Arizona republican., 1908-04-01
LEARNED BY EXPERIENCE

not forgotten my first surprse on land-
 'ng in Phoenix. My old home being near Bonham, Texas on exactly the
 same parallel with Phoenix I was not
 prepared for such tropical change On the 18th day of March a snow
 storm and blizzard was raging at Bon
 ham. I left Bonham a few days after
 this for the western part Of the state
 and stopped near Colorado City a
 month. Colorado City is somewhat
 south of parallel with Bonham or ] Phoenix. l left Colorado City the last i of April when there was not a green
 sprig of grass on all those western plains and soon arrIved at Phoenix where the trees had all been in full | leaf for more than two months. the cattle were up to their bellies in green grass and moving machines were moving out in every direction. Had l been picked up and dropped into a new world I could not have been more amazed. For days I could do nothing but gaze in open mouthed wonder. had been told. by those with western experience. that Phoenix could be only mining camp. a city one year and
 
 What was my surprise to find miles and miles of the richest and most pro- ductive agricultural lands in the world A city with such a winter climate. sur rounded by farms and ranches and smaller towns to the extent of BOG, 900 acres of land the richest and most productive in the world, yielding boun- teous harvests of all the grains. fruits and vegetables should surely not be confOunded with a temporary mining camp. l put in the greater part of the first two years on a dairy ranch. learning the ins and outs of butter making and irrigating. By this time felt capable of managing for myself. and to get land and make a home made the mistake Of hunting for cheaper land. land that could home stead. I found about seventy miles below Phoenix and put in eight years By that time decided that cheap land was not what I wanted and taking with me only a team and sixteen head of cows. I pulled out for Mesa. Of course l had to rent. but decided next that had better rent money than rent land. and so by buying with borrowed capital I became a permanent citi- zen of Mesa. There has been but one regret. that I did not know enough to do that in the first place.
 As may be supposed, with the six teen head of dairy cows, naturally drifted into dairying. hoping to make both ends meet. But let me say right here; don't imagine you have an eX- tra smooth thing when you start in to pay taxes and interest both on the same property. Low prices for milk and shortage of water are now things of the past. but the wOuld-be citizen of ten years ago had the two to reckon with.
 Mesa is undoubtedly the ideal loca- ton for dairylng-green pasture the year round. the mild winter weather. and the abundant harvests of every known feed crop Mesa boasts of an up-to-da creamery and ice plant, built at a cost of $30.00o. This is cooperative plant. paying the share holders per cent interest on their shares. The ice making is of suffi- cient capacity to pay this interest and the running expenses of the creamery. so Is in fact an endowment adjunct to ! the creamery.
 One can readily reckon the possibil- | ities of milk prices. with a plant of this | kind. in a mining territory where | prices are the highest, and making butter and cheese of a quality that | commands a premium.
 Looking forward to this six years | ago I put registered Guernsey at the | head of the herd. replacing him with | another two years ago. The herd will | soon be cows giving from 40 to 60 pounds of milk per day and making tests of , per cent to over per cent | butter fat. 30 pounds of milk per day, testing 6 per cent. at s1.25 (the present price) for one month amounts to BPS and forty cows doing that well would bring in a monthly pay check of 5000. A dairyman. is not living up 10 his possibilities if he stops at milk production. Fruits vegetables and ] poultry are natural adjuncts to the lairy farm, and Mesa lands. with lairy herds fertilizing, are not sur passed for quality. quantity and cer- .ainty of crops. Proof of this is not needed. ''The Melon Growers Asso- ,iation" of Mesa is shipping cante- oupes at the rate of 200 carloads per lnnum. netting the producer in some instances $500 per acre. "The Grape irowers' and Orange Growers" while lot yet loading so many cars are get ing even better net returns. The Produce Growers" have yet their aurels to win. They anticipate a net 'eturn of $500 to s7OO per acre on uch crops as early onions. lettuce, adish, cauliflower, etc. The Mesa lairyman can be a member of any or III of these associationsI and get the 'iggest and best returns from his lcres. He can grow 50 bushels of wheat and the same year on the same ere grow 75 bushels of corn. There s nothing cheap about Mesa acres ex- ept the price and that will grow
 Ten years ago almost any 40 acres ould have been bought for $40 per -cres today such lands are considered heap at four times that price. Every ere set now to oranges. lemons. olives. -rapes or dates will within another ten ears be considered cheap at 5000.
 Mesa has the most economical and est regulated irrigation system. Mesa s keeping well abreast with school abilities. Graded schools with hand ome brick buildings in the several and union high school uilding son to be erected in the town t cost of s45,000