Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-03-03
FLORENCE.
Its Enterprise and Future Possibilities.


 No community in Arizona is more sanguine of its future prospects than that comprising the good people of Florence nor indeed, have any better cause. Florence IS centrally located ID the Gila riyer valley-it valley it's far reaching miles of rich and tillable lands can be called, in6smuch ss it IS difficult to de- termine where the table land begins and the valley ends. fractional portion of this land has been fsrmed for twenty or more years, and sustained in compsra- tive comfort the dwellers thereon, as 1t had done i:s teeming thousands when the Worid IVES yet young. Bat where one acre has been tiled thOusaDds were left unbroken by tEe blow. Toe spirit Of Enterprise had not yet been born for Anzons or had failed to find lodgment on the banks of the Gila, which. in the rosy dawn of near future, vill bloom and blossom as the rose.
 This IS no vision of fancy, no imsgina- tive theme, but tangible something with its prospective realization close at hand. The land IS rich and great of srea,the water fructIfylug and abundant, C1N "A-Nlt AAAA unhs uhr nlu lAEelL lu waste while tbe coyote prowled at will over the vast and virgin plain. But what suthced for the wants of yesterday, but lily requiies the wants of to-day; the unpreientiOus hamtet expands into a city and jha almost tenantless valley becomes pOpulous and rich. The Flor euce of the present will be lost in the Florence of the future when the tide of of immigration skGi! have turned her way.
 Heretofore the land cultivated was tributary tO few small irrigaiing ditches, the owners thereof not being financially able to take advantage of the msgnifi- cen. pOssib lit;es the surplus waters cfthe Giln offered for the reclamation of the lands lyinG towards the south for a dis tance of fifty miles and winch are pro verbal for their richness. A year ago, howey.'f, they succeeded in engaging the attention Of capitalists, and a canal intersectiug the river Et the IN irrows," was begun which will bring under culti- vLtiou l40OO0 RoF,s. Already fifteen miles of this cangl has been construct ed sn expense of nearly SS0,0O0, and al- though wOik Is temporarily suspended it viii shor.ly be TecOnmenced and push ed forward to completion. This ditch will b. owned and controlled by the Floren Canal Company under the supervision of W. N. Gran dsil, sl experienced engineer. Along tue limo of this ditch about fOrty thou sand acres of land have been taken up under the various land laws md timber | culture act. but there k room for thou | sands mOre. Satisfactory arrangements | have been made with the company for | the water passing through their ditch | and in another year PInBl will take tbe | foremost place among the agricultural | Ot the territory,
 Florence is to-day one of the few | towns i1 ArizOna to which immigrants | can be invited with the certainty that | homes and lands await their coming. | The scil IS rich and the climate all that | csu possibly be desired. perhaps littIe | warp IF midsummer, but as a rule 1t | strikes ibs happy medium and is never | too hot nor tno cold. Anything will | grow that can bs produced elsewhere m the U1Iied States. Grain and fruit | thrive equally well and vegetation | springs into lie whe never water slskes ;he jiiIsty soil.
 fANtF A'' tal N AAuAANg AbA ANNNA that DO other sec'iOn in the west outside | of Arizona, can offer, but people ID quest Di such places, iCnora0t of its existence, crowd ky and IOstle each other m their struggle io get 70 Cslliornis where laDds are high in price-beyond the reach of Inc avCrSe class of investors-aDd nB- .ure smiles less kindly on .he husband ma1. IL will not do for the Fiorencisns .o hide their light under a bushel, the lOme-seeker must knew where bis high est ambition can be grHutied. The sd- 73n;sgss of the coanty should be eXten ,ively advertised, and when strangers ind their way among them they should be shown that winch has already been The fine homes and fields of luxlrisnt grain, orchards and must Let be overlooked md the seed thus sown will srow Gnd bring forth fruI'. There are many properties on the river which. II cen, by visiting strangers, would iu- iuce them to cast their all with be county and people theresbouts. Jet this b. donv, let the advantages the country offers for home seeking settlers e sown broadcast, not SO much at home. ,ut abroad; and when but half her ,sguties and Der virtues become known, he rush of immigrants tO her lands will 1ceed all expectations.