AGRICULTURE. Irrigation is practicable and in practice along the water-courses. Ilowever, the possibilities of irrigation in New Mexico are not as vast as in some other Western common wealths, owing to the comparative lack of large rivers and lakes. The irrigated areas are scat tered throughout the Territory and are not large in any particular region. The Rio Grande River supplies water for a greater area than any other stream. Owing to evaporation and the use of the water in irrigation, this stream becomes dry in the southern part of the Territory during the ir rigation season. Alueh water is wasted by the primitive system of irrigation employed by the Indians and :Mexicans. There is a considerable irrigated area on the San Juan River in the northwest. Irrigation has not been introduced until recently in the eastern plain region. In 1899 there were 975 irrigation ditches with an aggregate length of 2382 miles. Their eonstrue tion cost $4.140,319. There were under ditch 648,784 acres, of which 203,893 acres were irri gated, and 182.804 acres were in crops. The total area included in farms (both agricultural and stock) in 1900 was 5,130,878 acres, more than six times as great. as the corresponding area in
1890 Alfalfa is the most important crop. Wheat. corn, and other cereals are grown in fair quan tities. The lie Grande Valley produces a sn. perior quality of grapes. Most of the temperate tone fruits are grown. New Mexico can produce sugar beets of the highest grade. The following table of acreages explains itself: SToeN-RAisiNc. New Mexico claims the pos session of a combination of favorable conditions— mild climate, etc.—unrivaled for purposes of sheep-raising. This industry, ever since the advent of the Spaniards. has been of first im portance. The number of sheep decreased be tween 1880 and 1890, but increased enormously in the following decade. There has also been a marked gain in the number of cattle and of horses. The grazing region is chiefly in the eastern part, where there is an abundance of 'mesquite' and other varieties of native grasses. Very little grazing is afforded in the arid table lands west of the Rio Grande Valley. The fol lowing table shows the leading stock holdings: