The Arizona sentinel., 1901-02-20

| struct reservoirs or lakes in which to receive
 and store the ov,rflow. 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 | lev nay conveniently be classified as follows:
 First the bottom or overflow lands: ,, slightly
 higher valleys, lands subject to no overflow; 3,
 mcsaS or sloping uplands; f. high but compar- | atively level plains; > mountains.
 The bottom lands as well as those slightly
 higher stretch along either side of the Gila and | Colorado rivers for varying distances north and | south. until they meet the more elevated IncSas
 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 accumtomcd to plant corn,
 pumpkins, melons and other vegetables. These snrirr into maturity with startling TapGity.
 rarely failing to yield bOuntifully without addi- tional irrigation. The custom is occasionally followed by resident farmers to this day with excellent results, although bat single crop can be harvested. These bottoms form 25 per cent of the valley lands and may without difficulty be secured from further invasion by a system of dikeS and levecs. 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 pnd 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 unmiStakablc geologic evidence that all this land during some prehistoric period was covered with water, constituting in fact an eUormous lake the surfaces rising in places to upper portion of the outSllirting mesas. The soil lying at the bottom was made by the washing and erosion of the surrounding mountains. The soda from the dccompoScd vegetation, the mag neSia and lime from the magneSium-lme 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 alluviuTn, than which there is none better, was left to reward the efforts of the modern huSbandmen. Bat nature, not yet satisfied with her handiWOrk, directed the accumulation of the detrituS washed from the distant mountainous region. As a result, the soil is extremely rich in the elements best adapted to thorough fertilization for it contains certain amount of organic matter which. on decompoSing. further enhances it's 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 SandstoEeS, marls, limeStOneS ShalcS etc. Besides the ingredients mentioned q 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 teInper& turc are somewhat greater than on the high lands. but there iS also more moisture
 The bottom lands are so easily cultivated that 1t is not uncommon, after clearing the Sur face from the brush and stubble to pass over the ground with an ordinary cultivator single timc 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 ditchCS 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 codSideratdble distances by their modern sue ceSSOrS.