The Coconino weekly sun., 1895-10-31

adaptahilty of this plateau region to the production of all these crops, of the very best quality.
 The average yield of wheat is 35 bushels an acre, outs 65 bushels, bar ley 40 bushels, rye 35 bushels. Corn, although it grows on the plateau, is mot success, but in the valleys it excels. Potatoes have yielded as high as ten tons to the acre, with an aver. age of five and six tons of the fine White Star variety. All varieties of hrets grow well, and the sugar beet will produce 20 tons to the acre Cab hdg", lettuce, asparagus, peas of all varieties, turnips, squashes, pumpkins, carrots. parsnips, rhub'rb and other garden truck have bountiful yield.
 A choice variety of apples, plums, peaches, pears, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, black and red, not only grow to perfection on the plateau, hut on the mountain side at an elevation of $500 and 5000 feet. So do an ex. cellent variety of gooseberries. All the grasses grow we'll, with an all round average of two and half tons to the acre. The native variety is particularly nutricious, and stock thrive on it to remarkable degree. This is an alluring presentation of this subject. hut all these statements of fact will be attested by every farmer of substance in the county.
 The great intercontinental forest is on this plateau, and has an area of 2,270 square miles. with an estimated ,tumpage of from 7,000,000,000 to 10000, 100000 feet; aud there are eighty species of trees, some of which, although not equal to the great sequoia of California, are of immense night and enormous size. Among them are red and yellow juniper, cypress, wal nut, oak, ash. hickory, sycamore. cedar, wild cherry, locust, ironwood and other useful varieties, although the pine is the principal timber.
 The Arizona Lumber and Timber Company own or control considerable portion of the forest. They have sawmll on the edge of tue forest, about halflrile from Flagstaff, with ca- pacity of 35,OOO,0OO feet year, but are now only turning out at the rate of !2,00O, ,0OO feet year. That. how. ever, keeps standing large monthI, payroll, much to tfe advantage of Flagstaff.
 All over the plateau country, on the timber plains and in the forest, are found what are here termed ''parks." They range from 25 to 50 aud 100 acres and from that to 800 to 1000 acres. As rule they are perfectly level, without stump or stone, and the soil is deep and rich, overlying hard pan twenty-five or thirty feet below. The theory has been advanced that these clearings were made by the people who inhabited thls region far back in the past, and that although long deserted they have not since been grown over with trees and shrubs It is noticeable that wherever these parks occur the soil is different from that where the pine, the juniper and fir trees grow. and when cultivated they grow excellent crops. Some of these parks are perfectly lovely, charming places for cozy hou,es. There often is stone enough around the edges of .hese parks for building and fencing purposes, and in some instances living springs of pure cold water are found.
 The best farms on the pl.teau are in these parks. Whether springs are found or not, there is no lack of water il few feet below the sarface, and crops seldom suffer from drought. The hardpan found underlying these parks serve an excellent purpose, and largely does away with the necessity of irriga. tion. When the snow melts on the the water runs down and fills the loose, sandy loam right down to the cement, and as that is compact there is no seepage, and the water cannot get away. so the whole twenty. five or thirty feet from that to the top is saturated, and as the surface dries out by the rays of the sun just enough moisture comes up to keep the