Arizona republican., 1907-09-21
SALT RIVER VALLEY
FOR HOME SEEKERS
A Brief Reference to Few Of the
Many Things of Interest to Prospect
i've Settlers Here.

The suggestion of farm homes ir
the West. instinctively carries with il
the thought of cheap land. the incen-
tive that settled the middle western
states. In the Salt River Valley, Ari-
iona, of which this article is partial
~ descriptive. there are no cheap lands
i'm the sense the average person uses
that phrase. There are yet sections of
the country where land may be pro-
cured for five or ten dollars an acre
but in most places of that kind the
land is high at any price. owing to the
hazardous conditions under which il
must be cultivated. the element of
chance being so great that financial
success is a mere gamble and not a
promising one. The cheapest land
available in the Salt River Valley is
from fifteen to thirty dollars on acre
and there is very little of it. The soil
on such land is equal in fertility to
any. but the lower price is due TO its
location. from ten to twenty miles
from the business centers. on the
fringe of the cultivated area. 1t is,
however. undoubtedly worth the
money and will double in value in the
next year or two.
Other lands range in price from
those figures up to 5000 and $3.50 per
acre. adjacent TO the city of Phoenix,
or the towns of Mesa City and Tempe.
The greater portion of the farming land.
from four to ten miles from the city
of Phoenix. is held at from $50 to 800
per acre Land in the citrus belt. a
fairly well defined portion of the val
lay ~ fan mil
nix. is still higher, ranging from $50
to $50 per acre. These lands will at
least double in value and perhaps go
still higher in the next two years. or
by the time irrigation water is avail
able from the stored supply in the
Roosevelt reservoir. now under con-
struction by the reclamation service of
the United States.
The settler or the land Spectator
who is looking, for large holdings of
cheap land must go farther. for the
government has wisely prevented such
operations under the reclamation pro-
jects. Its purpose is to aid only in
home building and the limit by law. of
holdings for one person, on which
stored water may be used. is 100 acres.
But the opportunities for the home
builder are Incompatible, nothwith-
standing the price of the land. for in
this valley. with an ideal climate. a
perfect irrigation system and an ample
and certain water supply. one acre
may be made as productive as five or
ten acres in most farming countries.
To illustrate, two or three tons of hay
is a good crop on an acre of eastern
land, while in the Salt River Valley.
any good farmer may assure himself
Of two tons to the acre and of at
least four crops in a season. while
some farmers with care and diligence
make six crops. Hay is now selling at
So a ton, baled. and will be higher.
The price of land is now nearly
double the price of a year ago and
that applies to all lands in general
Orange land now held at $3.50 could
have been bought year ago for from
SIS to 800. Lands suitable for the
raising of-~ngar beets, deciduous fruits.
grains. alfalfa and all general crops.
than which there are no better in any
country, held year ago at from $50
to $50 an acre. are today worth from
$40 to s109 an acre. depending on their
nearness to the commercial centers
and other natural conditions that
regulate relative prices. The sales and
transfers of land during the past year
equaled the total of similar transac-
tions for several preceding years.
There was no wild boom in lands and
four out of five transactions We're
made by home" people, people who
have lived in the valley long enough
TO know its merits: workingmen who
put their small savings into payments
on farms that will some day make
them independent; merchants and
business men who acquired ranches
some for homes and some to sell again
at an advance; and an occasional
tourist who visited Arizona and saw
an opportunity to make a good invest
ment.
The lands are still cheap and will
be so considered until the prices range
from 500 for the most distant tracts
within the reservoir district, to $500
per acre for locations near to the bust
ness centers and the railroads. This
is a simple mathematical calculation.
The products of these lands when
properly watered. will pay for their
cultivation and interest on the invest
ment at the maximum prices named.
Had this never been demonstrated the
statement would be unwarranted, but
fortunately for Arizona, all southern
California is a present example of the
possibilities of this valley. The lands
that have made that state famous are
held today at from $500 to $1,000 per
acre and are paying interest on the
money invested. The lands in the Salt
River Valley will produce nearly
everything raised in southern Cali
fornia and some crops that are not
adapted to the coast region. In quar-
tity and quality per acre the crop
product of the Salt River Valley is
second to no region in the world.
Judgment must naturally be used in
the selection of the crop to be grown.
There are no rice fields and no cram
berry marshes, but aside from crops
demanding these extreme conditions,
there is no country presenting a
greater diversity of crop possibilities.
The Arizona oranges have always
commanded from fifty cents TO SO a
box more in the New York market
than the California fruit, due to earlier
ripening and superior quality, while
the tonnage and certainty of a crop is
more dependable than in the Golden