Arizona republican., 1895-04-02
Work Will Likely Begin
 Next Monday.
Most of the Labor Will Be Em-
 pIoyed in Phoenix.
The Contractors Expect to Finish the Enterprise Within
 Two Wears.

Laboring men in Phoenix are watch. ing with great interest the progress of the trsinload of cars bearing Langdon, Linton & Co.,. and Donald Grant & Co.'S. construction outfits for the Rio Verde canal. At the s. F., P. &P. offices it was learned last night that the train had passed Superior, Neb. on March 29.
 In an interview with reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune on March 24 Mr. H. B. Langdon said that active construction work would be begun in two weeks which will be about next Monday and what is of still more in- terest to 8 host of laboring men in and about Ph9nix, he said that very few laborers would be brought from the east as there were plenty to be had on the ground. The force employed at the beginning will necessarily be small but will be increased as the. work progresses. Speaking further of the enterprise, MT. Langdon said:
 II do not see how thls venture can fail to-be a commercial success. The soil along the route of the proposed canal is very fertile. It is sort of silt caused by washings from the mount aims into the valleys for centuries. It needs but the application of water to make 1t garden spot of great fertility and admirably adapted to fruit raising. The proposed canal will follow the base of the mountains, hence the water level in it will be above and on one side of the land to be irrigated. The land to which the water Is to be applied is as level as a floor for miles. There will be no difficulty whatever in carrying the 1 the water over. a very large extent of country. Thousands of acres of this land along the route nf the canal are now subject to entry under the govern ment desert land act. The first cost to entrymen ol obtaining this land with water is 25 cents per acre at time of entry to the government, and $1 per | acre, the first payment upon the water 1 right to the canal company.
 Fruit raising ls no experiment in Arizona. When l was there month , ago I saw number of fine orange groves on irrigated land which produced as fine fruit as l ever tasted. Arizona | fruit farms will have at least two im- portant advantages over those of Cali fornia. The first is that their crops will come into market at least six weeks earlier. The second is that as they are about 400 miles nearer New York they must necessarily get lower freight rates, which is an important item In fruit raising. Irrigated lands in Arizona are adapted to the production of all kinds of fruit and nuts which are grown in California. Land is much cheaper there than 1t is in the last named state. As | is we'll known, 1t takes small fortune now to purchase fruit-raising land Tn California. There Is no government
 land of any consequence remaining in
 that state which is adapted to this business. The same will soon be the case in Arizona. 1 think it is good
 place for people to emigrate to who have small means and wish to seek & milder climate. They never have any severe frosts in Arizona upon the low lands. When 1 was there a month since the leaves on the cottonwood trees
 which grew last year were still green upon the trees. It is true that for two or three months in the summer the temperature there gets rather high, but 1 was told that the nights are always cool and enjoyable. I have no doubt
 that this is the case.
 The canal will be ninetv-four miles long. We expect to finish it in about two years. IL is one of the greatest
 works of the kind ever undertaken"