The Arizona sentinel., 1900-10-10

spring into maturity with startling rapidity, rarely failing to yield bountifully without sdd- tional irrigation. The custom is occasionally followed by resident farmers to this day, with excellent results, although but single crop can be harvested. These bottoms form 9 per cent of the valley lands and may without d1fhculty be secured from further invasion by system Of dikes and levees, if deemed necessary and desir- able. The soil throughout the valley is rich brownish yellow sandy lOam, generous, mellow, porous with depth ranging from 6 to 2O feet, the whole resting upon underlying strata of gravel and sand that readily carry from the surface such excess of water as might otherwise prove injurious to seeds and growing plants.
 Concerning the geological formation of these lands, the following from the report of the citizens executive committee is sufficiently comprehensive:
 There is unmistakable geologic evidence that all this land during some prehistoric period was covered with water, constituting in fact an enormous lake the surfaces rising in places to upper portion Of the outskirting mesas. The soil lying at the bottom was made by the washing and erosion of the surrounding mountains. The soda from the decomposed vegetation, the mag nesia and lime from the magnesium-lime forma-  granite rocks were carried with unceasing re- gularity year by year, until deposited in the bottom. Eventually upon the disappearance of the lake, the rich fertile alluvium, than which there is none better, was left to reward the efforts of the modern husbandmen. But nature, not vet satisfied with her handiwork directed the accumulation of the detritus washed from the distant mountainous region. As result, the soil is extremely rich in the elements best adapted to thorough fertilization, for it contains a certain amount of organic matter which, on decomposing, further enhances its agricultural value. By constant overflow and change of channel the deposits are evenly distributed over considerable areas, the process continuing through centuries. These soils are further en- riched by decomposed organic contributions, including the sandstones, marls, limestones, shades, etc. Besides the ingredients mentioned, 8 chemical analysis shows that iron, ammonia, and phoSphoric acid enter into its composition in the proportions best adapted to add to its productive qualities. The extremes of tempera- ture are somewhat greater than on the high lands, but there is also more moisture.
 ''The bottom lands are so easily cultivated that it is not uncommon, after clearing the sur face from the brush and stubble, to pass over the ground with an ordinary cultivator a single time afterwards sowing to grain and grass In three or four months large crops are harvested, the soil meanwhile being entirely innocent of the blow. All plants seem to grow rapidly, maturing remarkably early. Indications Of an cient ditches are apparent throughout the val lev showing plainly the existence Of irrigation works by the ancient AZtecS. Cautiously enough, in certain instances, the identical routes of these long extinct people have been followed for codsideratable distances by their modern suc- ceSSorS."
 THE VALLEYS CT THE COLORADO.
 Several miles above Yuma in the neighbor- hood of Explorers Pass, near the Purple Hills, the great Colorado River Valley proper com mences. From this point northerly the river is shut in by cliffs which, with intervening moun- tain systems, absolutely preclude the possibility of canal construction Passing southward, the cliffs are seen to gradually disappear until they become merged in the low bottom lands. The bottom meanwhile widenS with every mile until the Gulf Of California is reached. There are large quantities of land which could be made productive were irrigation practicable These are general fertile bottoms inclining toward the river and covered in spots with dense under growth and cottonwood and mesquite trees. Considerable of the valley is raised above the river as much as 100 feet, and to this height water must be brought, as the bottoms are dur Ing certain months completely overflowed by the waters of the swollen streams The soil is extraordinarily rich and particularly adapted to the cultivation of sugar, rice, and all the tex tile plants, in addition to an extended list of tropical, semitropical, and temperate products. According to careful chemical analysis, the fertiliZing mud carried by the Colorado closely resembles that of the waters of the Nile, while its volume at low water has been estimated by competent authority as sufficient to easily irri- gate more than 1,75O,OOO acres"
 The lands of the lower Colorado River Valley have not been developed very extensively, owing to the litigation over what is known as the Algodones land grant, which has been in the courts for the last decade The vexed question has lately been settled by the U. s. Supreme Court in favor of the government.