The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-06-26
Farming in the Arizona Desert.
(Harper's Weekly

On the arid wastes of the Great Ari-
Eona Desert, death and the dryness are
one. Lifeless, save for the brstling az
gressiveness of the grOtesQue cacti which
is bounded only by the sharp lower edge
of the cup-shaped dome of glaring sky.
In the curve of the encircling horizon
there is 10 break; within the range of hui
man vision there is no uplifting of the
land. Summers heat reflects upward in
great quivering waves.
Fitful winds send the dust swrlng and
eddying through the dry air as if it We're
loath 10 lie where neither man nor beast
can flourish. Over the whole, Death
stalks triumphant to meet halfway the
venturesome traveller lost on the untrailed
plains. The air is dry; the soil is an in
crustation of incredible dryress; the very
kernel of life itself is dry. On the sur
face, SO far as exterior investigation can
disclose the truth, no measure OF moisture
is or has been for ages. Chemical analy-
sis shows that the soil. granted the life
giving moisture which is It's rightful in
heritance from Divinity, would be fertile
and valuable. At present. for the most
part, it is worthless. That this is no
true of the whole Great Cactus Desert
and the agriculturally valuclcss wastes
which surround ii. is due to the ingenious
system of irrigation which has recently
sheen established.
A few years since, scientists contended
that these stretches of arid land would be
of no utility in the future economy of the
United States. The lay of the land IS
such that irrigation of the whole by
means OF bitches from the rivers which
have their sources in the Arizona noun
tain ranges is practically impossible. The
water must be DETECTED from the pureSt
streams high up the river courses, which
means generally that there are foothills
TO be dug through; also that the bitches
must be very long. and consequently very
expensive to build The Great Cactus
Desert seemed problem set forth by
Nature TO keep humanity guessing what
she might have done.
Fortunes were spent in exploiting and
building irrigation canals. For the most
part, they We're failures. The few that
were successful in reaching the parched
districts caused the desert to bloom like
Q rose.
Finally, after exhausting all other
available plans, artesian wells were bored
at various places. The result was both
disappointed and qualification. Vast
subterranean lakes and apparently mex
haustible streams were found TO underlic
the whole Of the Arizona Desert, at
depths varying from 200 to 1000 feet
These were useless, however, from the
fact that there was not pressure enough
to force the water to the surface In
some instances it rose to within 100 feet
Of the top and then was Mt a standstili.
The modern pump is n very perfect mech
anism in its way. BY its aid the difficulty
could easily have been overcome had
there been enough surface water to opcr-
ate it by any manner of power. The sit
nation was annoying, almost pathetic.
With an unlimited water supply only a
few feet beneath the surface. the greater
part of Arizona was still desert.
Then it was electricity entered into the
solution of the problem. The mountain
streams leaping over their rocky beds
could be checked and made to furnish
never-ending water-power. Generation
Of electricity In the mountains was an
easy matter. 1t was equally easy to trans
NIT the Juice over wires TO the neighbor-
hood of the various wells, where it could
be used rs the motive power for the opera
ton of the heavy pumps. This done, the
redemption of the desert was complete.
In most sections the slope is gentle, and
building of bitches a matter Of mere
ploughing burrows TO carry the water over
the land. The soil, seemingly stored full
Of life-giving. elements by reason of its
long period of inactivity, is highly produc-
tive. 1t is not uncommon for the first
years alfalfa-fe to yield four good now
lays