Newspaper Page Text
X, PASO HERALD
Saturday, March 5, 1910.
Nearly 1-3 of This Vast
the EI Paso Valley
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180,000 acres of land to be made into gardens which will supply the United States. In five years from this date, land
which can now be purchased in the El Paso Valley for $50 to $100 an acre will sell for $1000 an acre. The tide has
turned toward El Paso and El Paso Valley; no power on earth can keep her back; 100,000 population for El Paso in sight.
The history of the Mississippi, the Mis
souri and the Ohio valleys show that where
intense fertility and abundant water supply
are to he found, there will be the most de
sirable location for settlement and devel
ment, and that these lands will be taken up7
and cultivated long before the less fertile
and productive lands are taken up. The
El Paso valley of the Rio Grande is similar
to those other great valleys-, in that it has
the best possible natural conditions for
farming, and it is certain that it will also
be settled long before the less fertile and
semi-arid tracts of the southwest are even
homesteaded. Not only has the El Paso
Valley, the richest of the Rio Grande chain
of valleys, the richest soil texture and a
sure water supply for irrigating, but it also
has a market at its door to which can be sold
a large part of the output of the entire val
ley. With conditions as favorable as these,
all that is needed to make the soil produce
crops that will make the grower rich within
a few years, is the industrious and intelli
gent application of the laws of scientific ag
riculture. The soil, in itself the richest by chemi
cal and physical test to be found in the
southwest, is being constantly enriched by
the irrigation waters that are run over the
land to supply moisture to the growing
splants. The Pio Grande carries immense
amounts of fertilizing materials annually
from, the headwaters, and this is deposited
on the lands of the lower valleys. Lime,
magnesia, aluminum, carbonic acid and ni
trogen, the latter the most important ele
ment of plant life, are carried down the
river in solution, and as soon as the waters
are run onto the lands, these elements of
plant growth are deposited on the surface
of the soil. The air of the valley is very dry
and causes rapid evaporation. This in turn
causes the "olants to take up the moisture
from the irrigated ground rapidly, and with
it these life-giving substances that are dis
tributed through the body of the plant and
cause the rapid growth. The richness of the
soil' is not on the surface of the land, as it
is so often found in other sections. It ex
tends down many feet and the fertility is
practically inexhaustible when economic
agriculture is carried on. This land has
been built up by sediment from the river
that has been carried down from above and
dropped over the El Paso Valley. Hun
dreds of years have been consumed in this
building-up process, and the result is a soil
texture that consists of a number of strata
of rich silt, in the formation of a huge layer
cake.
The Elephant Butte project, when com
pleted, will be one of the biggest irrigation
engineering accomplishments ever finished
in this country. It will supply water for
irrigating 180,000 acres of land in the El
Paso Valley of the Rio Grande, and will be
built at a cost of $9,000,000. 'It will be built
in a gorge at a point about 50 miles above
Kineon at what is known as Elephant
Butte. At this point the river runs be
tween rock walls, and it is the plan of the
pn P-ineers to construct a concrete re
taining wall from one of
the gorge to the other,
reservoir a solid wall
connected to the natural
the sides of
making the
of masonry
rock forma
tion. The water will be backed up and will
flood a tract of 45 miles long and will have
a storage capacity of 2,000,000 acre feet,
and over 38,000 acres of land will be sub
merged when the reservoir is filled. This
immense dam will catch and hold the flood
waters of the Rio Grande that come down
with the melting snows of the spring and
early summer. The water will be stored
behind the immense concrete wall and will
be run out over the lands to be irrigated
as needed. Water rights, or the right to
receive water for land under this irrigation
dam, have been fixed by the government at
water rights for the entire acreage under
the dam, a small fee for running expenses
being the only charge made against the
land.
When an individual goes miles away
from home to do his marketing, there must
be something wrong with the home market.
This is the condition that has existed in the
past in the El Paso Valley. El Paso, the
metropolis of the southwest, and consuming
thousands of dollars' worth of garden and
orchard products, is forced to go to Cali
fornia and Colorado markets for these sup
plies. At her door lies an immense garden
C. 0. COFFIN'S FAMOUS PEAR ORCHARD, EL PASO VALLEY.
Nowhere else in the United States floes the Bartlett pear grow to such perfection as in the El Paso Valley of
the Rio Grande river.
$40 an acre. This is to be paid at the rate
of $4 an acre a 3rear, and at the end of ten
years the entire irrigation system, includ
ing the dam and the canals that are to be
built to carry the water, will become the
property of the land owners. The money
that is being sj)ent by the government in
building this dam is in the nature of a loan
to the people of the valleys under it. Each
land owner is to pay his part of this loan
back in the form of yearly payments, and
when the debt has been paid off, the entire
system will become the property of the
farmers. This will mean practically free
that is capable of supplying, not " only
the city, but the entire territory tribu
, tary to it, if the farmers would only devote
themselves to this business. Fruits", vegeta
bles and other garden stuffs can be raised in
the El Paso Valley under ideal- conditions.
The soil, climate and temperature all unite
in supplying the requirements for success
ful market gardening. It is not neesesary
to pick the fruit long before it has begun
to mature and attain its best flavor in' or
der to get it to market. Fruits can be pick
ed one morning and delivered to the Denver
and other markets the following day. By
the use of the refrigerator cars, fruits and
vegetables can be delivered in -the eastern
markets three days ahead of the California
products, and in much better condition.
Apple and peach raising in the El Paso Val
ley yields large returns on small invest
ments, and the ranchers are learning to set
out orchards on all their farms in order to
take advantage of the high prices for these
products. The climatic conditions are pe
culiarly good for fruit growing, the winters
being mild" and warm. The atmosphere is
dry and the sun bright at the time it is most
needed to ripen and color the fruit. The
peach tree is another standard in the El
Paso Valley, and produces heavy crops each
year. Many of the varieties bear 100 pounds
to the acre the third year, and the life of the
trees seem to be unlimited, the trees con
tinuing to grow and bear for years after
they are planted. Apricots can also be
raised here with profit, as these trees re
quire little attention and bear regularly.
Plums, prunes, quinces and all of the small
fruits and berries suited to this locality
yield a large profit from their cultivation.
It is predicted that within five years
this entire irrigated area will be devoted
entirely to the business of growing fruits,
melons and garden products. The land is
too rich and is too limited in area to con
tinue to grow alfalfa at a profit equal to
that which can be made from the other pro
ducts. When this is realized by the ranch
ers, the alfalfa fields will be plowed up, put
in fruit trees and market gardens, with the
result that the income from the land- will be
increased many times over that received at
present from the alfalfa crops. There is no
uncertainty about farming in the El
Paso Valley. The sunshine, the water, and
soil are all here twelve months in each year.
All that is needed to make the valley is the
application of the rules of intensive culti
vation and the soil will respond with re
sults beyond the expectations of the most
enthusiastic. The returns to be received
from farming in the El Paso Valley are
many times over that of any other section
of the country in comparison with the
amoimt of capital and labor invested, and it
is up to the grower to make the most of the
splendid natural conditions.
When Coronado, the most daring of the
Spanish explorers, started on his journey
from Sonora to seek for the fabled gold of
the seven cities of the north, he little real
ized that when he was crossing the El Paso
Valley he was walking over lands that were
destined to produce more wealth to the acre
than any one of the mythical seven cities
were supposed to contain in their treasure
chests.
In the records of the Christian Brothers
"at Santa Fe it is recorded that the Spanish
conqueror told stories of a beautiful valley
that he had crossed on his march. It was a
valley of running rivers, trees and moun
tains and he spoke of it as the garden spot
of the new world. There is little doubt that
he was thinking of the beautiful valley of
the lower Pio Grande, the El Paso Valley,
for in no other part of the land of beautiful
scenery is there a valley more beautiful
than this one, and it is becoming known
throughout the country as the land of sun
shine, the valley of hearts' desire.
Bra
Any of the Following Will Tell You Ail About This Great Valley
AUSTIN & MARR, Caples Bldg., El Paso, Texas
WM. MOELLER, Herald Bldg., El Paso, Texas.
A. P. COLES & BROS., American Nat'l. Bank Bldg., El
Paso, Texas.
HATTON REALTY CO., 224 Mesa Ave., El Paso, Texas.
NEWMAN INVESTMENT CO., 226 Mesa Ave., El Paso,
Texas.
FELIX MARTINEZ, 14 Plaza Block, El Paso, Texas.
LONE STAR LAND CO., 213 Texas St., El Paso, Texas.
MATHEWS & DYER, 117 N. Stanton St., El Paso, Texas.
PENCE BROS., 217 Texas St., El Paso, Texas.
ANDERSO-BIjNNETT REALTY CO., 21-22 Bassett-
Edwards Block, El Paso, Texas.
D. G-. HEINEMAN, 207 St. Louis St., El Paso, Texas- ""'"
J..R. BOND, Plaza Block, El Paso, Texas.
H. L. HOWELL, Herald Building, El Paso, Texas.
MAPLE & CO., 209 Mesa Ave., El Paso, Texas.
LATTA & HAPPER, Mills Bldg., El Paso, Texas.
J. R. FISK, Trust Bldg., El Paso, Texas.
CASSIDY & DAVIDSON, Buckler Bldg., El Paso, Texas.
BUCHOZ & SCHUSTER, Caples Bldg., El Paso, Texas.
LEE H. ORNDORFF, 209 St. Louis St., El Paso, Texas.
JOSEPHUS BOO-GS, 15 Morgan Bldg., El Paso, Texas.
R. C. BAILEY, 306 Mesa Ave., El Paso, Texas.
LOOMIS BROS., 202 Texas St., El Paso, Texas.
PETERMAN & LANSDEN REALTY CO., Ysleta, Texas.
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