The Arizona sentinel., 1897-09-18
picked from the open garden at Christmas
Is1rA LAwLEss COUNTRY?

AllZOna town With the Idea or the Ooutn- west derived from novels, or from "The Arizona Kicker" will be greatly mystiied. He will tnd as man; churches as in towns of corresponding size in Pennsylvania or Qbio; and probably more school1ouses' He will dad plenty of ljiuor-snops. too and gambling houses, apd daucelouses, and yet ne will see little disorder unless he hunts late at night for it, and he will be apt to Gnd-as at Phoenix--a community of ten thousand people requiring in the daytime only one policeman, and hardly requiring him. During my winter there I did not see single disturbance in the streets, or half dozen drunken men, all told. Min ing men and an occasional COW boy certainly had quarrels, sometimes, in the disorderly quarters at night; and there were stories but the visitor who went about his own business had as little trouble as on Board way or Chestnut street. The Pima and Maricopa Indians, who are encountered everywhere. have been friendly with the whites for generations, and there isn't an Apache within some hundreds of miles.
 WHICH TOWN IS THe BEST?
 Primarily that is question for the phy- sician, if there is a physician in the case if not, try them all. If mountain region. consid .rable altitude and a comparatively | low temperature is desired, Prescott is in 8 picturesque region, near $ great mining districts, and has the social advantage oi an army post, whipple Barracks. Flag staff Is still higher, is in a region of dense pine forests, and is within a hard days journey of one of the wonders of the world the Colorado Canyon. Oracle is a pretty mountain nook, embowered in splendid live oaks, like those of California, and ii 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 thu sea level; is the warmest and probably thr 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 il the Southwest. Its adobe houses give it
 Mexican look, and are thoroughly comfort able. Its newer houses are of a handsom building stone, found in the vicinity. Tn Territorial University is here, and it wa formerly the capital. Its elevation bein more than double that of Phoenix, 1t somewhat cooler, and as there is next to n irrigation near it, the air is little drier Phoenix is the centre of the greatest irriga tion in the Territory. The country fo 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 tn Government Indian School, the Territoria Lanatic Asylum, and other institutions and is the general focus for the Territory Like Tucson, it has it's occasional wind am sand storms-perhaps not quite so often At e ther place visitors who know how t adapt themselves to circumstances can b entre,r comfortabe and in each they wi find au intelligent, orderly, enterprising am most hospitable community. They wi
 find country full of mines, full of ric agricultural lands, abounding in cattle an hor> es, in vineyards and orchards and tn beginnings of very successful orange grove a country, in fact, as full of promise fo hardy and adventurous men now as Califol mia was in the.ffties. Above all, it ha beer their lot to search for health in ia countries, they will revel in the luxury c being in their own land, among their ow countrymen, within easy reach of thei friends by telegraph or rail, and in climat as good of it's kind as any in the world.
 LANDS AND SOILS.
 The lands of Yuma County comprise the rive bottoms and valleys and the uplands mesaS Tn bottom ands are moister and slightly mere fertil
 if, indeed, it is possible to mike comparison where all so wonderfully productive and prolif The uplands or mesas are warmer and, perhaps
 lightly for better the cultivation oft citrus fruit Yuma contains a variety of soil The valley Ian of thel Gila and Colorado rivers have for the mot part deep sedimentary soil of brownish, gra saniy loenl, resting, in most places, upon gra clay SUbsoil at depth of from ten to twenty fee below the surface, The clay su0soil forms harC pan which is impervious to water. These soils hay been slowly formed by the decomposition of shale sandstones marls. limestones, etc., mixed with o ganic and vegetable matter, washed down by tn mighty rivers and have been gradually deposite during the course of centuries. The fertilizin brownish mud held in the wat tlof the Colorad and Gila rivers resembles that from the Nile, an its quantity varies from O.1 to 05 per cent. though the water when considerably discolor ed by mud is good to drink, resembling in this res pect the Missouri river water. A chemical analyst of the sediments of the Colorado and of the Nil exhibits a wonderful similarity in the consttuen parts of each. That of the Colorado exhibiting
 triie less potassa, most phosphoric acid and cal bonade of limestone beds through which the Colo rado pass"s. In other respects the sediment of tn Colorado is almost identical with that of the Nile It will be noticed therefore, that when this water
 used for irrigation it is superior to artesian water since it is constantly supplying the land with tn richestfertilizng elements. The soil of the valley is extremely rich in dedomposed vegetable matte and uncombined carbon, readily absorbing tn aerial gases, such especially, oxygen, which CT tering the soil, decomposes the organic matters 8 that they can be taken up and nourish the plant which may be considered leading feature in it fertility. It also readily takes up and retain moisture, while the frmness Of its particles afford every facility for percolstion and the activity C capillary action. In it's mechanical composition it particles are in a state of very fine division whic renders it more productive than coarser soils acquires heat readily in the daytime and the los of the heat at night is very gradual, that it re