The Arizona sentinel., 1907-08-07
ONCE A MIGHTY STREAM.


 only Q few fnfleS
 ONCE X MIGHTY STREAM.
 Ages ago when tho mountain ranges of Afi- zona and California lowered toward the stars, at least tw1ce as high as they do now, rains were very frequent and caflfc down fn torreIftfal volumes all along these r1ocntain ridges. The Colorado RiveI, jn tfaeSa past ages was 8 mighty StFc;tfGs sweeping down debris in sons every second of it's flow 4sha sGelaratto sink was at that time gre1st inland sea, which spread over the c9unt$y CIT both sides Cf where tt;e river new runs. As tho erosion Of winds and storms, landSiGes and glaciers wore down the mountain | ridges year by year, the great river carried | down a vast amount of silt, erosion from the rocks full of phosph2t irse; and dsfn 6ogfatcti granites, as we'll as the vegetation along it's hauks, and tilis tTas all deposited in what are now the sinks of the Colorado.
 As the mountain tops were worn down, the raiEia became less frequent and less in volume but tine erosion of rocks aTd rf9er banks, tho trees Rnt vegetable mould torn from tire banks stili came down and Scteed into the bottom of the gteat inland lake. This geological process went on from age to age to our tfTrEc, leaving the Colorado af Yuma stream about half 6 mile wide and being at the present time about twenty feet deep in the deepest portion. { 1t fs not necessary to remind Cafffornisns tfas 1 fhe Spanish missionaries and explorers called this river the Colorado because of the reddish color of fsHf waters It is the Colorado up in tho Grand Canyon in Arizona and down past The Needles. But at this time of the year, after passing the mouth Of the GfIa. instead of the red river 1t becomes the brown river. It act ufYsy looks today as if 10 per cent of it's flow was silt ard only GO per ecnt water. The gresc weight of this mass Of liquid fnhprcgnatcd by so much solid makes the cEttfne of of tfSe flow of the river where the railroad Is trying to close tse break much more dffertlt Once cholsed off, however, the silt will settle around the rocks @nd make solid dam for all time to come.
 INCHES OFt SOIL WONDERFUL
 But the object of this story is to call attention once more, and for perhaps the thousaifdth tf1S, to the riches of the soil along the Colorado On both sides, incident to the depositins of tbfs mass of debrls during all tfe past ages. Going through the country on tfre Arizona side of the river for several mfifes below Yuma, one en- counters the same type of country and soil tlrst is found in the Imperial Valley country around Brawley, Calexfco and other points west of the river. The fertility of the black prairie soils of Illinois has astonished people engaged 5n agrf. culture for ncIrly 100 years The fertility of the valley of the Nile has been d matter of history for atAeast 6 09 years. Those who are familiar with Illinois prairie soil, ;fIFd those wlfo kEow what the valley of the Nile is for agriculture, know that this lower Colorado River region sur passes both of them.
 If you ask g farmer along this stretch Of country fl the soff is six feet his eyes wlf open with astonfshment at your ignorance. He wifi tell you no one knows whether it is @ feet G09 or GO00 feet derTo. It t' practically withouG bot tom. It 9s so thoroughly well mixed wftlf sand disfrtegratcd granite and other rocks tll1es is never bal1eS. It is as easily worked as hcap of ashes, and responds to cultivation in a way that is rlarreEousl
 CUT TEN CROPS YEARLY.
 Arizona Ilas established an experiment. statioa in the he;srt of this Eig valley. which is some twenty fous miles long, and fn spots ten to twelve miles wide down on the lower level. The results are wonderful. Last week they were cutting a crop Of alfalfa on this expert mental farm, arF fer ten consecutive monBhS they will cut succeeding crops. The only naonths | when the croPi is not cut here are December and i January. COtL0ll ana tOD;gGcO grow Wftn the greatest | luXuriance, and this rich alluval soil will te noted in a very few years as the ideal spot in tho whole country for dafryfng, hog raising, the production Of poultry and vegetables, which one hcSitateS to call early CT late; as they will be perennial. New potatoes will be produced in the middle of January, tomatoes W.ll be ripe by the first of March, ripe grapes will be gath cred in the early days of May and apricotS by the middle Of the same month Chickens and turkeys flourish there in the winter time beyond all experience anywhere else.
 The rainfall is exceedingly light and comes only three CT four times in @ whole winter With ara ab'NndInce of green alfalfa and vege- tables in the dry and not overheated climate prevailing in the winter months, chickens are free from the diseases that make their raising difficult elsewhere There is no spot ia South