The Florence tribune., 1898-06-11
THE CASA GRANDE VALLEY.
information for Those Seeking Homes
 In the Garden Spot of the West.

Pinal county was organized in 1875 from portions of Pima, Maricopa and faVapal counties, and contains an area of 5,Soo square miles, or 8, ,4S5, ,520 acres, one-third of which could be made productive by a systematlc storage Cf the surplus water now running 10 waste. Next to Maricopa 1t IS the mos. m. m portant agricultural county in the Territory. It it traVersed from east to west Dy the Southern Pacific railroad, and branch of the great Santa Fe system is now approach ing from the north. The objective point of this read is connection with the sonora road, of the same. system; The southern Pacific is also building in this direction from Tempe, and it is confidently believed that work will not cease until the Deer Sreek coal fields are reached and connectlon IS made with another branch of that road run ningfrom Bowie to Globe and now eomplet- ed to Fort Thomas. |. Thus it will be seen that Pinai county IS the theater of railroad building at the pres ent time, and inside of a year Florence, the county seat, will be
 RAILROAD CENTER.
 At present it contains a population oI about l5O0 but with the completion of these tive railroads and the Butte reservot.r .,rn1 m3 city in Arizona can approach 1t for natuIai naIa advantages land a large Increase III Poptti.iu- tion will follow. Florence Is at an eieva1lon | of 1858 feet above sea level stua5ea meaE f t the Gila river, twenty six miles northwest or .hs 1 railroad station of Casa Grande, With WhlcI it is connected by an elegantly equipped dpily stage line. Going and coming stages run by the old Casa Grande ruins, and passengers are allowed a short time to m Speet them. There are many handsome Pli- Vate residences in Florence, several Dr5ch stores good hotel, an excellent graded school employing four teachers, churches, secret societies a Commercial Cup, news paper (the only one in the county. ana the kandsemest court house in the Territory. Here is held the United States Court for the district composed ef Gila, Graham ana ana Pinal counties. The streets are lined with shade trees, which impart an air of comfort on the warmeSt days.
 PRODUCTS OF THE VALLEY.
 Unlike the Salt river, the waters of the ,5ila are fresh and pure; the soil contains no Alkal, is deep, rich gray ash, espeelaly adapted to the growth of the. prune; ollye, almond peach, fig, pear, apricot and fruits of all kinds. which pay largely on the invest Inent. It is also the natural home of alfalfa, which grows in the most proilnc, manner. ne The grape does exceptionally well in this valley. and wine and raisin culture IS uestln- ed to become a prominent industry. CltruS fruits have been cultivated to nmltea al extent; there are number of orange trees in the neighborhoOd of Florence wh1ch pear their golden fruit each year without pro tection, and few date palm trees are also lla m full bearing. The season is from SIX weeks to twomonths earller than Southern Cahior- mia, which gives fruit growers an appreelat- ed advantage in
 THE EARLY MARKETS.
 The absence of fogs and nightly dews IS formidable obstacle to the destructive ana unsightly scale-bug, and the fruits or the valley all DriglC anu clcttu. All cultiiraI products of temperate and semi tropic zones are easily grown here, ene i3la$ .a${ seasons giving q succession or crops tnae I double or treble the productive value or Ihe land.
 Imuroved lands. with government title and water right, can be bought for from Szg to $50 per acre, according to location ana lin- provements. In the immediate neignDo5ra 5o hood and to the south of the Casa 1rande ruins there are thousands of acres covered with heavy growth of mesquite timber yet open to settlement. These are among gstie tne choicest in the valley. Water in lnexnausu- ble quantity is found at depth or rom twenty to thirty feet; in fact, river seems to be flowing underneath. Here is lo spien. did opportunity to take up anu iinproFe Aand with a pumping system Of irrlgatioh' which is said to be successful on small tracts.
 However, with the completion 3i the s butte 1Ls reservoir pumping will be thing of the past, and it Is only mentioned hefe TOT .ne spurpose of showing what can be done, aud to magnify the further fact that what was once considered
 AN UNISHABITABLE DESERT
 zis in .trvth the most productive land on the globe and that there is water in abundance .fo bring every foot of 1t under cuftlYation oniy waiting for the magic wand of capita to develop it. There is no water-storagt scheme on tke Pacific coast that has one-hall the natural advantages and so few engineer ing difficulties as the Butte reservoir Here nature has built the abutsnents In ever-ilg- rock. and all tnlI Is lelt iOE man ~ nC As fo put in the headgate, the bluffs which form the gorge beixg only separated by paltrJ 220 feet. A country is drained through this narrow canyen 200 miles square, representing 40 COG sduare miles or larger than Maine and Massachusetts combined. The rainfall IS sui, fieient to fill the reservoir twice year, and the land to be brought under cultivation ls practically limitless. This may read like c fairy tale but It is every word true, and hiiA been verified time and again.
 cAsA cRAEDE REgEzyo1R
 The reservoir of the Casa Grande Valley Canal company is the largest in the territory Itcoyers e surface of 1000 acres, with an aver age depth of F feet, and contains about elgh thousand million gallons of water. 1t Is sit mated fifteen miles southwest of Florence A leyee of earth has been thrown up acros a depression in the plain 1f,0OO feet in length I25 feet in width at the bottom and zs rect 1T width at top to slope 0n each side, and ar average height of 9 feet. The waste IS regu lated by cast iron pipes feet in diameter set in solid masonry, regulated by gates ant tower. This reservoir cost SlJ0,OO0, and sup plies water for 600 acres.
 Meteorological Statistics. The signal service of the general govern sst Is9a to 1ss2 station at Florence enc iron from July, 1880 to April 18z, EIsa2tLe foioSr Ing statistics, which may be taken as saf' guide to the prevailing temperature giyei