The Florence tribune., 1899-12-09
THE CASA eRANpE VALLEY.
Information for These Seeking Homes
 In the Garden Spot Of the West.

Final county was organized in 1875 from portions of Pima, Maricopa and Yavapai counties, and contains an area of 5.93S square miles, or, 3,4 .52o acres. oue-third of which could be made productive by a systematic storage Cf the surplus water now running to waste. Next to Maricopa it is the most i'm ortantagrtcultural county nthe Territory. It it trgversed from east to west by the Southern Pacific railroad, and branch of the great Santa Fe system is now approach ing from the north. The objective poiut of this road 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 Creek coal fields are reached and connection is made with another branch of that road run ming from Bowie to Globe and now complet- ed to Fort Thomas.
 Thus it will be 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 population of about 1500. but with the completion of these two railroads and the Butte reservoir no city in Arizona caIRapproaeh 1t for natural advantages, and a 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
  run by the old Casa Grande ruins, and passengers are allowed short time to in spect them. There arc many handsome pri- vate residences in Florence, several brick stores, good hotel an excellent graded school employing four teachers, churches, secret societies, a Commercial Club, news paper (the only one in the codutyl, and the handsomest court house in the Territory. Here is held the United States Court for the district composed of Gila. Graham and 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 5lla are fresh and pure; the soil contains no IllIali, is q deep, rich gray ash, especially adapted to the growth of the prune, olive. 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. Tho grape does exceptionally well in this valley, and wine and raisin culture is destin- ed to become a prominent industry. Citrus fruits have been cultivated to limited extent; there are number of orange trees in 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 earler than Southern Califor- nia, which gives fruit growers an appreeiat- ed advantage in
 
 The absence of fogs and nightly dews is formidable obstacle to the destructive and unsightly scale-bug. and the fruits of the valley are ali bright and clean. All the agri cultural products of temperate and semi tropic zones are easily grown here, the long seasons giving a succession ot crops that double or treble the productive value of the land.
 PRICES OF LAND.
 r,,,,,.,.oi i,,Js ,,,;th ,o,,ov,v,e,,t +;ti, .,,d water right, can be bought for from S20 to $50 per acre. according to location and i'm provements. In the immediate neighbor- hood and to the south of the Casa Grande ruins there are thousands of arres covered with heavy growth of mesquite timber yet open to settlement. These are among the choicest in the valley. Water in inexhausti- bic quantity is found at @ depth of from twenty to thirty feet; in fact, a river seems to he flowing underneath Here is splen- did opportunity to take up and improve land with 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 can be done, and to magnify the further fact that what was once considered
 AN UEINHABITABLE DESERT is in truth the most productive land on the globe, and that there is water in abundance 10 Drlng every t0Dt or lt unG6r cultlfdtlOu. only waiting for the magic wand of capital to develop 1t. There is no water-storage scheme on the Pacific coast that has one-h half the natural advantages and so few engineer ing difficulties as the Butte reservoir. Here nature has built the abutments in ever-liy- 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 paltry 220 feet. 4 country is drained through this narrow canyon POD miles square, representing 40O00 square miles. or larger than Maine and Massachusetts combined. The rainfall IS sui fcient to fill the reservoir twice year, and practically imitless. This may read like 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 1o00 acres, with an aver age depth of F feet, and contains about eight thousand million gallons of water. It is sit uated fifteen miles southwest of Florence. A levee of earth has been thrown up across depression in the plain II ,00o feet in length, 125 feet in width at the bottom and 70 feet in width at top, to slope on each side, and an average height of 9 feet. The waste is regu- lated by cast iron pipes feet in diameter, set in solid masonry, regulated by gates and tower. This reservoir cost SI500O0, and sup plies water for 6,090 acres.
 Meteorological Statistics. The signal service of the general govern ment maintained station at Florence from 1874 to 1S32- The reports covering the period ing statistics, which may be taken as a safe guide to the prevailing temperature given
 1880. Mean. Max. Min. July .........................s .s5.6 Ill 61 September ............. BIO 1O7 4s