Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-04-15
ARIZONA.
Interesting Facts Written to an Eastern Paper Agricultural Possibilities nr Arfx

Interesting Facts Written to an FaSteri
 Paper The Agricultural PossIbiIitie
 of Arizona
 The following letter was recently written from
 thi- city to the Cortland. New York. Democrat
 by Mr. Royal A. Johnson. chief clerk in the .. $
 Surveyor Generals oaice. The same substance
 was also written by him in the German Ian
 suase Co German paper m New York for cir culatiou In the fatherlaud:
 NIT. Editor;- Before les. ging Cortland county promised come of my good friends there c, write descriptive letters or Arizona. as oppor tunities might offer. and have concluded that ar
 agricultural letter is a good beginning N, country is more thoroughly misreprs=ented tha1
 the Territory of Arizona The general impres
 son seems Co prevail that Arizona is a sterile tiod-fursaken country. but that such is not th,
 Case. abundant eyidercc exIst- to prove.
 .esa7l.ug the agricultural interests of Ari.
 z"na- ave to say. that the farming element has accomplished much considering the Iacs of
 railroad facilities, and their aboring under
 many disadvantages equally great. and conse- ! quelt In nsw. sparseiy settled country. During | lS,i, hoe five southern countieS produced ] i2opRoo pounds of grain. and iu lss2 1 E5Oo10Oo pounds. Msricopa county alone pro- ! duced lgolHuOo pounds of grain and cut lOuUl tons of hay. raised 2u11 sacks | Of sweet potatoes, and of all other vegetables and fruits in proportion. All of the cereals. vegetable a'd fruits are cultivated m The srabie portions Of Arizona with the most remark able success The prices are good and offer an eytraorr mary induceneut To the honest industri- ous agIirlltu-alist. Wheat at present is worth Siso to S2.ro per IuO pounds; barley hay SI5 to S1 Der ton Alfalfa, SI0 per ton and barley S2 3l per hundred lbs. The Indian troubles, that for a long time SO thoroughly terrorized the would be irimi grants. and demoralized immigration has gr8wL to be a thing of the past and imIni- grants ca1 come here and carry on their various occupations with as much. freedom and az little dal ger as elsewhere in the west. The rapid set- tlemsnt of Arizuna has worked its results as its present population of 1loo0 people rapidly in crossing Is sufficient Co -uaral teo home protoc- ttou for local industries Hundreds of thousands of acres of virgin soil that will yield 95 bushels of gram and upwards to the acre. ara today lyu, subject to pre-4mptiou. homestead and desert hand entry: ard these lands are capable of pro ducIng anything that can be raised in the most favored climates of California. Florida or the We-r ladies. Irrigation is rap.dly becoming a science with our people, thcir interests are SD closely identified with the question of successful i-rgltiln, that it is now carried on in this Ter ritory aS successfully as anywhere in the United States. The Pheuiz Irriatting Canal. cor struct- cd about four year ago. located m Maricopa County, which cost s35.Gpo has built up the prosperous town of Phenix, with its 25O1 iuhsbit- ants, and the beautiful cultivated valley aloul, the S.t River, and is the secret of tie large grain yield uf Maricupa County.
 party of euterprisinC capitalists are about to construct an irrieatIon canal to open up the fer file land west of PhHmX, while the Gila Bend Canal Company are now engaged in building canal capable of irrigatin, 2o 0 acres ID the val ley fifty miles south of Phuuix. taking their water from the Gils river, 2io feet wide with an average depth of two feet m the dry season The land m this valley consists of I0lluO to l25.uU acre~ of ss fine hand as can be found anyvhera- band that will proluce remarkable results when properly handled by 'rst-class farmers. level and easy to crop. covered with a mesquite under growth, a.d mesquite tree- that can be cheanly and rapidly cleared not resisting the approach of the a-rirulturali-t as the heavily timbered land of the cast. but at the same time having sulh- cent wood for domestic purposes, fence posts, etr. A present. only one farm Is m crop m this
 
 of hi- own construction The reason of the de- -ertion of this promising country Is, thatl the (. astiou of irrigation has been in-urmountable 70 individuals desiring to go in and take mp land n -hi- section. but the advent of the Gila Bend 'anal Company will open for settlement a coun- try equally favored m all respects ss the land covered hy the Phunix Canal The great induce mouts il Arizona. over and above the northern 2 1H H1-. rH viz:
 HlrSt.-The fact that artifi 'isl Irrigation en- 7hle- the farmer tocrop his hand with a certainty l- -o Vttf- not subject to the uncertainties ex- I5tiu, u a farming country, to dryor wet seasons occasionally.
 >-c,n3.-rae genial climate in this section aforiiur protection to stock in the winter and the ecoa"my of keeping the same.
 Third. The possibility of growing two crops Iu season.
 Fou--h-The high prices prevailing for all kind- of produ-e.
 Fifth-The land being lev.l, the chelpuess of cropping. especially the first year.
 < zsl-rls country being spa-sely settled. de- sirlbie locations can be obtained at Government rates.
 think can safely say that the farmer who 2. .l--a---- industry, cnmbnrl Wltu -uihrlenl money to buy the land. at rates approximatIu- SI 5n per acre. to clsl- the land which practical test demonstrates can be done at the rate of one half ac-. per man per dielnI, and build house 1 that Arizona offers ieli that ifdcs competi- tlou. The out-oullilus- connected with farm are very much less n-crs-.iry than m cold cIi- mate. where stock must be hou--i in winter tune. The watchword to the successful pioneer farmer is ministry. sobuety and perseverance, l and InI.-- Fine would b. anisraut posses these ] admirable claractarIstics to an eminent degree, l Arizona .s better of without them.
 The mineral future of Arizona is an assured l fact. The dividends of It- mines for January. 1,s3. wer, srcond only To Utah; amounting to S5l l0,oU and upwards while Colorado. m the same period. paid m dividends but l-5 of that amount. This showing Was accomplished with ou, capital ljbera.Iy expended without trans prrtaripn ficllt.eS equal to bother western States and Territories. Tti- promises well for cou1- try laboriug under the many inconvenience ex- l-tiul today iu Arizona