The Florence tribune., 1899-03-18
TIE CASA eRANpE VALLEY.
information for Those Seeking Homes
 In the Garden Spot of the West.

In the Garden Spot of the West.
 Pinnl county was organized in 1875 from portions of Pima, Maricopa and iayapai | counties and contains an area of ,, 6Ssquare f miles, or S,4S5, ,520 acres, one-third of which | could be made productive by Q systematic l storage cf the surplus water now running to | waste. Next to Marieopa it is the most i'm | portant agricultural county inthe Territory. | It it traversed from east to west by the i Southern Pacific railroad, and branch of the great Santa Fe system is now approaeh- | ing from the north. The objective point of i this road is connection with the sonora Pacific is also building in this direction from Tempe, and it is confidently believed that l work will not cease until the Deer Creek coal fields are reached and connection is made with another branch of that road run 1 ming from Bowie to Globe and now complet- Thus it will he seen that Pinal 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 of about I500, but with the completion of these two railroads and the Butte reservoir no city in Arizona can approach it for natural advantages, and large increase in popula- tion will follow. Florence Is at an elevation of 1858 feet above sea level, situated near the Gila river, twenty-six miles northwest of the railroad station of Casa Grande, with which it is connected by an elegantly. equipped dBily stage line, Going and coming stages run by the old Casa Grande rutns, and passengers arc allowed a short time to in spect them. There are many handsome prl- Tate residences in Florence, several brick stores. good hotel, an excellent graded school employing four teachers, churches, secret societies, a Commercial Club, news- paper tthe only one in the courtyl, and the handsomest court house in the Territory. Here is held the United States Court tor the district composed of Gila. Graham and
 
 shade trees, which impart an air of comfort on he warrnest days.
 PRODUCTS OF THE VALLEY.
 Unlike the Salt river, the waters of the Sila are fresh and pure; the soil contains no Illkali, is deep, rich gray ash, especially adapted to the growth of the pfune, olive, almond, peach, fig, pear, apricot and fruits of all kinds, which pay largely on the invest ment. It is elso the natural home of alfalfa, which grows in the most prolific manner. The grape does exceptionally well in this valley, and wine and raisin culture is destin- ed to become prominent industry. Citrus fruits have been cultivated to limited extent; there are number or orange trees i1 the neighbOrhood of Florence which bear their golden fruit each year without pro- lection, and a few date palm trees are also in full bearing. The season is from six weeks to two months earlier than Southern Califor- mia, which gives fruit growers an apprecsat- ed advantage in
 THE EARLY MARKETS. The absence of fogs and nightly dews is a formidable obstacle to the destructive and ursightiy scale-bug. and the fruits of the valley are all bright and clean. All the agri- cultural products of temperate and seInl- tropic zones are easily grown here, tho long seasons giving succession of crops that double or treble the productive value of the land
 Improved lands. with government title and water right can be bought for from S2o to $50 per acre, according to location and iTfl- proyements. In the immediate nelghbor- hood and to the south of the Casa Grande ruins there are thousands of acres covered with Q heavy growth of mesquite timber yet open to settlement. These are among the choicest in ti.e valley. Water m mex lIai:lstI- ble quantity is found ct a depth or rom twenty to thirty feet; in fact; river seems to be flowing underneath. Here IS spien- did opportunity to take up and improve land with pumping system of irritation. which is said to be successful on small tracts.
 However, with the completion of the Butte reservoir, pumping will be thing of the rpast and it is only mentioned here for the purpose of showing what can be done and to magnify the further fact that what was once considered
 AN UNINHABITABLE DESERT
 is in truth the most productive land on the 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 wnter-storage scheme on the Pacific coast that has one half 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 all that is left for man to do IS to put in the headgate, the hiutis winch form the gorge being only separated by paltry 20 feet country is drained through this narrow canyon 200 miles square, representing OOOO square miles, or larger than Malne and Massachusetts combined. The rainfall is sIIf- ficient to fill the reservoir twice year, and the land to be brought under cultivation is practically limitless. This may read like fairy tale, but it is every word true, and has been verified time and again.
 CASA GRAHDE RESERVOIR.
 The reservoir of the Casa Grande Valley Canal company is the largest in the territory. It covers a surface of 1900 acres, with an ayer- age depth of F feet, and contains about eight thousand million gallons of water. It Is sit