The Florence tribune., 1898-05-21
THE CASA eRANDE VALLEY.
Information for Those Seeking Homsa
 In the Garden spot Of the West.

nforma1on Tor lnoSe SSckln9 homes
 In the Garden Spot Of the West.
 Pinaleounty was organized in 1875 from portions of Pima, Maricopa and Yavapai counties and contains an area of a,S3o square miles. or ,iS5,520 acres, ore-thifu of which could be made productive by systematic storage of the surplus water now running to waste. Next to Maricopa 1t is the most ina- portant agricultural county in the Territory 1t it tr-,yersed from east to west by the Southern Pacific railroad, and branch ct the great Santa Fs system is nov approach. ing from the north. The obJectiye pQ1nt oI this road is a connection with the sonora road, of the same system. The Southern Pacific is also building in this direction from Tempe,an it Is confidently believed that work will not cease until the Deer Creek coal fields are reached and connection IS made with another branch of that road run ming from Bowie to Globe and now eonplet- Thus it will be seen that Pinal county is the theater of railroad building at the pres ent time, and inside of Q yoar Florence, the county seat, will be
 AgAILRoAD CENTER.
 At present it contains a population of about la09 but with the completion of these two railroads and the BGtte reservoir no city in Arizona can approach 1t for natural advantages sand large increase in popuia- tion will follow. Florence is at an elevation Of 1858 feet abeYe sea level, situated near the Gila river, tsventy-six miles northwest ot tie railroad station Of Casa GraHde. with Mhlcn it is connected by an elegantly equipped daiiy stage line. Going and coming stages run by the old Casa 6rande ruins, ana passengers are allowed short time to IT, spect them. There are many handsolne Isa,- IiIj- vate residences in blorence, several Dr3e9 stores good hotel, au excellent gritiiea school employing four teachers, ehurehes, secret societies, a Comfnereiai Club, news paper (the only one in the conntyl, and the handsaFnsst court house in the lerritoIy. Here is held the United States Court Tor the district coalpssed of Gila, Grahaln sI ar ana Pinai counties. The streets are lined FiSn shade trees which impart an air ot comfort on the warmsst days.
 PRODUCTS OF THE VALLEY.
 Unlike the Salt river, the waters of the .5iIa are fresh and pure; the soil contains no skali, is a deep, rich gray ash, especially adapted to the growth of the prune, oliye, almond. peach, fig, pear, apricot and fruits of all kinds. which pay largely on the invest pleut. Ii is also the natural home Of alfalfa, which grows in the most prolific manner. The grape does exceptionally well ip this valley. and wine and raisin culture ts destin- ed to become a prominent industry. Citrus fruits have been cultivated to limited extent: there are a number of orange trees in the nei@hborhOed of Florence which bear their golden fruit each year without pro- lection, and 8 few date palm trees are also Tn full bearing. The season IS from SIX weeks to two months earlfer than Southern Califor- mia, which gives fruit growers gu appreeiat- ed advantage in
 THE EARLY MARKETS.
 The absenee of fogs and nightly dews is 2 formidable obstacle to the destructive and uusightiy seale-buis, and the fruits oi the valley are all bright and clean. All tile aeri- cultural products Q: temperate atad semi tropie zones arc easily grown here, the I4iis seasons giving . succession Of crops thas double or treble the productive value of the land.
 s.4 .,,.,.,,, +;+l, ar, l watel. right can be bought for from so to $50 per acre. according to location and lm- provemeuts. In the immediate neighbor- hood and to the south Of the Casa Grande ruins there are thousands of acres covered with Q heavy growth of mesquite timber yes open to settlement. Theae are among the choicest in the valley. Water in inexhausti- ble quantity is found at depth of from twenty to thirty feet; in fact, riyer seems to be flowing underneath. Here IS splen- did opportunity to take up ana improve land vfith a pumping system of irrigation, which is said to be successful on small tracts However, with the completion of the Butte reservoir, pumping will be thing of the past, and it is only mentioned here for the purpose of showing what cuu be done, and to magnify the further fact that what was once considered
 AN USIEHABITABLE DzszRr
 is in truth the most productive land on the globe and that there is water in abundance to bring every. foot of 1t under cultivation 
 to develop it. There is no water-storoge scheme on the Pacific coast that has one hail the natural advantages and so few engineer ing difficulties as the Butte reservoir. Here nature has built the abutments in eyer-liy- ing rock and ali that is left for man to do Is to put iii the headgate, the bluffs which form the gorge being only separated by paltry 22J feet country is drained through this narrow canyon 200 miles square, representing 49,090 square miles, CT larger than Maine and Massachusetts combined. The rainfall is sui ficient to fill the reservoir twice year, and the land to be brought under cultivation is practically Hmitless. This may read ike a fairy tale, but it is every word true and has been verified time and again.
 CASA CYANIDE RESERVOIR.
 The reservoir of the Case Grande Valley Canal company is the largesti in the territory. It tcoyers a surface of 1503 acres, with al aVer- ago depth of F feet. and contains about eight thousand million gallons of water. It Is sit- mated fifteen miles southwest Of Florence. A Ievee of earth has been thrown up across a aS!epression ill the plain li,09e feet in length. 125 feet in width at the bottom and z0 feet Tn width at tssn. to slope on each side, and an average height of 2 feet. The waste is regr- lated by 8 cast iron pipes feet in diameter,