Arizona sentinel., 1917-04-19

always cropping up regardless of en- deavors to keep 1t down. Many well-fenced acre of Bermuda grass is fattening cattle or sheep in prime con- cition for market at prices that have not been offered since the Civil wa-.
 Best of all and the actual founda tiCn of the present prosperity in san Pascual valley is the remarkable soil improvement. Ranches that were ap- parently hopeless a few years back have responded to the drainage sys- tenn. Soil that was sour with seepage and alkali is now producing as it would have produced from the be- ginning had the drainage system been installed before the land was opened for settlement. While the whole rec Iamation idea was an experiment sev- en years ago, and still is to a large extent, both on the part of the service and the settlers, experience has been a thorough teacher. No more time should be lost in completing and furth- CT perfecting the drainage system. Until this is accomplished the fullest measure of success will not be real ized. The settlers on their part have learned through experience what sta pie crops are suited to the locality and, unlike the seepage days, plant them with reasonable surety of get ting a profitable stand. It was a heart and pocket breaking experience in the past to plant without results. Many of the "old timers" could tell of planting three or four times in hopes of getting a stand of crops and fail ing. This condition Is practically un- der control now and with more soil cultivation on the part of the farmer and a completed drainage system on the part of the service, in a short time there will be no more prosperous or renowned farming district than the fertile valley just across the river.
 One often wonders what power has kept up the faith, that almost super human faith. which has crowded out the harassing facts of wasted toll and crop disappointments and shoe string" finances. Isn't it that inde- finable mesmeristic lure of the des- ert? That hidden yet not hidden pro- mise almost tangibly present in the azure sun-filled skies, as implacably cruel and kind as the Sphinx of Egypt, or Cleopatra. Whether or no, once the spell of the desert grips one. for ever more is that person of the des- ert. Even though he leaves his mis- tress for distant shores, she seeks him, relentlessly yet earnestly and lures him back to her tender, even viperish bosom.
 Our sweet-cruel mysterious, has a barbaric love for adornment San Pascual valley must have better roads. Why all that ruthless waste of energy at Laguna dam? San Pascual valley should look like an abode of glow-worms or fireflys after sunset, a star bejeweled spot of the great out of doors. Electric lights should blaze from every ranch window and in the summer time the buzz of the electric fan should rival that of the bee. En- zines should hum and bacon and eggs sizzle at the turning of switch. And telephones. Think of the time they would save during the irrigating sea- son as we'll as the general convent ence of being in touch with ones friends and business.
 King cotton will solve the problem of San Pascual. Hail! Hail! Hail! King Cotton, may your reign be long and prosperous. May your subjects attend in every detail to your modest though exacting demands, that your generous sovereignty may continue even unto the end of time, when the east meets with the west, the north with the south, and the end of all things is. Hail! Hail! Hail.