The Coconino weekly sun., 1895-11-07


the production of all these crops, of
the very best quality.
The average yield of wheat is 35
bushels an acre, oats 65 bushels, bar
ley 40 bushels, rye 50 bushels. Corn,
although it grows on the plateau, is
not 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
beets grow we'll, and the sugar beet
will produce 20 tons to the acre Cab
bage, lettuce, asparagus, peas of all
varieties, turnips, squashes, pumpkins,
carrots parsnips, rhubarb 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, but
on the mountain side at an elevation
of s, 500 and 5000 feet. So do an ex.
cellent variety of gooseberries. All
the grasses grow well, with an all
round average of two and half tons
to the acre. The native variety is
particularly nutritious, and stock
thrive on it to remarkable degree.
This is an alluring presentation Of this
subject, but 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
2,27O square miles. with an estimated
stumpago of from 7,O00,OOO,0OO to
,000,000,000 feet; and there are
eighty species of trees, some of which,
although not equal to the great sequoia
of California, are of immense hight 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 a considerable
portion of the forest. They have
sawmill Oh the edge Of the forest, about
a half-mile from flagstaff, with ca
pacity of 100000 feet year, but
are now only turning out at the rate of
10000, 600 feet a year. That, how
ever, keeps standing large monthly
payroll, much to TIE 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 % to SO and 100
acres and from that to 500 to 1000
acres. Az rule they are perfectly
level, without stump Or stone, and the
soil is deep and rich, everything a hard
pan twenty-five Or thirty feet below.
The theory has been advanced that
these clearings were made by the
people who inhabited this region far
back in the past, and that although
long deserted they have not since been
grown over with trees and shrubs. 1t
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 coy homes There often
is stone enough around the edges of
these parks for building and fencing
purposes, and in some instances living
springs of pure cold water are found.
The best farms on the plateau are
in these parks. Whether springs are
found or not, there is no lack Of water
few feet below the surface, 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.
ton. When the snow melts on the
mountains the water runs down and
fills the loose, sandy loan 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
ground in admirable condition to yield
enormous crops with almost exact regu-
larity. And this is reasonable, for