The Arizona sentinel., 1897-07-31
picked from the open garden at Christmas
Is TIA LAwLEss COUNTRY?

picked from the open garden at Christmas
 BETA LAwLEss COUNTRY?
 The man who goes to any considerable Arizona town with the idea of the South west derived from novels, or from "G;he Arizona Kicker" will be greatly mystifed.. He will dnd 'as many churches as in towns; of corresponding size in Pennsylvania pr Ohio; and probably more schoohopses. He will lind plenty of liquor shops. too, and gambling houses. and dancehouses, and yet he will see little disorder unless he hunts late at night for it, and he will be apt to ind-as at Phoenix--a commupity of ten thousand people requiring in the daytime only one policeman, and hardly requiring him. During my winter there did not see single disturbance in the streets, or half dozen drunken men, all tol3. Min ,i.g men and an occasional cowboy certainly had quarrels, sometimes, in the disorderly quarters at night; and there were stories, of the use of the knife among Mexicans; but the visitor wdo went about his own business dAi az lictle trouble az ea Board way CT ChestG.ut street. The Pima and Maricopa Indians, who are enconntered- everyw here. have been friendly with the whites for generations, and there isn't an Apache within some hundreds of mileo.
 WHICH TOWN IS THe BEST?
 Primarily that is a question for the phy- Sician, if there is a physician in the case # not, try them all. If mountain region, considerable altit.lc and a comparatively low temperature is desired, Prescott is in q picturesque region, near a great mining districts, and has the social advantage of al army pest, whipp!e Barracks. Flag staG ,s s5dl higher. is in g region of dense pine forests. aad is within hard days ioGIuey Of one Of the wonders of the world, the Colorado Canyon. Oracle Is pretty
 mountain <1ook, em5owered in splendid live oaks, like those of California. and is also near an important mining district. If lower altitude and a distinctly semi tropical climate are desired, the three places most likely to bc considered are Yuma, Tucson and Phoenix. The first is near the sea level; is the warmest and probably the driest of the three, has the least population, and the smallest provision for visitors. Tucson is the oldest town in the Territory, and, after Santa Fe, perhaps the oldest in the Southwest. Its adobe houses give it a Mexican look, and are thoroughly comfort able. It's newer hOjlses are of handsome building stone, found in the vicinity. The Territorial University is here, and it was formerly the capital. Its elevation being more than double that of Phoenix, it is somewhat cooler, and as there is next to no irrigation near it, the air is q little drier. Phoenix Is the.oentre of the greatest irriga- tion ill the Territory. The country for miles around smiles with green fields, cover ed with almost countless herds of cattle, ! and it is everywhere shut in by low mount aims. It is the Territorial capital, has the Government Indian School, the Territorial Lunatio Asylum, and other institutions, and Is the general focus for the Territory Like Tucson, it has it's occasional wind and sand storms perhaps not quite so often. At either place visitors who know how to adapt themselves to circumstances can be entirely comfortable, and in each they will find an intelligent, orderly, enterprising and most hospitable community. They will find a country full of mines, full of rich agricultural lends, abounding in cattle and nor es, in vineyards and orchards and the beginnings of very successful orange groves a country, in fact, as full of promise for hardy and adventurous men now hs Califor- nia was in the .fifties. Above all, it has been their lot to search for health in far coontries, they will revelin the luxury of Icing il their own land, among their OWE countrymen. within easy reach of their friends by telegraph or Fail, and in q climate &s good of it's kind as any in the world.
 LANDS AND SOILS.
 The lands Of Yuma County comprise the river bottoms and valleys and the uplands or Ilesas The bottom audS gre moister and slightly mere fertile IT, iadesd. is ,!8 possible to ID ke comparisons here all wonderfully productive and prolific The uplands or nesas are warmer and, perhaps
 lightly for better the cultivation the citrus fruits Yuma contains ysrIetv of Soil The vs1lev l.nd of tnei Gila and Colorado rivers have foI tne most part deep sedimentary soil of brovnizh, gray san1y To m. resting, in most places, upon gray clay subsoil at desth of from ten to twenty feet below the surface, The clay subsoil forms a hard pan whi ;h is impervious to water These soils have been slowly formed by the decomposition of shales sandstones, marlJ inestones etc, mixed with or g2ni- and vegetable matter, washed down by the mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited during r,:e course Of centuries. The fertil:sing 5r3wlish mud hell iu the wat ,Iof the Colorado oud Gi.a rivers resembles that from the Nile, and irJ qusn.ty varies from o.1 70 05 per cent, ] though the water vhen even considerably discoIor- ed by mud is good to drink resembling in this res Fect t&e Missouri river water. ehelcice analysis of the sediments of the Colorado and of the Mic exhibits wonderful similarity in the constituent parts of each. That of the Colorado exhibiting a rife less pctassa, most phosphorlc acid and car bonade of limestone beds through which the Colo rado pesses. In other respects the sediment 6fthe Colorado is almost identical with that of the Nile It will be noticed therefore that when this water is used for irrigation it is superior to aresan waters since it is constantly scpplying the land with the richest s-tili1ng elements. The soil of the valleys is sextrenlely rich in dedoInposed vegetable matter and uncombined carbon, readily absorbing the aerial gases, such especially, oxygen, which en- tering the soil, decomposes the organic matters that they can be taken up and nourish the plants which may he considered 6 leading featur, in its fart also readilv takes ny, orI rothir,.