Arizona republican., 1910-12-20
FUTURE OF
 MAR|NETTE Success Of Mesa Land Pro- ieCt Practically Assured 'WIGGINS SUBIRR|GAT|ON
It Is Proving a Fine Aux Hilary to Canal System Orange Planting to Be Begun on Extensive Scale the Coming Spring.

morning from Los Angeles for a stay that will lS . until Thursday even ing, when. .e leaves again for his California home. The qualification of california" as descriptive of his home is used advisedly, for while that is his present home he has another in Marinette. the coming town a few miles north of Phoenix. that is some day to be the beauty spot of all Ari- Zona, as d fruit growing section.
 MT. Davie was as busy yesterday as yellow fever mosquito in August and his work was just as effective and lot more salutary. He is busy with his own business, but somehow the things he has to do with always concern the public. for his work is all along developing lines. What he does always helps some one else directly, who Is mutually interested, and a. tot more people indirectly by demonstra- ting what others can do if they want to. That is unless his projects fail, as they seldom do. and never more than temporarily. Mir. Davie is d good deal like an India rubber ball. He may be hit with a good heavy bat once in a while. but he is always in shape to come back when he gets through rolling. Yesterday Mir. Davie motored out to Marinette to see how things were going, motoring in again to attend to a little business and then motored out to the ranch again to stay all night.
 Mir. Davies visit this time has to do with q lot of things. but principally the Marinette project. For those who have not been here long enough to know what the Marinette project is, it will be worth while to make d brief explanation. A couple of years ago, or thereabOut, Mir. Davie and several other gentlemen acquired by location that tract of land lying be- tween New river and the Aqua Fria river on the east and west, the moun- tains on the north and the railroad track on the south, just above the junction of the two rivers. This is in general form triangle, with the apex down hill and the railroad track run ming through it. It contains several thousand acres of as fine mesa land as anybody ever saw and beautifully located. But it isn't worth a sou
 
 somebody who knows what to do with with it and has the resources with which to back his intelligence. Mir Davie and associates believed they measured up to the requirements of profitable ownership. They think so yet and the measure of success achieved to date is a fine demonstra- tion of it. The first thing they did was to locate all the water available from the Aqua Fria river where it leaves the foothills as primary water supply. Then they built a fine irri- gating canal from the foothills to the lower end of the mesa. together with the necessary laterals or some of them. at east. That furnished enough water to begin the work of reclaUation.
 Seven thousand acres of the mesa were cleared during the present year three houses were built. one of them for Mir. Davie, the canal was com pleted and the water turned in. Mir Davie raised a fine crop of sorghum, and now has hundred acres of bar ley that looks as good as anybOdy's. The canal doesn't furnish water enough. That, however. was not sur prising. for nobody expected it would. The original plan included the install lation of a pumping plant at the head of the canal to furnish the ditch with an auxiliary water supply. It is that business that brings Mir Davis here now. or. that at least, is one of the things.
 Yesterday there arrived at Mari copa a big we'll drilling outfit from Deming. N. NJ. Today it will be taken to Marinette and thence to the canal head. where it is planned to drill six wells thirty or forty feet deep It is only seven feet to water level. but it Is expected to develop wells in which the water will stand twenty three feet deep. making a thirty foot maximum lift. Unless all previous in vestigations are erroneous and the present plan proves a bigger failure than anything else in connection with the project, these wells are expected to add enough water to the natural flow of the canal to meet the needs of the lands under the ditch.
 But that is only part of the story There is nothing like having thing cinched Both for added insurance and for trying out a new and promis- ing idea in sub-irrigation to- see if it is not even betteothan the ditch system. Mr Davie equipped a ten-acre patch for the experiment. No de- tailed description will be given here.