The Arizona sentinel., 1901-01-02

struct reservoirs or lakes in which to receive
 and store the overflow. There are natural
 basins or dry lakes into which by simple
 means the water could be conveyed.
 | The lands situated in and about the Gila val | ley may conveniently be classified as follows
 First, the bottom or overflow lands; ,, slightly
 higher valleys, lands subject to no overflow; 3.
 mesas or sloping uplands; f, high but compar-
 atively level plains; 5, mountains.
 The bottom lands, as well as those slightly
 higher, stretch along either side of the Gila and 1 Colorado rivers for varying distances north and south, until they meet the more elevated mesaS
 which rise from the valley. The bottoms lie
 directly along the river and are subject to inun-
 dation annually. Immediately following the subsistence of the waters the local Indians were in former times accumtomed to plant cOrn pumpkins. melons and other vegetables. These spring into maturity with startling rapidity, rarely failing to yield bountifully without addi 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 p per cent of the valley lands, and may without difficulty
 be secured from further invasion by a system of
 dizes and levees, if deemed necessary and desir- able. The soil throughout the valley is a rich browniSh yellow sandy loam, generous, mellow, porous, with a depth ranging from to 20 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- tions, and the potash from the decompoSing 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 yet 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, shales etc. Besides the ingredients mentioned. chemical analysis shows that iron, ammonia, and phosphoric acid enter into it's composition in the proportions best adapted to add to it's productive qualities. The extremes of tcmpera- ture are somewhat greater than on the high lands, but there is also more moisture.
 "The bottom lands are so easily cultivated that il is 70: uncoE2~c2, 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, remarkably early. Indications of an cient ditcheS are apparent throughout the val ley showing plainly the existence of irrigation works by the ancient AZtecS. CuriouSly enough, | in certain instances, the identical routes of these long extinct people have been followed for distances by their modern sue | ceSSorS."