The Arizona sentinel., 1900-01-13
ARIZONA'S AGRICULTURAL PRO-
 DUCTS.

A0li"' Ih0 >oSI IlCultuTaI OeFelopment of the Territory has only begun., Hundreds of thousands of acres of the most fertile soil on the con- tlnent, in land of perpetual sun- shine and in a climate conducive to the growth of all the products of temperate and semi-tropic zones. await only the life-giving touch of
 water to convert them from desert
 tracts into luxurious gardens. This
 year the hot sands defy the propa- gatlon of vegetable life; next year these same sands will feel the tbroh of the irrigation veln, and where only the desert shrubs once prew there will spring up luxuriant vine. yards, orchards heavy with delici- ons fruits, beautiful gardens and
 broad fields of grain and grasses
 A prosperous population will find
 homes in the valleys of Arizona,s
 rivers, attracted not only by the
 luxury of life in land of eterna, sunshine: whero every breeze carries with 1t a message of health and vigor; where the scourges of otker localitles-blizzards, snow storus
 floods and cyclones-are unknown
 but also by the fertile soil whose
 wonderful fecundity will enable man to reap the fruits of his labors within an almost incredibly short space of time.
 The soil of the Arizona valleys is as inexhaustible as it is fertile. For ages the streams have carried down from the mountain districts the detritus which forms this soil. Ere. quent inundations and shifting of channels have caused the dsposit ofthe rich vegetable matters which have made the valleys of the Terri. tory, and especially those of the Salt, Gila and Colorado rivers, so wonderfully fertile. The soil ranges from a black, alIuvial mold near the water to rich, mellow, porous |
 loam further back from the streams. The former is especially adapted to to the growth of grain and grasses. while the sandy loam fulfills all the conditions for successful fruit cuI- ture. The growth of all products fruits, cereals and vegetables-is rapid and prolific. In many in- stances two crops are grown in single year, while as many as SIX crops of alfalfa have been harvested within that period.
 There is scarcely locality on the globe that can successfully grow as great variety of grains, grasses, fruits and vegetables as Arizona. Wheat, oats, barley, corn and all the smaller cereals yield enormous crops; every variety of vegetable known in the country is grown in Arizona, and every variety reaches the acme of perfection. Alfalfa. clover, timothy, Kaffir corn, millet and all the grasses have luxuriant growth; cotton, sugar-cane, sugar beets, hemp, rice and tobacco thrive in the soil, while there is scarcely fruit under the sun-apples, pears, plums, peaches, apr1cots, quinces, nectarines, dates, grapes, oranges, lemons, figs, Hines, olives, pome- granates and others of the citrus genus, all of delicious flavor that cannot be raised in the rich. sandy loam Fruits ripen a month earlier in the Territory than in California, and in consequence of their being placed on the early market bring a better price than the fruit products of the coast.
 The prolific and rapid growth of vegetation is a remarkable feature ot Arizona soil. A cottonwood sapling becomes shadetree twenty i've feet high within two years: grape cuttings often produce within eighteen to twenty months; the farmer plants Tn November and by May his crop is ready to be harvest d. Alfalfa yields from eight to en tons per acre each year, and the cereals from twenty-five to fifty bushels per acre.
 A review of the agricultural con- itions that prevail in Arizona hows that the future of the Terri ory depends not upon her mining industries alone, nor on her tim Der, or her herds and focks of stock; ut in later years 1t will be found nat the era of social and intellec- z lal development which she is eysn