The Arizona sentinel., 1909-11-18
POSSIBILITIES 0F YUMA
 REGION UHFATKOMED The Soil Simply Marvellous in Its
 Pr8duGtiyeHeSS And the Climate is IntOxiCatingIy
 SalgbriOaS
BY GEORGE N. BURTON, In los Angeles Times.

m 1sOS AHSeftS 1ihSS.
 is very far from a semi-millenium since three little open boats under the flag of Spain first touched the waters Of the western hemi- sphere and revealed the new world to the eyes Of Europeans. 1t is only a little over a century since the United States of America sprnng, so to speak, like Pallas Athene from tEe brain Of love, completely armed ad- dition to the family Of nations. It is but little -ver half century since California be- came part of these United States Of America, and less than generation since the settle ment of the Great South west began.
 In all the l25 years since the Republic was founded, also in the half century since Cali fornia became one Of the States Of the Union. and during every year of the last thirty, a re- alization Of the vast riches of the American continent, Of the territory of the United States and of this Great Southwest has been more and more astonishing to the minds Of men. One would suppose that by today we knew pretty thoroughly what the undeveIop- ed resources of the Great Southwest might reasonably he expected to become. We have not reached the depths of this great ocean Of wealth with our plummet line yet.
 In a residence of forty years on the Coast the writer thought he knew little about what there is on the Coast, and as most of these years have been spent in and around Los Angeles, he naturally had a little con- ceit that he was pretty we'll acquainted with the Great Southwest. Last week a trip to the Colorado River bottoms. below Yuma made him feel as a tendeTfoot who had come in on the last train. New to him. this wonderful region and it's possibilities are pretty well known to a great many readers of The Times by the stories published, n not by the demon stratjcD uf their own eyes.
 Yuma lies on the map just twelve miles from where the government is putting in the great Laguna dam, at the confluence of the fTila and Colorado Rivers. It is twelve miles from Yuma down the river to the Mexican boundry line ou the Arizona side Of the river At one point, just below Yuma, the intema- tional boUndry line runs up along the river which there takes a westerly trend and from Yuma to Mexico is only few mfles.
 ONCE A MIGHTY STREAM.
 Ages ago when the mountain ranges of Arizona and California lowered toward the stars, at least twice as high as they do now, rains were very freduent and came down in torrcntial volumes all along these mountain I was a mighty stream, sweeping down debris in tons every second Of Its flow. The Cobra do sink was at that time great inland sea, which spread over the country on both sides of where the river now runs. As the erosion of winds and storms, landslides and glaciers wore down the mountain ridges year by year, the great river carried down a vast amount q silt, erosion from the rocks full Of phos- fad we'll as the vegetation along It's banks; and this was all deposited In what are now the sinks of the CoIcrs5Os
 As the n1eMCstaSu tops were woYn down, the naa,s became Esss frequent md less in vOflEns But ti,e. erosion Of yoeks aad river bSs1sEsr tSs trees and vegetable mould torn sFsEs Ehr banks still came down and settled into the bottom Of the great inland lake. This geogical process went on from age to age to our time, Aeaving the Colorado at Yuma a stream about half mile wide and being at the present time about twenty feet deep ta the deepest portion.
 It is not necessary to remind Californians that the Spanish missionaries and explorers called this river the Colorado because of the reddish color of It's waters. 1t Is the Colorado upin the Grand Canyon in Arizona and 
 the year. after passing the mouth of the Gila, instead of the red river it becomes the brown river It actually looks today as If ten per cent of its flow was silt and only ninety per sent water.
 RICHES OF SOIL WONDERFUL
 But the object Of this story is to call atten- tion once more, and for perhaps the thou sandth time, to the riches of the soil along the Colorado on both sides, incident to the depositidg of this mass of debris during all the past ages. Going through the country on the Arizona side of the river, for several miles below Yuma, one encounters the same type Of country and soil that is found in the Imperial Valley country around Braw'ey, Calexico and other points west of the river The fertility Of the black prairie soils of Illi- nois has aa.onished people engaged in agri- culture for nearly one hundred years. The fertility of the valleys Of the Nile has been a matter of history for at least COCO years. Those who are familinr with Illinois prairie soil, and those who know what the valley of the Nile is for agriculture. know that this lower Colorado River region surpasses both ofthem.
 If you ask a farmer along this stretch of country if the soil is six feet, his eyes will open with astonishment al your ignorance He will tell you no one knows whether it is co seet, eOe or 6OOO feet deep. It is practically without bottom. It is so thoroughly well mixed with sand, disintegrated granite and ether rocks that it never breaks. It is as easily worked as a heap of ashes, and re spends te cultivation in way that is mar zelozzs-
 CUT SEVEN CROPS YEARLY.
 Arizona has established an experiment station in the heart of this big valley, which fs some twenty-fouT miles long, and fn spot: ten 10 twelve miles wide, down on the lower sevei. The results are wonderful Last week shey were cutting a crop Of alfiBlsa on this ex periuental farm, and for seven eonSecutivt months they will cut succeeding crops. Tht enly moatAs when the crop Is not cut EeTe art December and January.
 Cotton and tobacco grow with the gre&ses Mxurianee and this rich alluvial soil will 5 noted in a very few years as the ideal spot il she whole country for dairying, hog raising she production of poultry and vegetables wlscl one hesitates to call early or late Gs they vii be perennial. New potatoes wEll be produces fn the middle of January, tomatoes will b ripe by the first Of March ripe grapes will b gathered in the early days of May, and apri cots by the middle of the same month. Chic kens and turkeys flourish there in the winte time beyond all experience anywhere else.
 The rainfall is exceedingly light and come only three or four times in whole winter With an abundance of green alfalfa and veget able the dry and not overheated climat prevailing in the winter months, chickens ar