IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION OF ARID LANDS. 67 water. It is claimed that in the catchment basin of the Rio Pecos at least 20,000 square miles can be made available for irrigation purposes. A more moderate estimate, and probably a more correct one, places the reclaimable area in the lower part of the valley at 1,000,000 acres. The ditch system partly completed and now in process of construction can supply water for 175,000 acres, and with a proper storage system will furnish enough to reclaim 400,000 acres. Your committee mentions this system, because, with the exception of one other in the northern part of the Territory, upon the Maxwell grant, it is the only one of modern character within the limits of New Mexico. Two years since there was not a house on the town site of Roswell; now there are 1,500 or 2,000 inhabitants. There was not a school-house within 50 miles; now there are several filled with children. Land that had really no market value is selling at from $25 to $75 per acre. There is no railroad within 150 miles of this newly-reclaimed region, yet it is testified that, notwithstanding this, all its products find a ready market at large prices. The Rio Pecos basin and the region still farther east, is notable for its numerous important springs that break from the earth and flow down to the mesa, where their waters are absorbed and sink from sight again. They emerge from the earth with such volume and force as to show their artesian characters, proving without question that they come from the drainage-waters of the high and precipitious mountain ranges from the west. From all the evidence your committee has taken in regard to eastern New Mexico and northern Texas little doubt can remain that the whole region is underlaid with great bodies of water, some of which at least have the character of moving streams. WATER FOR FOOT-HILLS AND MESAS. West of the Rio Grande there is a region of numerous valleys heading into the mountains at considerable altitude with large areas of foot-hills, and towards the south an extensive mesa or table-land. No great bodies of arable land will be found there in any one section, with the exception probably of the San Juan Valley to the northwest. Yet there is in the aggregate a great body of irrigable land. The precipitation at high altitudes is quite large, and the storage facilities will be found ample. Small storage in the foot-hills can be availed of. The mesa land, which until recently had been given over to the wild steer and the horned toad, is now found to be of growing value for arable purposes. It has been proven at Deming and elsewhere that water can be obtained by bored wells at a moderate depth in volume sufficient to be pumped by wind mills not only for town use, but for gardens and small farming purposes. The late Judge Bristol, formerly of the United States Court in New Mexico, testified that So far as my experience in Deming is concerned, it is this: I have bought town lots 25 by 142 feet that, with the exception of my dairy and barn and the rest, are planted in fruit trees. I have a large pump and an 18-foot well in connection with another man. We are supplying water for fourteen or fifteen families, and several gardens are being irrigated from it. My garden is most prosperous, as I give special attention to it. Fruits of all kinds and grapes grow to perfection; the Bartlett pear, and even the peach, the Early and Late Crawford. This year we have as fine a flavored peach as any coming from the Chesapeake Bay. Before the railroad junction was made at Deming there was no water on this tableland, except occasionally when the water came down by flood. No water was known to exist there; but there is a region of country from 25 to 50 miles wide and 100 miles long north and south that we know of (and how much farther it exists we do not know) where if you dig down anywhere you will strike water at about 50 feet in in exhaustible quantities. To illustrate, at my place I have a powerful windmill, an 18-inch wheel (Holladay's). Each revolution of that throws out 100 gallons of water. You can run it up to 160 revolutions per minute.. There are only 24 feet of water in that well, and that quantity can not be lowered with that pump. It is so all over the plain. In addition to that, in the water system to the north of Deming-Cook's peak mountain, which you probably know-there is one place where the water comes down every year from the mountains and passes through a range of foot-hills about 3 to 4 miles from the main chain of mountain. A perfect flood or river of water comes down there every year several times during the rainy season, and it has dug out immense excavations in the ground. These are filled with water, extending away out on the plain. It is a beautiful plain of the richest soil, and cattle from all over the country frequently, for several weeks at a time, gather in there. That would be a good place at which to build a reservoir, for it would afford accommodation for several thousand acres. Judge Bristol declared that the opportunities for reclaiming lands and making homesteads were abundant; especially so on the lower mountains and among the foot-hills. As to the productiveness of the soil, he testified: I simply say "water is king." Wherever water can be had or can be got on the soil it is wonderful in its productiveness. It is rich in all the elements of fruitfulness, even out on this barren plain that we have been calling a desert. Put water there and everything will grow in luxuriance. On the plains the greatest drawback at present, in my opinion, to successful cultivation is the strong spring winds which obtain in every country where there is no wind-break. As soon as forestry is cultivated here systematically, and trees are planted so as to break the prevailing winds, it will be a wonderful country for productiveness, providing you get water. The altitude of Deming is about 4,000 feet. It is on the first plain out of what we call the Mesa Valley of the Rio Grande. It commences on the bluffs of the Rio Grande and is a lovely plain all the way on into Arizona. THE PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY OF THE TERRITORY. Your committee was fortunate in securing at its Santa Fé sessions the evidence of men of the widest and most varied experience and ability. An engineer, Mr. Boyle, whose professional experiences in irrigation works has extended over Spain, portions of Hungary, the Danubian provinces as well as Australia, declared that New Mexico can "easily anticipate an increase of five times her present population within ten years if the storm waters that fall naturally be saved and used for the purpose of turning the water to the best advantage." Speaking of the storm waters, Mr. Boyle said: On the brightest days in July, August, or September, a storm will burst in the mountains, and the water will come tearing down the streams and practically run to waste. It often comes when the crops need it, but it goes to waste. If that water can be saved, it can be made advantageous instead of mischievous, and be made to support a large population. The witness testified to the capacity of the soil, when supplied by water, to raise heavy crops. Wheat returns 30 and 35 bushels; oats, 40 to 45 bushels per acre. In northern New Mexico corn yields 20 to 25 bushels per acre. The onion crop of New Mexico, with proper cultivation, is finer than that of old Spain, and could easily be made to supply the United States. In the southern part of the Rio Grande, as well as in the Mesilla Valley, the climate and soil are admirably adapted to the raising of the finest fruits. In fair seasons, one acre of fruit land at Las Cruces will return an average of 20,000 pounds of grapes. Six to eight crops of alfalfa are cut per year, finding a ready home market at from $12 to $20 per ton. Mr. Boyle declared that the Territory and the climate is peculiarly adapted to the raising of the mulberry and the feeding of the silk-worm. He believes this pursuit will be a remarkable feature of industrial growth in that region. IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION OF ARID LANDS. 69 It is to be noticed that everywhere, under irrigation, the highest quality of production is that which is most readily achieved with care and intelligence. Your committee dwells upon this point because it establishes the fact that the reclamation of our arid lands will not increase agricultural competition unduly; but, on the contrary, will broaden largely our supply of fruits and other products that must command high market values. No statistics later than those of 1885 were presented to your committee. The superintendent of the Territorial census for that year says: The amount of the lands under cultivation in 1880 was 5,053 farms, with an acreage of 237,392 acres which was improved. The valuation was $5,514,399. The farming implements at that time were valued at $255,162. The live stock at that time was worth $5,010,800. The value of all farming productions at that time was $1,897,771. In 1885 there were 10,511 farms, a gain of 5,458, with a value of farming implements amounting to $1,595,370. The value of the farm products was $2,914,984, an increase of $1,016,910. That was on the farm products alone. The total land acreage of the Territory is 78,374,400 and the area for pasturage is 63,374,400 acres. Unoccupied pasturage amounted to 12,874,000. Public lands, subject to irrigation, amounted to 13,965,000 acres. The opportunity for reclamation, if a storage system becomes available, can be illustrated in the basin of the Rio Grande above Fort Selden and Las Cruces, which is generally known as the Jornado del Muerto. This great drainage basin, larger than some States, contains at least 2,000,000 acres of reclaimable land. There is not in the whole basin, except the Rio Grande, which passes through its western part, a single living stream or spring. Water has been found at some points beneath the surface sufficient for the irrigation of several large and small ranches, but practically the whole basin is to all appearances entirely arid. For the reclamation, finally, of this great body of fertile land there can be no doubt that sufficient waters can be obtained from the mountain and storm supplies which now run to waste, by impounding the same in storage reservoirs. The topography of this region is admirably adapted for reclamation, the grades and levels are such as to make engineering easy, while the lofty mountain ranges that surround it gather precipitation sufficient, if it can be utilized without interfering with any other basin, for all needed purposes. As elsewhere, each catchment area within the basin of the Rio Grande will be found to be dependent upon its own hydrographic resources, using the flowing stream as part only of a needed supply. The problems of reclamation in New Mexico deserve serious attention. KANSAS SETTLERS AND THEIR DEMANDS. Your committee's direct observation of western Kansas was confined almost wholly to the valley of the Arkansas, in passing westward to Colorado over the Atchison and Topeka Railroad. The evidence taken in the State and presented in the third volume of testimony covers, however, the entire area thereof west of the ninety-seventh degree of longitude. This includes about 14,000,000 acres, 12,000,000 of which are doubtless arable and fertile, capable of producing large crops of corn, small grains, vegetables, and grasses wherever water is obtainable, and the season of ripening is not affected by drought or the hot winds that prevail so injuriously over the great plains. The temperature of this region is continental in character, showing an average of fifty-three degrees, but ranging from fifteen degrees to one hundred and ten degrees. Great as is the diversity, the mini mum as well as the maximum ranges are not widely extended in time. This is the region marked on our school-day maps as forming a large portion of the great American desert. It is almost treeless, and its coarse grasses have for centuries past been trampled into a water-shedding thatch, by the constant movement of buffalo herds and other wild animals. Within the boundaries of the State of Kansas the Arkansas is the only mountain-fed water-course. All others are streams of the plains, having their sources within them, and furnishing somewhat scanty supplies for 200 or 300 miles in length, until they are absorbed in either the Kansas or Arkansas Rivers. The altitude of these plains rises from 2,500 feet on the east to about 3,500 on the west at the base of the Rocky Mountains. Generally its grades are remarkably even. The upper Arkansas Valley, for example, will have an almost uniform fall eastward of 7 feet to the mile, while on either side of its divides north and south the gradient will be about 16 feet. These important physical features practically govern the reclamation problems of the section. THE UNDERFLOW OR SHEET WATER. An immense flow of water passes from the Rocky Mountains at certain periods of the year down the channel of the Arkansas River. That river, after debouching from the foot-hills below Pueblo, Colorado, spreads itself in a shallow stream over a very wide valley underlaid with coarse sand and gravel at a short distance beneath the arable soil. It is estimated that 75 per cent. of this great volume of water sinks into this substratum. It is locally designated as "underflow" or "sheet water." It was testified to as being at least 30 miles in width. Other estimates place its percolation as extending over a territory north and south of the river of at least 100 miles in breadth. Mr. J. W. Gregory, of Garden City, whose intelligent statements will be found in the third volume of testimony, declares that this sheet or underflow has a perceptible current. The same declaration was made in Texas in regard to the underflow water of the Staked Plains. Mr. Gregory said: It would not be reasonable to suppose that it did not at least extend to the northern edge of the river valley and to the south side of the sand hills which skirt the river on the south, which would make an average width of at least 12 miles. What may be the average depth of this vast reservoir of sand and gravel saturated with water is not determinable from the slender data at hand, but it is safe to assume that it is more than 20 feet. That a steady current flows eastward through the porous strata of sand and gravel is a well-established fact and undisputed. It has been observed for years and by hundreds of people. In many wells the current is plainly perceptible, and in all any chance bit of wood or handful of chaff or leaves blown in by the wind floats to the east side of the well. All these facts are of utmost importance to us, because they prove that underneath our feet a broad and deep stream of water slowly passes down the slope, compared with which in volume the visible stream is as an infant to a giant. Let us gather au idea of the capacity of this subterranean stream to supply us with water. Carefully-conducted experiments, made in the past few days, show that a single square mile of this sand, 20 feet deep, contains about 209,000,000 cubic feet of water; enough to flood 19,200 acres of land to a depth of 3 inches. While it would be practically impossible to drain any given area of these substrata completely, it is well known that they yield up their waters with great readiness. The Garden City Water-Works well is but 25 feet in diameter, and penetrates the water-bearing stratum but 11 feet, and water can enter the well only at the bottom, the walls being of rock laid in cement, yet it will furnish 800,000 gallons of water per day. If, then, the half of these subterranean waters can be utilized to a depth of 10 feet over an area of 5 miles wide, enough water can be obtained to flood one-half of the land for 40 miles on each side of the river to a depth of 3 inches. IRRIGATION AND RECLAMATION OF ARID LANDS. He added also: 71 My experience and observation, however, have convinced me that there is an abundant supply of water easily available that will not only irrigate the Arkansas Valley, but also the broad plains north and south of us that have been mentioned in your hearing by gentlemen from Scott, Haskell, and other counties. I refer to the supply of water which we know exists in this bed of sand that underlies not only the Arkansas Valley but reaches out to places on either side of it at a considerable distance therefrom. To undertake to utilize that by digging, as was suggested by one gentleman, to a depth of 50 feet, to bring that water to the surface, would cost so much that it would not be practicable; but by opening fountains along the Arkansas River, where the water is only about 3 feet below the surface, and taking advantage of the general fall of 7 feet to the mile, water can be carried to the highest land in this part of the country, excepting occasional knolls, and the percentage of that would be very small. With other witnesses he urged strongly that the General Government should make a thorough examination of the whole matter, or, as he expressed it, ⚫ Should systematize and start it. That it should make the survey, and also establish as many fountains or supply sources as are necessary to make a thorough demonstration of the practicability of the plan. We have these wells. We have within the present limits of Garden City a lake the bottom of which is below the level of the river, from which water runs the whole year round. That is a practical exemplification of this system, showing that it can not help but be a success. Such a policy he declared (and in this he was supported by nearly all the witnesses examined in southwestern Kansas) would encourage the people, enable them to combine, and give certainty to enterprises requiring private capital. At Dodge City, eastward from Garden City, a large enterprise of the class desired by Mr. Gregory is already under way and promises great success. Since 1884, when irrigation began in southwestern Kansas, at least $1,000,000 has been expended between Dodge City and Spearsville and their immediate neighborhoods in the construction of irrigation ditches for the purpose of taking the water from the river at the surface and distributing the same. The parties interested are now driving westward an underground canal in which to collect the sheet or underflow water and, by taking advantage of the uniform grade, will bring the same out into reservoirs from which it can be distributed through ordinary ditches. The evidence taken shows clearly that there is no part of the Kansas plains region in which water can not be obtained at a moderate depth below the surface. Artesian wells are found in counties south of the Arkansas River, also north and west of Garden City, and at different points of the valleys of the Arkansas and of the Smoky Hill. In the extreme northwestern section the basin of the Republican fork of the Kansas, though much smaller in area than the Arkansas, is also, it is evident, underlaid with a great body of sheet water. THE STORAGE OF LOCAL DRAINAGE. Besides the possibilities involved in this supply, there are considerable opportunities for local storage of storm and surface waters. Some basins are quite extensive in area, but the larger number will be made by locally utilizing the ravines and "draws" that exist all over the region. The annual rain-fall reaches an average of 18 inches; last year the total was but 13. Even this would be sufficient to produce fair crops if it could be distributed at the right time, but, as all through the great plain region from north to south, the rain-fall fails the farmer during the weeks or days in which it is most needed. This is almost invariable, even though the year may have had more than an ordinary |