Arizona weekly citizen., 1893-11-25
IRRIGATION.


 Arizona" published at the Worlds fair under the editorsEip of Hon. Tom Sorin has the following:
 The rocks and the rsindrops are the parents of the agriculture of Arizona. Mutually acting and reacting at every stage, they have been at work for ages to lay upon the plain and in the eddy basins of all the rivers rich deposits of soil- Their work is by no means con- cluded and of the geological past; the past of man is simply to assist nature ou the lines she has plainly indicated i her own operations. Agricultural Ari- zona betrays no evidence of disruptiye violence; the jagged mountains peaks and the deeply scored valleys are in the uplands, their waste and detliJus have been spread in smooth sheets and gen tie slopes upon the river bottoms and on the even plains. The highly lands of irrigated districts in other states are interrupted with troublesome frequency by hillocks which rise above the irriga- ble level; in the Gila, Salt, San Pedro and other river valleys and on vast table lands throughout the territory scarcely az obstacle stands in the way of the even flow of the waters.
 Rich as is the Arizona soil, it IS al- ways disappointment to the farmer who views it with the preiudices born of familiarity with the deep rich loam of the prairies. At first sight he can compare much of our valley soils to nothing but the sand of the sea beach 1; that it could be made to bear scanty crop of some hardy grass is almost be- wound his comprehension; that it dces bear enormous harvests of grain, thet it is the rival of every vinyard country iu the world; that its orchards are be- yond rivalry, are facts which have to conquer belief in his unwilling mind. This is land of inland seas in recent geologic times. Their beaches and shoals have been laid down at several attitudes to serve as foundations for later effects of soilmaking industry. To stratifying action has succeeded the mechanIcs of the present geologic period, which is frictional erasive with the erosion of wind and water. The science of common things, which often goes direct to the heart of the most complex matters, has seen this fact and shows it in the names of the rivers; the Colorado, red with the suspended soil which it carries along; the Rio Puerco, dirty as the water which drains from the mire of a hog-wallow: the Salt river and Mineral Creek, proving to another sense that they carry the elements of soil. In general it may be said that the re- clamstion of any arid land presents it. self for discussion under five topics which it is we'll to note. They are: first, geography and hyetopbysics of the region; second, amount of land which may be irrigated; third, amount of water which may be used for irrigation; fourth, economy of irrigation; fifth, legal questions involved. The lines of divisions between these topics can not be sharplydrawn; each involves consl- iteration from several points of view and thus comes within the province of several studies Recent as is the agri- cultural settlement of Arizona, owing to Indians wars now ceased, the terri tory can yet present good list of systems in successful and valuable operation. More than 800 miles of canals bring water to considera- bly, more than 50O,000 acres of agricul- tural land which is now under tilth, in to 100000 acres so favorsbly situated as to be quite independent of artificial water supply.