Arizona republican., 1909-03-04
THE MESA COUNTRY
 \ LAND Of PROMISE
A Region Literally Flowing With Milk
 and Honey.

The advance agents of the children of Israel, when sent to investigate the prospects of the promised land, re- turned with bunch of grapes swing ing from a pole carried on the shoul- ders of two men, and announced that the promised land was land flowing with milk and honey.
 We have always been disposed to give this statement some latitude as a figure of speech, but since coming to Mesa we are more inclined to give it literal translation.
 Almost our first question-and there were many-on our arrival in the val ley, was how much honey should a colony of bees produce? We were prepared to accept an assertion of thirty or forty pounds. possibly fifty pounds, but when told that a fair yield would be 300 pounds or more, the relaxation of the countenance in- stantly betrayed us as an innocent abroad"
 This yield, of course, was confined to exceptional localities and exception al years. But with the completion or the reservoir, when there will be no intermission of alfalfa bloorls and the country is thickly studded with or anges and fruits of every description, and a sufficient growth of the honey producing eucalyptus to run our own sawmiIls, then the honey will flow the entire length of the valley in parallel stream with the milk.
 None are so blind as those who will not see, and none are so deaf as those who will not hear. So much so is this the case that it is almost useless to set forth figures and statements before the uninitiated. No doubt the children of Israel themselves. had it not been for the forty years starvation in the wilderness, would have refused to believe that any land could actually flow with milk end honey. The elor- nous bunch of grapes, however, in- stantly appealed to their appetites, and they swallowed one report with the other Possibly we should first in- troduce our bunch of grapes before making any honey statements.
 Ed Jones of Mesa will undertake to load any two men with grapes from his vineyard with a variety surpass- ing the ancient Palestine grape. in that they are all grape and no seed. with an annual income of $500 per acre. The olives of Palestine. no doubt, did as well as the olives of Mesa, but the one pride of Mesa. the orange crop. is without a competitor.
 The beeman will tell you, but don't listen to him-the beeman Is crazy man. To be beeman he must be specialist; he must have a natural lik ing for the work. natural bee in stinct, and he must give his whole mind to the work Such a man will handle 1000 colonies of bees. With yield of 300 pounds at the low price of five cents, this would be a gross income of s15,000. While this could not be said to be a literal flowing of honey over the land. 1t is an actual stream of wealth.
 Our alfalfa fields will soon be al ternated with orange groves. Our honey. which has heretofore been con sidered the best. will In the future be considered without an equal. and the orange and other like products of the valley will command an advanced price.
 The planting of eucalyptus is now attracting attention. Some varieties are recommended as honey producers. This feature should now be well con- sidered. If these varieties should an- swer the purpose as we'll for fuel and lumber. then why not as well add to the honey flow? While we may not personally realize on our planting, we must remember that every carload of honey shipped out is so much added to tha roantlrcaS nf fInn 1,allau ID ID s