The Phoenix herald., 1879-06-18
THE PHQGNIN HERALD.
  SEMI-WEEKLY EDITION. Wednesday,. June IS. 1879.
ARABLE LAND. The Valleys of the San Pedro, Santa Cruz and Salinas.
Corr. s. F. Mining Press,


 lively small amount of land that vii
 produce crops of any kind witbou
 irrigation. Here and there little val
 leys of few acres exist high uT
 among the rugged mountains, where
 vegetables could be grown without
 other water, than the natural rainfall
 As for farming on any considerable scale, 1t is not to be thought of with
 out water artifcialy applied portions
 though not all of the valley lands along the San Pedro, Santa Cruz Gila, Salinas and other rivers, yield
 abundant crops of the cereals where
 supply of water can be brought
 upon them As yet, farmers have
 confined the nselves chiefly to raising
 wheat, corn and barley, but it has
 been proven that the soil and climate
 are adapted to the culture of the semi tropical fruits and other products, and these will be propogatcd more extensively as population increases.
 SETTLING IN COLONIES.
 The essential defect of the country is a lack of water. In some places it is found where it cannot be used ; and in a few places there is plenty where it is needed, as for example, about the town of Phnnix in the Sa- linas valley, where large tracts reg ularly yield fine crops, and the com munity shows condition of general prosperity. Here the water has not all been appropriated, and there is still plenty of fine land for improve ment, more in fact than there is water to irrigate The settlers who pro- pose to enter upon farming here, will have several difficulties to surmount in the start As these troubles are better overcome by companies than individuals, It Is usual to form colo nies for the purpose; each man own ing certain land and water privileges as may be agreed upon. The first condition is to find enough water for the purpose. This occurs only at in tervals along the rivers, the water sometimes flowing for miles, far un- der the surface of the loose sand that forms their beds, and only rising where the bedrock obstructs it's  of all the water from the rlver at car tain noints seems to have only d To- cal effect At the present time the bed Of the Gila is dry at Florence, the water being all in use, while 20 miles below, the water flows with volume as large as at Florence. This shows that the rivers carry a great deal more water than might be supposed, and that settlers above will not interfere to any great extent, with the prior rights of those below. In tor irrigation, large allow ances must be made for loss by evap- and sinking through the light soil through which the ditches pass. The amount required per acre varies with circumstances, but safe and general rule is 10 take all that can be had and cultivate as much land as it will supply.
 IRRIGATION
 The next trouble lies in getting the water up from its natural channel to an elevation from which it will flow to the arabic lands. This is often difficult and in many places impossi- ble, as the river beds are usually from 10 to 20, feet below the desired level and hedged on either side by a belt 0f loose sand, through which it can- not easily be carried without tiuming. There are places, however, where the channel is crossed by dykes of hard pan or country rock. These are se- ected from the construction of Jams, which require to be laid on good foundations to withstand the winter freshets, WEich sometimes them away, necessitating re- The irrigating ditches are here made wide and shallow, and with as little tall as possible, the i land being so nearly level that it is necessary to keep the water us high as oossib ble to be able to distribute over | )f these canals is not very expensive, ! he soil being so light, with little | .ock and no timber instructions to 'emove, that the work can nearly all | Je accomplished with blows and ,crapers Once having the water at l proper higth and clear of tho sand belt, it is a comparatively light task o carry it where wanted. In some sections the canals, when in constant summer use, become obstructed with . species ot water-graSs, which, fast .ning its roots on the inner banks, grow so rapidly that it has been ,nown to attain d length of two feet in couple of weeks Its long tibers waving in the stream from either ,ank become cntangled, and unless from time to time, choke up he channel \ ditch less than d nile in length, near Tucson, acquires he constant labor of one man to keep | clear of this intrusive fiber. The l rouble. however, can be averted by urning the water off for q few days, when the burning sun quickly corches the grass to death.
 PLENTY OF LAND.
 As before remarked, of the vast req of this Territory, but diminu- i've fraction is suitable for grain aising in it's natural state. There is lueh good land along the river val svs still open to pre-emption and en- " under the Desert act the most of | being desert land. here are countless miles of country