The Arizona sentinel., 1886-11-13
AGRICULTURE.

; few years ago. But like all else re
 lating to the country, its agricultura
 possibilities were misrepresented anC
 unknown. The first settlers of tn,
 Territory paid little attention to it
 afable lands. Nine-tenths of then
 came to find fortune m metallic treas
 ures of its hills and mountain ranges
 It is only within the past five or si, years that the extent and wonderful productiveness of its fertile valleyi
 have attracted any notice.
 Those who have considered Arizons a barren desert will, doubtless, be sur prissd to learn that it contains a lar ger area of arabic lands than is under cultivation in either of the New Eng land States, in New Jersey, Maryland Florida, West Virginia, or Oregon. According to the figures from the U S. Land Office, there are 100000 acres in the valleys of the Salt, tho GilA and the Colorado rivers, which require but the application of water tc produce anything grown within the confines of the Union.
 The soil of these valleys is among the richest on the Continent. It is formed of the detritus, which the streams for ages have brought down from their mountain homes in their journey to the sea. By constant over flows and change of channel, the depos it of this rich vegetable matter has formed a soil of extreme fertility. Near the streams It is dark alluvial mold, well adapted to small grains and grasses. Farther back there is rich sandy loam, mellow and porous, and especially favorable for fruit culture. It has been already demonstrated that the productive capacity of these val leys is not surpassed by lands of equal area in any part of the United States. So rapid and prolific is the growth of fruits, cereals and vegetables that the labor of the cultivator is reduced to the minimum. In nearly all of them two crops year can be grown, and vegetation is fromsone and half to two years ahead of California. The farmer plants cottonwood sapling be fore his door, and within the year he has shade tree twenty-five feet high Alfalfa can be cut six times during the season, and it is an actual fact that the grare-cuttings have produced with in eighteen months What State or Territory can make such showing The climate, it must be remembered, is nearly perpetual summer. Snow never falls in these southern valleys. The farmer begins to plant in Novem- Der, and by the middle of may his har- vest is ready. Roses are in bloom, fruit trees are hlossoning, and the grain felis are sea of green, when the fields of the Eastern farmer are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety of grains, grasses, fruits and vegetables grown in the temperate and semi-tropic zones can be produced in ssthe valleys of Arizona. Wheat, corn, barley, oats, and all the small grains give a yield of from twenty-five to fifty bushels to the acre. Alfalfa, clover, timothy, Bermuda, and all the cultivated grasses grow iuxu- riantly, the former giving from eight to ten tons to the acre each year. Every variety of vegetable raised in the United States can be grown in Arizona, and nowhere are they found of better quality.
 Besides the products mentioned, these semi tropical valleys produce cet- ton, sugar-cane, tobacco, hemp, and rice. With the exception of the sugar. cane; but little attantion is paid to the cultivation of the ether staples; but it has been demonstrated that the soil and climate are specially adapted to their successful growth. Cotton-grow- ing is no experiment in Arizona, for it is on record that when the Europeans first penetrated this region, they found the Pima Indians wearing fabrics made of cotton grown in the Gila valley.
 But it is their adaptability for fruit culture that assures to these valley lands dense population and pros porous future. Almost every variety known can be raised in these fruitful soils. The apple, pear, plum, peacA, apricot, quince, nectarine, are of deli cions flavor, and give generous yield. The rrape of all varieties is aft home in