, stated: "In my judgment the 
 
 53 
 
The Dallas Commercial Club Excursion. 
 
 strength of a nation lies largely in its agricultural population, and 
 irrigation gives an opportunity for the development of the very 
 highest class of agriculturists. The crop is certain where irriga- 
 tion is practiced, and a small area of land is far more productive 
 than when depending upon a capricious rainfall. This invites 
 small holdings, and farmers live near together, so that their chil- 
 dren can have the advantage of a social life, and at the same time 
 enjoy superior school advantages, which are impossible where 
 farmers live a long distance apart. I have been pleased to note 
 the high standard of intelligence among your people, and I expect 
 to see that standard raised as the valley becomes more thickly 
 populated. Carlsbad and Roswell are fully up to their surround- 
 ings. Your climate is one of your greatest advantages, and while 
 I do not care to make any comparison with other health resorts, 
 I have no doubt in my mind that before long this valley, with its 
 bracing air and mild winters, will become a sanitarium for those 
 afflicted with the various lung complaints. Your latitude pro- 
 tects you against the rigor of winter, while your altitude guards 
 you from excessive summer heat. Taking my visit as a whole, 
 considering the land and products I have seen, the magnitude of 
 the water supply and all other features here, I have no hesitation 
 in stating that the Pecos Valley should attract thousands of 
 thrifty farmers from the thickly settled North and East." 
 
 In May, 1902, a large excursion party, comprising members of 
 the Dallas (Tex.) Commercial Club, visited the Pecos Valley. 
 They were entertained by the citizens of Carlsbad and Roswell. 
 They made a careful inspection of the irrigation systems and 
 saw the principal ranches and orchards. They were delighted and 
 went away convinced that the half had not been told. The Dal- 
 las News printed a long account of the outing. Below may be 
 found brief extracts from same : 
 
 " The Pecos Valley has really been made to ' blossom as the 
 rose/ Thousands of acres of alfalfa now bloom profusely there, 
 and in the springtime the perfume of apple blossoms is wafted 
 on the breeze. Those who have wrought the transformation 
 from an arid waste are entitled to a high place among the world's 
 benefactors." 
 
 54 
 
What They Saw at Carlsbad 
 
 " The visitors said the country was a revelation to them, and 
 they meant it. Along the irrigation ditches, constructed pri- 
 marily for the purpose of making the lands arable, miles and 
 miles of cottonwood trees have been planted. Their generous 
 shade and the rushing of the limpid water through the country 
 and along the streets cools and purifies the atmosphere. The 
 force of the wind is broken up and the dust nuisance practically 
 eliminated. In the towns where water is plenty the streets are 
 sprinkled regularly, and in consequence the drives along the 
 smooth streets and roads passing through archways of trees are 
 delightful. The homes are surrounded by beautiful groves, 
 flower gardens and velvety lawns, and in every respect seem as 
 comfortable, pleasant and inviting as though they were in 
 the States." 
 
 "After driving around Carlsbad, with its tree-shaded, hard- 
 packed, gravel streets, the party was taken out to Lake Avalon, 
 a distance of six miles, most of the way over a turnpike similar 
 
 Main Street, Ro swell. 
 
 55 
 
The^Party Among the Famous Ranches. 
 
 to the roadways in the city. Lake Avalon is the name given to 
 one of the reservoirs of the Pecos Valley Irrigation Company. 
 A great dam across the river backs the water up into the reser- 
 voir, affording a reserve supply against unusual conditions. The 
 regular flow of the river, however, is nearly always sufficient to 
 supply the irrigation ditches. Besides the dam at Lake Avalon, 
 there is another dam twelve miles further up the river, and one 
 just opposite the city. These works are capable of furnishing 
 water to the entire valley for the length covered. 
 
 " The entertainment of the visitors was under the direction 
 of R. W. Tansill, who has been a leading spirit in the develop- 
 ment of that part of the Pecos Valley. Mr. Tansill is the man 
 who invited the Dallas business men to come to New Mexico and 
 see for themselves that the wonderful stories concerning the 
 Pecos Valley were not fiction. After looking over Carlsbad and 
 surrounding country, Mayor Cabell declared that the half had 
 not been told, while President Steinmann, of the Dallas Commer- 
 
 A Street Scene, Ro swell. 
 56 
 
Points of Interest on the Trip. 
 
 cial Club, said that the country was beyond his expectations, 
 which had been high, and he expressed the hope that this new 
 Carlsbad would rival the famous Carlsbad of Austria." 
 
 "The party was driven through splendid avenues of cotton- 
 woods to the old Chisum ranch house, a few miles south of 
 Roswell, then past the palatial residence of Mr. Hagerman, the 
 new Chouses erected for offices and the homes of the superin- 
 tendents of the various departments. As in the Carlsbad coun- 
 try, great fields of alfalfa were seen. The Hagerman farm com- 
 prises eight thousand acres. It is irrigated partly from the river 
 and partly from light artesian wells. There are many flowing 
 artesian wells in the district. In Roswell, every house is sup- 
 plied from them and the town has its own system of waterworks, 
 based on hydraulic rams. On the Hagerman place there are one 
 thousand acres of alfalfa, which produces three to four crops a 
 year. Large quantities of it are purchased by the cattlemen and 
 heavy shipments are made. There are 621 acres of apple orchard 
 on the Hagerman farm. Some of the trees are twenty years old 
 and prolific. Most of them have just begun to bear. Sixty car- 
 loads were shipped last year and it is expected that 250 carloads 
 will be sent to market this year." 
 
 " Resuming the drive, the visitors passed a bee farm, where 
 $5,000 worth of the busy insects are at work gathering sweets. 
 In the distance they saw the big hog ranch owned by Cliff Chis- 
 holm, on which there are 939 brood sows thoroughbreds and 
 grades and seven thousand pigs. These hogs subsist on alfalfa, 
 which is said to be excellent feed for swine. The party also went 
 
 Over the Treetops, Carlsbad. 
 
 57 
 
Opportunities for Various Industries. 
 
 by the Otis Ranch, an improved farm of 320 acres, which was 
 recently sold for $56,000. Another interesting place was the 
 L. F. D. Ranch, owned by the Littlefield syndicate. Further 
 along, the Slaughter Ranch was reached. On this place, which 
 is one of the finest in the valley, great fields of alfalfa were seen, 
 also the splendid herd of thoroughbred Herefords." 
 
 "As at Carlsbad, water runs through the streets of Roswell, 
 and there are avenues of trees. The driveways are splendid. It 
 is a smart, up-to-date business town, and a place of fine resi- 
 dences. Every house in town has an artesian well or the right 
 to use water from a neighbor's well, and all are equipped with 
 these private water-works. There are windmills and hydraulic 
 rams all over the city." 
 
 Farmers, ranchmen and gardeners are not the only ones who 
 can find profitable investment in the Pecos Valley. There are 
 excellent opportunities for the establishment of various indus- 
 tries to take advantage of the productive quality of the valley 
 
 Fifth Street, Roswell. 
 
 58 
 
Mineral Wealth ; Forests; Hunting Grounds. 
 
 lands. A cannery for fruit and vegetables would be welcomed 
 in more than one of the valley towns, and while affording a market 
 at all times for the garden products, would be a certain source of 
 revenue to its owner. Dairies, too, are needed in the valley, and 
 while stimulating the breeding of milk cows, would find large 
 market for their product of butter and cheese. 
 
 It would be difficult to find any region in which the general 
 conditions of access, markets, climate, society and financial 
 promise unite in more favorable proportions than here in the 
 Pecos Valley. Served as it is by an important line of the great 
 Santa Fe System, which gives it direct communication with the 
 more important markets north, east and south, shipments are 
 made with the utmost ease. 
 
 Copper has been discovered in the Guadalupe Mountains, 
 southwest of Carlsbad, and oil is being prospected for at several 
 points along Pecos river, but neither industry has been developed 
 to a point where the future products may safely be predicted. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of Carlsbad, lying six hundred feet 
 beneath the surface, is an enormous bed of pure rock salt. This 
 bed has been tapped at points over three miles apart, and in one 
 instance it was penetrated three hundred feet without passing 
 through it. Above it is ample water with which to dissolve and 
 bring this salt to the surface. There are also vast beds of 
 gypsum and sulphur which will bring profit whenever capital 
 exploits them. The mineral surroundings of the Pecos Valley, 
 therefore, are of the highest interest. 
 
 The Pecos Valley is not merely a place of profit and prosper- 
 ity, but a region where life is interesting and health assured. 
 Within easy reach of the valley towns are picturesque mountain 
 ranges, not all barren and rocky, but often gently rolling, with 
 grassy slopes and timbered like a park. They are approached 
 through bold canyons, and at times the scenery becomes strik- 
 ingly magnificent. The mountains are well stocked with black- 
 tailed deer, while the rocky canyons are the home of the Rocky 
 Mountain sheep and bear. By changing location and altitude, 
 within a single day the dweller in the Pecos Valley can obtain 
 almost any temperature he desires, even in the hottest weather. 
 
 59 
 
A Review of Progress in the District. 
 
 Opportunities for sport for the invalid who does not care to 
 work are manifold. An act of the Legislature forbids the killing 
 of antelope, deer and mountain sheep for five years. But rab- 
 bits, quail and duck are here by the myriads, snipe are on the 
 increase, and plover and curlew are very numerous in the fall. 
 Fishing, too, is excellent. The Pecos has been stocked with 
 black bass, and they, with trout, perch and catfish, furnish the 
 angler with ample opportunity to test his skill. The people of the 
 valley are hospitable to strangers, and friendships are formed 
 rapidly. There is a freshness and frankness in life in this open 
 Western country that is sure to be delightful. 
 
 Twelve years ago the Pecos Valley was an undeveloped plain, 
 without a railway, without irrigation and, indeed, without settle- 
 ment, except around the ranch houses. There were a few sheep in 
 the country and no cattle except the Texas long horns, now long 
 since vanished. Now windmills can be counted by the hundreds 
 all over the ranges, and drilling machines are constantly at work 
 
 Packing Apple s, Ro swell. 
 
 60 
 
Terms on which Land may be Obtained. 
 
 finding new water and developing new grass. Live-stock inter- 
 ests have increased until 30,000 cattle and 2,000,000 pounds of wool 
 are shipped from the valley annually. Eddy county increased in 
 its assessed value last year by a greater amount than any other 
 county in the territory, while Chaves county conies second in 
 increase. In assessed value per capita, Chaves county stands 
 first in the list, with $544, and Eddy county third, with $513. 
 This is a fine showing for counties hardly twelve years old. 
 The bonded indebtedness is small and the tax rates low. All 
 signs point to Statehood within the next session of Congress. 
 
 The best estimates obtainable for the irrigated lands of the 
 valley under cultivation show an annual average value per acre, for 
 the last year, of $18.16. Several tracts of land under cultivation 
 could be paid for by the crop raised upon them in a single year. 
 
 Lands in the valley, except those under irrigation, and those 
 occupied by actual settlers, belong to the United States, and are 
 subject to entry under the Homestead and Desert Land laws. 
 
 On the Chisum Ranch. 
 
 61 
 
Some Statements by Governor Prince. 
 
 Irrigated lands can be bought at from $10 to $75 per acre, 
 according to locality and improvements. The companies having 
 land and water rights for sale desire primarily to place the land 
 under cultivation and to settle the valley. Their disposition is 
 to be moderate in price and very reasonable in terms of payment 
 to all settlers looking for a location. The opportunity for acquir- 
 ing homes in the Pecos Valley is, therefore, all that can be desired 
 by men of energy and ability, even with only moderate means. 
 
 The Pecos Valley alone, in all the vast region from Abilene 
 to El Paso, from Denver to San Antonio, affords the certainty of 
 unlimited forage crops as an insurance against drought and loss. 
 Here one acre of Kaffir corn fodder, left standing in the field 
 after the grain is harvested, will winter a cow in good condition. 
 This being true, it is small wonder that many farmers are turn- 
 ing toward the land where winter does not blight everything and 
 demand the whole year's work to keep the stock alive. 
 
 In regard to the quality of the land titles in the Pecos Valley, 
 the Hon. L. Bradford Prince, former governor of New Mexico, 
 writes as follows : " From recent personal observation, as well 
 as from full information, both official and otherwise, I am able to 
 speak in a most favorable manner of the Pecos Valley as a field 
 of immigration. The valley itself presents exceptional advantages 
 in this regard, on account of the fertility of the soil, the peculiar 
 excellence of the climate and its never-failing supply of water, 
 augmented by living springs, which make it impossible to injure 
 the country below by using all the water above. The companies 
 which control the property and its development are composed of 
 gentlemen of high standing, large resources and extraordinary 
 energy, who are anxious in every way to make the settlement of 
 the valley a success and add to the prosperity and happiness of 
 the individuals who locate there. The titles are all direct from 
 the United States, as no Spanish or Mexican grants exist in that 
 part of New Mexico, and are, therefore, perfect and undisputed." 
 
 From Higgins, in the northeast, to Portales, in the south- 
 west, the Pecos Valley line of the Santa Fe System for nearly 
 two hundred and fifty miles runs diagonally across what is known 
 as the Panhandle country, a great plateau area entirely devoted, 
 
 62 
 
Relating to the Panhandle Country. 
 
 until recently, to stock-raising and grazing, but of late coming 
 into agricultural development. It is not a barren, waterless 
 region, as many suppose. Here rise the principal Southwest 
 rivers. Here are found nutritious grasses and here the small 
 ranchman, cultivating the grasses and grains that best thrive 
 under semi-arid conditions, is making a home and achieving a 
 competence for himself. Flourishing towns like Amarillo, Can- 
 yon City, Hereford, Bovina and Portales attest the general pros- 
 perity of what was once a sparsely populated land, given over to 
 herds of cattle and cowboys. Persons interested in the Panhandle 
 should consult a leaflet on that subject soon to be issued by the 
 Santa Fe. 
 
 Artesian Well, Ro swell. 
 
 Ad, 68. 1-29-03, 5M. 
 
X