The Arizona champion., 1886-04-10
CENTRAL ARIZONA,
Climate, Soil, and Product ions.-A General Answer to Many Inquiries Relative to this part of Arixoaa,

This portion of Arizona is a vast plateau, varying in altitude from 5000 to 1000 feet above the sea, with here and there peak rising to an heighth of from 9,ooo to Is,ooo feet. These higher elevations, situ, ated with remarkable regularity throughout the central pos.ion oi Yavapai county, are local and con stant source of moisture to the adjac- ent parks and foothills, from the blankets of snow that cover them dur ing six to eight months of the year. During the open period of the winter months and in early spring great bo- dies of water flow from these vast snow beds, to be swallowed up at laSE by the unsuitable sands of the distant
 plain.
 A new era is dawning in regard to the water supply of Arizona, in the construction of artificial basins and a system of dikes that will be used to
 catch a portion of the escaping waters
 and it will eventually be hoarded up
 and used with the same economy and
 care by which we subdue and bring
 to our aid any other useful element.
 The annual rainfall! begins in the
 month of June and lasts until Sep
 tember. It comes in gentle showers
 and with admirable regularity, s,imu-
 lating a wonderful growth in re-
 markable short period oftime. Wheat,
 rye, oats, barley and millet are grown
 without irrigation, yielding an adun-
 dant and profitable crop. Corn is
 successfully grown in the valleys and
 basins below an altitude of 6.ooo feet All kinds of root vegetables flourish
 and grow to enormous size and are of
 excellent quality, commanding price in the "home market" that to an
 Eastern or Northwestern farmer would
 seem fabulous. Althouph ,'~ --,',
 pounds: ot t5d G3t Gt1cent mining camps ,"sa" saw nils and railway towns, it has never been
 supplied by the home production. Cuitiya. ton Is moi required, and no other labor be oynd the preparation of the soil, planti.p ! aud gathering, Is bestowed upon the crop.
 The entire country is SingularIy free from iarln weeds and obnoxious growth that are the bane oi the Eastern husbandman. Ther. IS growing demand for hay. and many ranch men find il more profitable 10 utilize their growing crops for that purpose by cutting and curing 1t before the sralo Is fully matured.
 All that portion ot the gyIat plItelu above o,ooo feet IS covered with magnificent forests oi pine, with intervening glades of mountain parks and praries, Grazing IS the leading industry of lhe northern portion of Yavapdi county. The water supply is limited, and rgid economy wlll be required In the future. | The scarcity Of water in ArizD ma is at pres. ent safeguard against our ranges being overrun by herds from the crowded raages | of other localities
 It is esenually country for the poor man or the stock grower beginning lie with mod. | crate means. The springs and tanks afford | ing permanent water lie miles apart, giving | supply in each place sufficient for a smll! | band ol from loo 10 300 head, of stocl; | Around these water supplies lie hundreds of square miles oi nutritious mountain grasses, any ten acres of which is capable of keeping | one animal throughout the year. By the con, struc;ion of the artifei1l basins and dIses be. ] fore relerredto, water may be saved and util. ized in proportion to the demands of the in creasing herds. The beef and mutton from this Seci i>n command advanced prices in the markets Of the adjacent cities. Our animal, are not only marketable but ih prime condi. ton during the year.
 The Atlantic X Pacific railway runs central ly through this section east and west, and the company own alternate sections of land | They offer special inducemests ,o capitalists or colonies requiring large blocks of land, and io n.t in lhis section dispose of quantities less than 5000 acres. The remaining lands are subject to homestead and presmuton rights. The past two y~ars show percepti. ble increase in the filings and settlements of ihese Government lands, bu, as yet they are untouched,
 The Pine forest of this section is 60 miles wide and in length extends beyo d the limits of the Territory referred 10 Tn this article. a whole itis larger thau the State ol Mary. anu, and an agreeable revelation to the trav- ;ler wh1, Tn keeping with the popular belief 'f our eastern neg borS, imagines ia cross ng Arizona he Is about To traverse barren md sandy waste.
 The lumber product of the one grea, saw nlll m all these pinenes tnds a ready market in Old Mexico, Southern Cahfornta md New Mexico, with mcreaSins local de. nand. The railway towns and principal markets ol this section are Holbrook, Wins. ow, Flagstaff, Williams and Ash Fork. The elative merits ot these towns need not here 'e discussed, being about equal in importanc . nd each peoPied with energetlc, hos plable nd progressive citizens.
 Schools, churches and social amusemcn,s ievail. The interest manifested in al! mat .rs pertaining to social progress is perhapi , reater than m eastern towns uf like numbers
 Aside from pulmonary complaints anon. hose not acclimated, there is no sickness. eyers and all forms of malaciJl diseases are nknown. Arizona's least need is doctors (
 The southern and central portion of Yaya. al county k rich in mineral. bearing ledres nd placer gold fields. Recent discoveries in ataract gorge, north of the Bill Williams , lorntaln, bld fair to rival in some respects ome of our older camps. During the sun Ter season persons visiting the Cataract re- ions may procure "outlits' and fad the lace accessible from either Ash Fora, Will ms or Flagstaff. The lack of proper ma linery to treat the ores of this Sectlon is at resent the greatest draw back to mining 7 iercSts. No mining country of like area Tn show such uniform value in all ore pro- . Acts as this portion of the territory. and the mount oi ores nov being shipped to distant orks for treatment should be substantial oof that reduction works capable of treat 6 the refractory ores of our mineral bearing calities would be profitable in vestnent for
 founders. Tilere are no hostile Indians this p rtion of Arizona.