PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY, 



33 



The land that is now under cultivation in the vicin- 

 ity of Tucson furnishes but a fraction of the hay, 

 grain and fruit that is consumed by it alone, conse- 

 quently the farmer who locates in this valley will get 

 more for his product than in any other portion of the 

 territory. 



A land, in altitude from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea 

 level, having twelve months of spring, summer and 

 fall, where winter is never known, with 368 bright 

 sunny days in the year such is the Santa Cruz Valley 

 of Arizona. 



ARIZONA PROTECTS CAPITAL. 



The Peoria Canal Company at Gila Bend, Ariz., has 

 been put into a receiver's hands. Judge Baker an- 

 nounced an important policy when he named as re- 

 ceiver a person favorable to the defendant's interests, 

 giving the following explanation: 



" I have concluded to appoint Mr. McMillan as the 

 receiver while the other gentleman whose names have 

 been suggested here as representing their company 

 are entitled to all respect; and while I have all confi- 

 dence in them, yet, as it was aptly said by one of the 

 counsel here, inasmuch as the money of the Peoria 

 Canal Company and the Arizona Construction Com- 

 pany has built this magnificent piece of work and 

 erected it out of a desert, and built it up, and the 

 money is still in these works, and is still to go on 

 building up the country by this irrigating canal, that 

 fact should constitute a most potent reason that they 

 should be permitted to name the receiver to be ap- 

 pointed. 



They built the dam and the canal by putting 

 their money into the work of its construction, and they 

 have not yet got it out, and their money is in jeopardy; 

 their dam is broken. I think in the appointment of 

 the receiver if I lean one way or the other I should 

 lean toward that policy which will not only cause 

 them to feel that they are protected, but will enable 

 the court to feel satisfied they will be thoroughly pro- 

 tected for their money. The fact that Mr. McMillan 

 has been for a short time in the employ of the Peoria 

 Canal Company is no impediment to his appoint- 

 ment." 



ARTESIAN WELLS IN YAKIMA VALLEY. 



A very hopeful development of artesian waters 

 is under way in the Yakima Valley of Washing- 

 ton. The Yakima Land & Artesian Company has lo- 

 cated a fifth well, and its manager is quoted as follows: 

 " The wells all flow freely and the quantity of water 

 is only governed by the dimensions of the hole 

 drilled. The uplands of the Moxee Valley, upon 

 which these wells have been struck, are generally 

 characterized as the artesian belt; but there is no 

 reason why artesian water should not be as plentiful 



elsewhere in this section. We have every reason to 

 believe that the whole of Yakima Valley is underlaid 

 with the same strata; and this is taking 'Yakima' in 

 its broad sense, covering all tributary and contiguous 

 valleys. There is no doubt in my mind that in due 

 course of time artesian wells will supplant, in a meas- 

 ure at least, surface water for irrigation purposes in 

 this valley. And there are numerous advantages to 

 recommend it. First, the water is of a very much 

 warmer temperature than that flowing through the 

 mountain streams, and this advantage will be obvious 

 to experienced irrigators; second, the flow is continu- 

 ous, thereby keeping the land moist and in condition 

 for successful cultivation during the entire year; 

 third, the expenses necessary in the long lines of 

 ditches, for ditch-tenders, etc., are in a great measure 

 obviated, and therefore the expenses are necessarily 

 reduced." 4 



A LARGE WASHINGTON ENTERPRISE. 



About one year ago the contract for a canal about 

 100 miles in length through the richest portion of the 

 Yakima country in Washington was let to Everest & 

 Co., of Portland, and work has since been vigorously 

 prosecuted under charge of W. L. Rockwell. This 

 canal taps the Yakima river at Prosser, running 

 thence parrallel with the river until Kiona is reached. 

 About two miles from this point two branches of the 

 canal separate, one running north and the other south- 

 east, thus irrigating over 130,000 acres of rich, heavy 

 sag-brush land, about half of which is railroad land. 

 The land gently slopes toward the Columbia River 

 and is easily irrigated. Hops, fruits and vegetables 

 can be raised as in no other portion of the State. The 

 laud now sells at an average of $25 per acre and will 

 be placed on the market as soon as the canal is com- 

 pleted, which will be in about six months. Two 

 hundred men with teams will be put to work in a few 

 weeks. 



Yakima County is heavy sagebrush land, somewhat 

 similar to that in Nevada, where three and four crops 

 of alfalfa are raised in a season with the benefits of 

 irrigation. Hops especially will grow here, and 

 experiments have been made which were more than 

 satisfactory. Under this canal the present season the 

 first crop in a number of instances yielded over 1,000 

 pounds to the acre. 



A despatch from the City of Mexico states that 

 Engineer Scougal has signed a contract with Senors 

 Vivanco, Sequin, and others of this city and the City 

 of Nuevo Laredo to lay out large irrigation works to 

 consist of a masonry dam above the junction of the 

 San Juan and Rio Grande rivers and about 100 miles 

 of canal and laterals, which will irrigate 25,000 acres 

 of cotton land in Mexico. 



