The Arizona sentinel., 1907-07-17
ONCE A MIGHTY SPREAD.

Ages ago. when the mountain ranges of Arf- zona and California lowered toward the staFss at least twiSc as high as they do now, raiGs
 were very frequent and carfe down in torrential volumes all along these mountain ridges The Colorado River in these past ages was mighty stream, sweeping down debris in tons every i second Of it's flow. TSiG Colorado sink was at that time great ipl;.rlj, sea. which spread over the country on beth sides of where the river now runs. KS the erosion of winds and storms, lendslietes and glaciers wore down the mountain ridges year by year, the great river carried down a vast amount of silt erosion from tie rocks full of phosphates lines and dI1isintcsfated graEitcs as well the vegetation along it's banks, and this was all deposited in what are now the sinks of the Colorado.
 As tho mountain tops were worn down. the rains became less frequent and less in volume, but the erosion of rocks and river banks, the trees ara vegetable mould torn from the banks still came down and settled into the bottom of the great inland lake. This geological process went on from age to age to cur time leaving the Colorado a5 Yuma q stream about half 6 mile wide and being at the present time about twenty feet deep in the deepest portion.
 1t is not necessary to remind Californians that the Spanish missionaries and explorers called this river the Colorado because of the reddish color of iss waters. It is the Colorado up in the Grand Canyon in Arizona and down past The Needles. But at this tiuTc Of the year. after passing the mouth of tho Gila. instead Of tfse rcd river It becomes the brown river. It act ually looks today as if per cent of it's flow vas silt and only % per cent water. The great weight of this mass of liquid imprcgnated by so much solid makes the cutting off of the flow of the river where the railroad is trying to close tnc break much IGorc difficult Once cfTol5ed off, however, the silt wifi settle around the rocks and make q solid dam for all time to come.
 RICHES OF SOIL WONDERFUL.
 But the object of this story is to call attention once more, and for perhaps the thousandth time, to tho riches of the soil along the Colorado on both sides, incident to the depositing of trfS mass of debrIS during all the past ages. Going through the country on the Arizona side of the river, for several miles below Yuma, orc en- counters the same type of country and soil that is found in the Imperial Valley country around Brawlcy, Calexico and other points west of the river. The fertility of the black prairie soils Of illinois has aStoniSlred people engaged in agri- culture for nearly l00 years. The fertility of the valley of the Nile has been matter of history for at least O9 years. Tffosc who are familiar with Illinois prairie soil, and those who know what the valley of the Nile is for agriculture, know that this lover Colorado River region sur passes both of thcn.
 If you ask a farmer along this stretch of country if tho soil iS six feet, his eyes will open with aStonishment at your ignorance. He will tell you no one knows whether it is 50 feet, G00 CT Go0O feet deep. It is practically without bot tom. It is so thoroughly well mixed with sand disfntegrated granite and ether rocks that i5 never bakcs It is easily worked as a heap of ashes and responds to cultivation irF a way Shat is marvellous
 CUT TEN CROPS YEARLY.
 Arizona has established an experiment. statio2 in the heart of this big valley which is some twenty four raflcs long antF in spots ten to twelve miles wide down on the lower level. The results. ascc wonderful. Lass week they were cutting crop of alfalFa on this expert mental f;grln5 and for ten consecutive months they will cut succeeding crops The only months when tho crop is not cut here are December and January.
 Cotton and tObacCo grow with the greatest luxurancc, and this rich alluvial soil will be noted in q very few years aS the ideal spot in the whole country for dGiryfng, hog raising the production of poultry and vegetables, which one hcsitates to call early or late, they will be perennial. New potatoes will be produced in the middle of January, tomatoes will be ripe by the first of March ripe grapes will be gath cred in She 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 four times in whole winter | With an abundance of green alfalfa and vege- eabies in thc dry and not overheated climate i prevailing irr the winter months, chickens are free from the diseases that make their raising ]