The Florence tribune., 1899-06-10
THE CASA eRANDE VALLEY.
Information for Those Seeking Homes
 In the Garden Spot of the West.

Pinal county was organized in 1875 from portions of Pima, Mnricopa and Nevapai counties, and contains an area of 5,S6o square miles, or 8, ASS, ,520 acres, one-third of which could be made productive by a systematic storage of the surplus water now running to waste. Next to MarieOpa 1t Is the most im- portant agricultural county in the Territory. It 1t traversed from east to west by the Southern Pacific railroad, and a branch Of the great Santa Fe system Is now approach ing from the north The objective point of this read is a 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 Creek coal fields are reached and connection Is made with another branch of that road rum ming from Bowie to Globe and now eompiet- ed to Fort Thomas.
 Thus it will he seen that Pinal county IS the theater of railroad building at the pres ent time, and inside of year Florence, the county seat, will be
 A RAILROAD CENTER
 At present it contains population of about I500, but with the completion or these two railroads and the Butte reservoir no city in Arizona can approach IL Tor hatuTai advantages, and Q large increase Ill popnla- tion will follow. Florence Is at an elevation of 1858 feet above sea level, situated near the Gila river, twenty six miles northwest or .he railroad station of Casa Grande, with which it Is connected by an elegantly equipped duily stage line, Going and coming stages run by the old Casa Grande ruins, and passengers are allowed a short time to m spect them. There are many handsome pri- vate residences in Florence, several brick stores, good hotel, an excellent gradeo school employing four teachers, ehurcnes, secret societies, Commercial Club, news paper (the only one in the county, ana the hnndsomese court house in the Territory. Here is held the United States Court for the district composed of Giln. Graham and Pinal counties. The streets are lined with shade trees. which innpart on air of comfort on the warmest days
 PRODUCTS OF THE VALLEY.
 Unlike the Salt river, the waters of the .51la are fresh and pure; the soil contains no alkah, is a deep, rich gray ash, especially adapted to the growth of the. prune; ollye, almond, peach, fig, pear, apricot and fruits of all kinds, which pay largely on the invest ment. It is also the natural home of alfalfa, which grows in the most prolific manner. The grape does exceptionally well Ill thls valley, and wine and raisin culture is destin- ed to become prominent industry. Citrus fruits have been cultivated to limited extent; there are a number of orange trees in the neighborhood of Florence which bear their golden fruit each year without pro tection. and few date palm trees are also Tn full bearing, The season Is from six weeks to two months earlIer than Southern Califor- mia, which gives fruit growers an appreciat- ed advantage in
 
 The absence of fogs and nightly dews is q formidable obstacle to the destructive and unsightly scale-bug, and the fruits of the valley are all bright and clean. All the agri- cultural products of temperate and semi tropic zones are easily grown here, the long double or treble the productive value of the land.
 PRICES OF LAND.
 r. ! 1,,,.I., ..-;4l .~,,,..,-,,,,,s,,t tifIa and water right, can be bought for from SZ0 to $50 per acre, according to location and im- provements. In the immediate ne1ghbor- hood and to the south of the Casa Grande ruins there are thousands of acres covered with a heavy growth Of mesquite timber yet open to settlement. These are among the choicest in the valley. water in inexRanstl e s,, twenty to thirty feet; in fact, river seems to be flowing underneath. Here is splen- did opportunity to take up and improve land with q 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 Tor | sne ae magnify the further fact that what was once considered
 AN UxISHABITABLK DESERT
 globe and that there is water in abundance to bring every foot of it under cultivation, only waiting for the magic wand of capital to develop it. There is no water-storage scheme on the Pacific coast that has one-hali the natural advantages and so few engineer ing difficulties as the Butte reservoir. Here nature has built the abutments in ever-ily- ing rock and all that is left for man to do is to put in the headgate. the bluffs which form the gorge being only separated by paisry 220 feet. A country is drained through this narrow canyon 20O miles square, representing 10000 square miles, or larger than Maine and Massachusetts combined. The rainfall IS suf- ficient to fill the reservoir twice year, and the land to be brought under cultivation is fairy tale, but it is every word true, and has been verified time and again.
 CASA CYANIDE RESERVOIR.
 The reservoir of the Casa Grande Valley Canal company is the largest in the territory It covers surface of 16e0 acres, with an aver age depth of F feet. and contains about eight thousand million gallons of water. It IS s1t- mated fifteen miles southwest of Florence A levee of earth has been thrown up across a depression in the plain 14, ,O0O feet In length 125 feet in width at the bottom and p feet i'll width at top, 2 to slope on each side, and an average height of 25 feet. The waste is regu- lated by 8 cast iron pipes feet in diameter, set in solid masonry, regulated by gates and tower. This reservoir cost $l5O,Ou0 and SUD- plies water for 5000 acres.
 Meteorological Statistics. The signal service of the general govern ment maintained station at Florence from 1874 to 1882. The reports covering the period from Juiy, 1880 to April, 1882, gives the follow ing statistics which may be taken as a safe guide to the prevailing temperature given