The Arizona sentinel., 1903-01-28
THE COLORADO RIVER.

CT are the fertilizing silts carried
 by this turbid stream. Analyses
 made during the year of obser-
 vation show that the silts varied from a minimum of sixty two parts of sediment in 100000 of water during January to as much as 374 parts during the great an nual rise of the river in May and June During a local storm,
 also, on the Arizona watershed enormous quantities of. mud
 were at one time observed wash
 ed into the river, raising the
 amount of sediment as high as
 2,O72 parts in 100, ,0O0-over two
 per cent by weight of sediment.
 The total quantity of sediment
 brought down during the year
 of observation was found to be
 sufficient to form ffty-three
 square miles of dry alluvial soil
 one foot deep, or to make about
 164 spare miles of recently-set-
 tied submerged mud one foot
 deep. ,..
 By means of figures it is pos
 sible to understand the agency
 of this river in shutting off with its deposits that arm of the ocean
 which afterward became the
 Salton Basin and in creating
 great areas of fertile delta land along it's lever courses.
 The value of these siltS to the
 farmer chiefly consists in the
 nitrogen they contain, which comes in large part with the fer , tilizing materials swept by the storms on the upper watersheds , into the steam. Phosphoric acid and potash are contained in
 great quantities, also; but con sidering nitrogen only, the wa
 ters of the Colorado were found to have fertilizing value of
 from B cents to, .S3,O9 yer acre T foot during the year. When it
 is considered that acre feet, more ! or less. is required a year for ir- rigation in the Southwest, it will be seen that these sediments form no mean, contribution to the welfare of the farmer. The southwestern farmer, indeed, is blessed with immunity from the l heavy fertilizer bills which are | often so great a weight upon l those who till the soil in eastern
 and northern districts.
 But most of our irrigating
 streams are generous literally to
 fault, for they frequently be- t come charged with alkaline salts to such an extent that the lands . irrigated by them are seriously injured thereby. Fortunately, | however, the Colorado is an ex- ception to this rule. At times ' of low water the river is observed to .appreciable quantities of al
 kaline salts, but during the
 great annual rise, when the vol
 nme of the river is swelled by f the melting snows of Colorado d Wyoming and Utah, the fresE e snow water results in stream n of remarkable purity, containing t for weeks at time, during May r and June, as low as p parts o1 d salt in 100000 of water. The S freshness of the Colorado ano S the mildness of it's salts are in n deed fortunate compensations o- e nature, for the districts whicE d will in future be irrigated iron e this supply are some of then }. quite alkaline and will require tC d be flooded and drained of theil r noxious salts by just such a pure d water supply as will be availa tt ble.
 It is safe to say that the irri
 gable districts adjacent to tht o Colorado river will, when they T. are developed and utilized, b' ,f among the richest lands i'll th' Is whole irrigated west. The semi l. tropical climate, the diversity O. o agricultural products possible 't the strong markets for such pro 1T ducts in the adjacent mining dis d tricts and the intensive agricul e ture demanded and made pOssi t. ble by such commercial and agri
 cultural conditions, indicate tha
 when the Colorado shall be a.