Arizona republican., 1910-05-09

aVaflaDle even a drinking water SUD-
 ply. Recently the Tucson Citizen had an interview with Ellsworth Hunting
 ton. assistant professor of geography
 in Yale university. who had just re-
 turned from a trip to Port Lobos. It
 only set forth his story in part, and he
 followed it with a communication con
 taining a fuller expression, which is
 herewith reproduced as a matter of
 general information. for judging by his
 professional standing. MT. Hnntington's
 views should be entirely reliable. be- ing formed on his personal observa-
 tfons. MT. Huntington says:
 The statement that the climate of northern Sonora has become distinctly drier during the past one or two tho,f-
 sand years may possibly be misunder-
 stood. At the present time the country
 to the east of Caborca in the valleys of
 the Altar and Magdalena rivers pos-
 sesses great agricultural Possibilities
 It would be hard to find more beau
 tiful sight than the waving grain
 fields around the terraced hills of the
 Trincheras in the Magdalena valley. or
 than the palms and gardens watered
 by the Altar river at the town of the
 same name. Water lies near the surf
 ace. and might readily be pumped out
 to irrigate+many thousand acres.
 West of Caborca the case is differ
 eut went from that town to the Pa
 cific coast. some fifty miles away. by
 two routes. One was down the Altar and the other was farther south. direct
 ly to Post Lobos. Along the course of
 the lower Altar there are the almost
 obliterated traces of four large towns,
 now reduced to barren areas strewn
 with bits of pottery. once the towns
 depended upon agriculture ard ob-
 tained water for irrigation from the
 river. Now the river does rot flow
 so far. yet even here. there is a possi- bility of agricultural development. pro- Yided sufficient capital is available. The landais very fertile and in some favored spots lies in pumping distance of the surface. Here, how
 ever, as in all northwestern Sonora, it must be borne in mind that oniS- d very. small percentage of the land can ever be brought under cultivation. The rest must always be utilized for cattle rais- ing.
 The difficult sandy wagon track from Caborca to Port Lobos run; through a region much less fertile than any thus far described. Around Port Lobos it eliminates in the driest, most barren district that we saw on our whole trip. This. of course due to the fact that the site was selected solely with a view to it's possibilities as a harbor. From this point of view the selection was wise. There is no doubt that an excellent harbor can be de- veloped here. but the place can never become an agricultural center Lobos was chosen to be port, and, it will [ never be anything but port. There is no. need that it should be anything else.
 As an outlet for an important rail road line 1t possesses great possibili- ties. but the idea that man can sup port himself there by farming is pre- posterous. The climate is drier than that of Tucson, as Is clearly evident from the vegetation. The summer rains do not begin until month later than in the higher, more mountainous regions. fifty or more miles back from the coast. The townsite is located in tut Ol sdHu
 Where the engineers are pow en- the sand is at it's lowest, the | dunes being only four or five feet high. l Farther north the sand increases to hills with a height of thirty or forty l feet. All the rest of the land around | Port Lobos consists of the driest and most gravelly mesa running up to low mountains four or five miles away. Ii | would be as wise to attempt 10 culti- vate the worst mesa land around Tue | son as to attempt cultivation anywhere near Port Lobos. Indeed. it would be l much better, for here we at least know | that good water can be obtained pro- vided the wells are deep enough. I while Port Lobos as yet has not a drop | of drinking water.
 At the time of our visit on April 24 l and 25 the engineers. the only persons l there, were drinking water which had | been hauled six or seven miles in a ! wagon. and was salty at that A we'll ! was in process of construction. but | had not yet reached water at depth | of fifty feet. Other things were in an even more embryonic state We saw