The border vidette., 1914-11-07

| cleared away the shadow caused
 by several of the grants men
 toned and the last great one
 made by Congress after the ac
 quisition of the territory under
 Gadsen purchase, known as the | Baca Float grant, is in the courts
 now. This grant covers the val ley to the north of NogaleS and
 is the richest land in the coun.
 try. Whichever way the courts
 decide, the result cannot fail tC
 be of great importance to Santa
 Cruz county. Great improve
 ments will then be projected.
 The reclamation service has
 been collecting data of the wat
 CT flow of the upper Santa Cruz
 river and an available reservoir
 site has been located, which
 will be used to impound flood
 water, giving abundant supply
 of water for irrigation, render
 ing possible the cultivation of a can be made available under
 present conditions. Such lands
 will be reclaimed and subdivid- ed for sale to settlers. The shallow depth of water also makes irrigation by pun ping practical and with electrical power Available this valley will be developed without awaiting the reclamation project.
 The county Is divided into the following agricultural districts the Santa Cruz valley, the San Rafael valley, Rain valley, com monly known as the Elgin re- zion, the Son oita region, and the Camille Park region.
 The Santa Cruz valley is farm ed by irrigation from the Santa Cruz river and by pumping, and from CalabaSaS to Tue son.
 The great regions in the east ern part of the country, lying between the Huachuca, Mustang the east, and the Santa Rita and Patagonia mountains on the west, are divided by the Canelo hills into the San Rafael and Rain valleys. The San Rafael valley extends from the Canelos into Mexico The area embrac- ed within Santa Cruz valley is about sixteen miles long in a northerly and southerly direc 5ion and about twelve miles wide. All this great valley and 5he surrounding hills, embracing nOre than thirty square leagues of land, were included in one Of jhe grants of lands made by the Mexican government, as claim ed by later successors in in crest. The court of private and claims cut down this grant 1 md the excess was declared | public land and is being fast | ,aken up by homestead locators, who are installing Improvements l tnd cultivating their lands. The | Rain valley lies north of the 1 Janelo Hills and spreads around | he north side of the Santa Rita on the west, reaching | 0 the Whetstone mountains on | he northeast. A low spur from he WhetStOneS, called the Mus | ang mountains, abutS into the | alley, segregating a beautiful | Irea of several thousand acres hat has been named Pleasant | alley. The Borderland route, state highway, crosses this alley. Over on the westward 1 ide of Rain valley is the So- lOita region.
 These three districts, Elgin, 'onoita and San Rafael, form what may be called the dry belt. Water for irriga- ion is not available, yet with areful cultivation, inculcated by he dry farming system, large nd abundant crops can be rais- d to the profit of the husband nan. Corn, beans, milo maize, eterits, shallu, sorghum and ther forage crops thrive in hese valleys and the future 7ill, with the installation of ilos, develop into great feeding rounds for the fattening of cat le bred or the hills surrounding nd imported from Mexico. The Ilgin and SOnoita regions are. DO, one day to be famous as an pple country. The conditions re right for apple orchards and lany thousand trees are being lanted. At the Settlers fair : cid this fall the products of ne soil shown would compare cry favorably with the pro- nets of i1rir1 ta6 lands tba corn |