Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-02-02
All About Arizona.
WIN. d. PoAGE, 49,.

Extra. Iowa. "--.-----
Dear Sir--Your letter asking about this
country, is before me and viii answer at
once while your request is fresh in nv
them of course. If you were here YOU
must beg Of you not to believe that you
are sure to like the country because 1 do
what IS one mans meat is another
The soil here is naturally thin; but seed
ing 1t to alfalfa, a kind of clover similar to
red clover, enriches it greatly. Alfalfa
talfa is raised. The water used in irrigat-
ing contains much valuable enriching
matter.
This country is perfectly flat. It is a
valley surrounded by low mountains.
The climate in winter is delightful The
days are never too cold for the bees to fly
| !he nights are Ouly cool enough to pro-
duce light frost. just enough to take the
leaves OIL the cottonwoods and other de-
The summers from May to September
are hot. The mercury seldom falls below
1oO degrees at noon and runs as high as u.s.
1t seems to you: no doubt, that no one
could live with heat of lis degrees Well
suppose it would kill you in Iowa if you
Were, were to have two or three days of that
kind. / have heard of two or three cases
where laborers have killed themselves
| drinking large quantities of cold water
when when they We're heated and tired, but we
The air is very dry, and dry air, when
not, does ,I. not affect men as your moist
ture gets up to from los to 1l6you ought to
see the Alfalfa grow.
ca We We get we'll water by digging, from, is to
miles north they dig GO feet: three miles
west or south 10 or 20 feet finds plenty of
water.
If you ever come here you will be thor
oughly Disguised when yon take your
first drink of water. You will find it
warm VAR and tasting as if salt or baking soda
| vaH I'M a
short time the salty taste is unnoticed
ana you tail to notice. it being so warm.
The water in my well seems to me as fine
water as l ever drank-clear. tasteless tc
cali It nasty until You become neo accns-
toned to it. The water is all hard; some
very hard. The ditch water, which many
people use in winter, is not so hard, and is
much used for washing.
Land varies greatly in price. Good land
in alfalfa ranges from twenty to seventy
dollars an acre, with water. Without wa
ter land is worthless. A million acres of
wild land lies just east and south of us;
but as there is no water for it, no one
wants it. 1t may become valuable soon if
reservoir now talked of is put in above
cattle near here. What desert lies near
here is but bare ground. Plenty of range
us, but is used only by those having cat.
the herd.
| regard this as the healthiest country in
which have ever lived. Typhoid fever is
heard of frequently on the low ground
Vest Wa OF US. but we have hardly any here.
ground mentioned Ferhap onI pne ,nn aom
is as prevalent as anything, and it seems
more fatal here than in Iowa. but we don't
have half as much of it as you do. The
fact is it is very healthy country about
Mera, and ! can name no disease that
| may be said to be prevalent.
| OF insects, we think the common house
| 1ly the worst. We have few mosquitoes
and no tleas; have not seen nor heard of
a flea or bedbug in the territory: There are
npne; but we have some scorpions, cent?
pedes and tarantulas, and millions and
mllllons and millions of crickets. We
feared the scorpions, centlpedes and tar
| antulas at first; but we never have been
| troubled, nor have we heard of any caes
but one. The sting of a scorpion is very
| neck or near some vital part or blood ves-
sci The bite of the. tarantula is about
IKE a, that OF rattlesnake, and cured by the
and poison, but we have very few of them
a uheie are one e. hundred times more poison
| or Oklahoma than here.
This is said by some to be fruit country
men from Oregon and northrrn Califor-
apples, raspberries, currants or gooseber-
| RES. have not seen cherry tree in the
valley. So much for what we cannot do.
we can raise peaches, apricots, plu1ns,
pears, blackberries, Strawberries oranges,
lemons, pomels, figs and po1nme granates
Grapes grow perfectly. and the small
SeedlesS ralSin grape produces often sew
nty-hve pounds to the vine.
II you want my opinion, it is this: The
valley Will gradually raise great Quarlti-
ties Of raisns, wines and oranges.
Not very many are paying attention to
fruit raising. Most people have their own
own. orchard of about $50 to 400 trees is DIV
ing from neglect before l got it. Root knot
is prevalent.
We have draw-backs-bad ones too We
have not enough water. In summer we
usually have two months when water is
low. Distance from market is another and
worse drawback pay Sl.1o to get 100 lbs.
OF honey to Chicago, and then often sell
me money f9r &c a pound, sometimes less.
is bir t S9a US both both The
things shipped in sell high, and things
shipped out bring small returns after the
~, Wheat ,t sells by the 100 lbs. instead of by
word "busher used. Everything except
Worth 1@lAc per pound. Corn et the sa nus
NY AugSst FloF H noM 1s gi5 per . 3
lbs. Meat about as in Iowa. Lumber $500
~ per n Wood s. per cord and going up.
Brick. $ per NJ Lime Il don't know, but
up; Calves, or months old, $40. Good
| mllch cows, $iO. Eggs, now SOC; in sum-
mer, lo9l5c. Butter, generally zoe. Cloth
ing, little higher than in Iowa, probably
Folks live is. all kinds of houses here
The better fixed have good brick houses.
!Many houses are made of mud bricks, ~
| iiiSaSS loiiS'o Wlue ana tnlCk, QrleQ IN
the sun. Board on-end, barn-like atfa airs,
are plenty. Many live in tents. Mexicans
live in mud houses, or houses made of
| brush and mud 1t needs a house to keep
OF heat and rain; though it don't rain
more than three four times year
AS for trading your, property for place
you wish. But take my word for nothing
Don't sell. nor buy, nor trade till you have
seen the country for yourself. When you
see it, you may say you would not give
Sl5OO for the whole territory. One of my
good friends said just those words 1t
suits me. 1t is great honey country
That is my business here, and so of course
l am suited. You might not be.
| We are all we'll and happy. No Iowa tor
me. We can see snow on the mountains
IS II lies away. That's near enough for me.
| Respectfully, C.F. WILLCUTT.
| A Good Spurxeon story.