Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-03-20
MESA CITY.
\ Few Notes About Ii, Water Facill,ic,

" Etc.
 Corr. Salt River Valley Sswsl
 The Mesa, or, as 1t is better known Mesa Village, IS almost west of Temp, ditch, being but three miles from thu water course. Taking Mesa Village as starting point, its surroundings can b. placed as follows: Three miles north {, the boundaries of Lehi, and any dis tance east and south as far ns water csI Do distributed thereon.
 THE SOIL OF THE MESA.
 Within a radius of three miles iron, The village the soil is of a light, sandy nature, heavily mixed wi:h GccOmposed llme shells. Within this belt of land iruit and vegetables of every variety can be successfully ani more lucratIvely raised than ID any other portion ot AFi- zona; and 1T the statements of Califor- ma fruit-growers can be relied upon. the Mesa, they say, discounts the Pac Ir coast in fruit line. For instance. our ralsln grapes, owing to the absence Of frogs and heavy dews, are, in.thelr dry iDg process, free from rust and mildew, SO fatal 10 California raisin grow CTS. Tn show the prolific na- ture of our soil. I will cite the following: In the spring of 1885, samuel Bagley and others put out sev- eral acres of Zintandel grape cuttings, which bore, in several instances, not a few grapes, and which will bear heavily this season. Seeding peaches, nuts, hg cuttings and apricots bear the second year, and tue only danger to our fruit trees ls overbesring. Cereals. in so far as they have been tried, are R success; as high as 39 bushels of wheat being raised tO the acre, and so of every crop that can be raised in other lands or eli mates.
 When the reader takes into consider ation the Mesa has only had growth of seven years up to the present time, and that its first founders were only hand ful of hardy Mormons, that would not count beyond the teens, and comparing it's theD-the natural home Of the rattle snake. wolf and ck-rabbit-to its now blooming vineyards, orchards, gardens, grain, corn Und alfalfa fields, well may the reader exclalm: The change IS surprising, iudeedr' Such, however. the world over, is the power of mans perseverance and energy, which converts trsckless wastes into blooming homes.
 ITS WATER FACILITIES.
 Without water, however, this trans figuration could not be accomplished. Nine miles east Of the northwest corner of Mesa Village, on the Salt river. is the site of the Mesa dam. The canal run ming from tins dam, though capable of containing but little water, n the be- ginning, has been gradually enlarged, until now it has q capacity Ot ei2bt to nine thousand inches. Four thousand five hundred inches, CT theTtbbOutF, Is the limi, at preseu: allowed, and wi;h this amount of water some sixteen sec :iGns of land are iI whole Gi q partially irrigated; and f immigration continues in jhe future as in iEe past, the above amount Of land under irrigation will m the near future tc doubled, and that, two, with very little more water ihan at present n the canal it is an established fact thRt a few years Of continuous irrl- sHtion so fills mp the cracks and pores of loose soil, like Mesa, that the land will be so moist es to need little or no watering.
 One pO:n. in connection with our canal system l would wIth Co say few " t4 At- ht-s AAL. A A-E L4ttsANt LA.4.AA ht csga!s, the less profit and water Is de- rived iLerC'rOE. IhIs know, is E0.h- ing new, bat It IS e fact of such vast in portauce ta our a,TIcuitural welfare that It cBBEOt be too often or too urgently brought before the notice of t1e stock holders in every canal on the south side of Salt riyeE-that the carrying of too many GitcEes is suicidal to our best Il- terests.
 Consolidation should be our motto, and by consolidation the following i'm pOrtaut advantages will be obtained First-ihree-quarters of q mile aboye the present site of the Mesn, a natural dam can be had that will defy tempests and floods. Sccondly-Two natural vater-poEers can be obtained between the dam and the present Tempe dam, suitable for the largest of grIst mills or factories. Lastly-It will be an ec9no- my of time, an economy of labor, an economy ot finances, and, finally, an economy of water, which, all combined, means cheap and plenty of water for the poor sGnd-lappeT-a consum nation tc be wished for.
 THOMAS J. EEILLT. T-lH