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MINES.

The principal paying mines in the county are the Aztec, Black Horse, Montezuma, Red Bandana, Legal Tender, and Black Copper, the former having produced more than $1,000,000. Nearly all of these properties are now being worked on a paying basis. Within the past year two modern and up-to-date mills have been put into operation, one of which is a custom mill handling 40 to 60 tons per day.

Much placer mining is being done in the Ute Creek and the Moreno Valley, situate on either side of Baldy Mountain, also near Cimmaron and Bonita and Uracca canyons. Recent developments have shown that both quartz and placer mining may be carried on at a profit. It is but 25 to 50 miles from all of these mines to the line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company, and considerable ore is shipped to the smelters at Pueblo and Denver.

PETROLEUM.

Within the past year petroleum has been found in large quantities in the northeastern part of the county, and machinery is now being put in place for the purpose of extracting the same for market use.

LUMBER.

In the vicinity of Catskill seven sawmills are kept constantly at work and several hundred thousand feet of lumber are sawed daily, cut from the finest cedar, pine, and spruce timber.

CATTLE.

About 70,000 head of cattle are grazed within the boundaries of this county, contained in large pastures, one of which covers an area of 120,000 acres, recently purchased from the Maxwell Land Grant Company. The protection offered by the mountains on the west and east, and the dry, crisp atmosphere which cures the native grass when matured, does away with the necessity of cattle feed in the winter.

SHEEP.

One hundred thousand head of sheep are grazed on the plains both winter and summer without shelter, and seldom do their owners sustain loss by the storms of winter.

FARMING.

Considerable farming is carried on in the mountain valleys, where wheat, oats, rye, barley, and all vegetables known to the Mississippi Valley are raised in large quantities, unsurpassed in quality, and with but little cultivation. Alfalfa is the principal domestic grass, producing three cuttings each year.

Corn is grown in small quantities only, the summer nights being so cool as to prevent its maturing.

FRUIT RAISING.

Nearly all kinds of fruit grown in the temperate zone are raised at a profit, apples, pears, plums, cherries, apricots, and nectarines growing in abundance, yielding their producers larger returns than anywhere in the East. All small fruits grow with but little cultivation. The flavor of New Mexico fruit has become widely known, and that grown in Colfax County may be considered a fair average. The trees are free from blight, and the fruit grower has never had to contend with any insects which destroy the profit of the fruit grown in the East.

CEMENT.

Near the town of Springer are several stratums of cement rock, from which the Springer Cement Company produces an excellent quality of hydraulic cement and cement brick for building purposes.

ARTESIAN WATER.

Six miles southeast of Springer two artesian wells have been flowing during the past eight years. The water therefrom is bottled and shipped to distant towns and cities for medical purposes. Chemists have declared it to be the best known mineral water for dyspepsia and kidney ailments. These wells are from 150 to 200 feet deep and produce a 6-inch flow, irrigating large tracts of land.

The small expense in sinking artesian wells offers a splendid opportunity for farmers of small means who desire to farm by irrigation.

DAIRY FARMING.

Three miles east of Raton, on the Sugarite Creek, is the largest dairy farm in the county, containing 20,000 acres of land. A butter and cheese factory produces large quantities of these necessaries, which are marketed in Raton and immediate towns.

EDUCATION.

Within the county are thirty-nine school districts in which school is taught from three to ten months in each year, thus guaranteeing to every child reared within the confines of the county an opportunity for at least a good common-school education. At Raton our teachers are employed ten months in each year. Good salaries are paid, thus securing able educators, who gradually lead the mind from the lower branches to the scientific, and also teach some of the classics and modern languages. Two school buildings have heretofore been used, one containing eight rooms; but the school board during the last year, seeing the necessity of more school room, ordered a new building at an expense of $15,000, which is now in course of construction.

The teachers' institute is held at Raton, the county seat, for a period of two weeks during the latter part of August. Experienced and highly-paid educators are in attendance, thus guaranteeing to each teacher in the county an opportunity to keep in the lead with the onward march of education and general progress in the schoolroom. Each school district in the county has a splendid and commodious school building.

PLUMBAGO.

Seven miles southeast of Raton several plumbago mines have recently been opened up and are now being developed. Several miners are employed, and the plumbago is shipped to Chicago, the headquarters of the company operating the mines, where the crude material is rapidly transferred to the marketable, which is found to be equal to any of that used in the lead pencils of to-day.

DONA ANA COUNTY.

Dona Ana County is situated in the southern part of the Territory of New Mexico, between the thirty-second and thirty-third degrees of latitude and the twenty-ninth and thirtieth degrees of longitude west from Washington.

The resources of this county are mainly agricultural. It is watered by the Rio Grande, which enters Dona Ana County in its northwestern part, and flows in a southeasterly direction through the county for a distance of 100 miles. The valley of the Rio Grande in this county is on an average about 7 miles wide. Part of said valley around Las Cruces (the county seat of said county) is known as the Mesilla Valley, far famed and favorably known for its production of wheat, indian corn, alfalfa, and fine fruits, especially peaches, pears, apples, plums, and grapes, and all kinds of berries, such as strawberries, gooseberries,

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etc. Among the many varieties, one of the best known is the mission grape, the best-flavored grape for table use known in the civilized world. This grape was introduced into Mexico, New Mexico, and California in the eighteenth century by the pioneers of civilization, the Franciscan fathers, who were early missionaries of this country. Therefore the name "mission grape."

All the agricultural lands have to be irrigated in this arid region. The irrigation is entirely dependent on the supply of water from the Rio Grande, and owing to the canals in the northern part of this Territory and Colorado the flow of water in said river is at the present time not sufficient to irrigate said lands, or any portion thereof, successfully during the year; and until a system of storage reservoirs and canals is inaugurated the present state of affairs will continue. In all probability the Elephant Butte reservoirs and canals will be built in the near future-as soon as their legal status has been decided by the courts and said canals will be able to furnish water to all the lands subject to irrigation in Dona Ana County.

The soil of the Rio Grande Valley is a rich alluvial soil, consisting of the decomposed matter of trees, leaves, limestone, etc., which has been carried as sediment down the Rio Grande and left in the valley by its overflows, which have occurred periodically during the past centuries.

At the present time there are irrigated and cultivated about 32,000 acres in the valley, while there are 35,000 acres more susceptible to irrigation, provided a proper canal system is established, as above stated.

Of the 35,000. acres of land now lying idle, there are about 27,000 acres situated on grants, and the remaining 8,000 acres are vacant United States Government land, subject to the homestead and desertland entry acts.

Dona Ana County has also about 3,000,000 acres of mountain and table lands which are used for grazing purposes, and furnish grass for horses, cattle, and sheep from one year to the other. In a few years to come, as soon as plenty of water to irrigate with has been obtained, the Rio Grande Valley in Dona Ana County will be the farmers' paradise, as, on account of the climatic conditions existing, the altitude of the valley being on an average of 3,900 feet, the farmer can work all the year round, having very near perpetual sunshine, an even climate, not too cold nor too hot, no snow nor blizzards.

ALFALFA.

This is conceded everywhere to be one of the greatest wealth producers. In this valley it is almost an universal crop. Every farmer grows more or less of it. Without exception as to years, on the 10th of May the first cutting is being harvested, and it is the expectation that three more cuttings will follow, at intervals of about five weeks. But because the citizens have been prohibited from storing the great surplus of water that flows down the Rio Grande at a season when it is not needed, the number of cuttings is sometimes reduced to two. Some farmers are growing alfalfa for market on quite a large scale. One farmer usually sells about 700 tons, besides feeding a large amount to stock. Several others do about the same, but the actual statistics are not at hand. On account of the superior grade of cured alfalfa produced here, it brings a higher price in market than that produced in many other places.

WHEAT.

Perhaps there is no other spot in the United States where wheat of the very highest grade is more certainly produced than in this valley.

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