THE ARID-ZONA. 



ARIZONA is forging to the front as a producer of 

 fine fruits.and where fine fruits may be produced 

 in abupdance, there magnificent homes will be 

 built up, because sunshine and flowers, bees, birds and 

 rippling waters are the inevitable accompanists of the 

 golden orange, the blushing peach, the melting pear 

 and delicious grape. When all these things are com- 

 bined, heaven is not very far away. Given such a 

 combination, whatever other and more prosaic things 

 may be considered necessary may be readily obtained, 

 because fruit culture under the favorable conditions 

 afforded by abundant sunshine and abundant water, 

 pays. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that Ari- 

 zona already boasts the foundations, at least, of prince- 

 ly homes. The Arizona Daily Gazette, some issues 

 past, described one of these as a ranch belonging to 

 Chaplain Scott, ten miles northeast of Phoenix and 

 two and a half miles east of Arizona Falls. It con- 

 sists of a half section, all under high Cultivation 

 and thorough irrigation of course. Tall pepper trees 

 shade the home buildings and a very great variety of 

 fruits may be found, in thriving condition, upon the 

 grounds. Apricot trees set out two years ago, paid a 

 net profit this season of a dollar per tree. All through 

 the great strike, from 75 to 125 boxes of early grapes, 

 weighing 30 pounds to the box, were shipped daily, 

 bringing from SI. 00 to $1.25 per box, net. Later there 

 were magnificent Muscats, Lady Downings, Flaming 

 Tokays and many other varieties for shipment. One 

 portion of the ranch is occupied by a large orange 

 orchard, for which the locality and soil are said to be 

 well adapted. Alfalfa also flourishes and grain does 

 well. Among young trees, not yet in bearing, were 

 grown this year sixty acres of peanuts, yielding a 

 large crop and of finer quality, it is claimed, than the 

 famous goobers of the Old Dominion. There may 

 be but little poetry in peanuts, but if they pay they 

 may associate with orange blossoms all right. The 

 orange blossom question is supposed to be pretty 

 largely one of finance, in all its phases, these latter 

 days. Not to get clear off the subject, however, Ari- 

 zona undoubtedly once sustained a population of 

 millions of people, as the traces of its great ancient 

 systems of irrigation canals mutely testify, and it un- 

 doubtedly may again sustain its swarming multi- 

 tudes, when the water and the land are reunited. 



KANSAS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The Kansas State Board of Agriculture will in- 

 augurate a new feature in its forthcoming annual 

 meeting at Topeka, January 9 to 11 inclusive, by de- 

 voting one day of the session (probably Friday, 

 January 11) to the consideration of topics connected 

 with irrigation. In line with this, C. H. Longstreth, 

 who is widely noted for having been so successful in 

 Kearney county, Kansas, is to address the meeting, 

 telling of his wide experience in " Fruit and Vege- 

 table Growing Under Irrigation.'' Geo. M. Munger, 

 who has a plant for irrigating a 500-acre orchard in 

 Greenwood county, will tell of his observations and 

 experiences up to date. Chancellor F. H. Snow, of the 



270 



State University, is to talk on the subject of 

 " Periodicity in Kansas Rainfall and Possibilities of 

 Storage of the Excess in Rainfall." A. B. Montgomery 

 will give his wide observations as to " Irrigation 

 Possibilities Upon the Higher Lands of Western 

 Kansas," and Senator James Shearer, of Marshall 

 county, will deliver an address entitled " Making the 

 Most of Our Natural Supply of Moisture.'' C. D. 

 Perry, of Clark county, who has 1,200 acres under 

 irrigation, will explain what and how he is doing, 

 using models and illustrations. H. R. Hilton, of 

 Topeka, will give an illustrated lecture on " Water 

 in Soils," and Prof. Haworth, of the University, will 

 likewise talk on a geological topic in reference to 

 these subjects. In connection with these listed 

 speakers, Robert Hay and dozens of others best 

 posted in these matters are expected to be present 

 and take part in the discussions. It is hoped to 

 make this the most useful, practical and interesting 

 meeting the board has yet held. 



A WISE POLITICAL PLEDGE. 



If all politicians were as wise as some of those in 

 Montana, irrigation legislation would speed as rapid- 

 ly as its vast importance demands, Hon. Donald 

 Bradford, of Helena, wrote the following plank of 

 the platform of a party in his State, which we com- 

 mend to legislators generally for careful consider- 

 ation: "We pledge our delegation in the legislature 

 to the passage of such laws as will place in the hands 

 of the people, without the intervention of private 

 corporations, the necessary water supply for irriga- 

 tion." 



SOUND BUSINESS SENSE. 



We have been invited to go into an irrigation 

 scheme in Southern California, which is to cost 

 $2,000,000, but is to be capitalized at twice that sum, 

 while water rights at $20 per acre are to be issued to 

 the tune of eight millions. Thus the poor settlers 

 are to pay for their water a sum that will yield a big 

 revenue on six times the actual investment. It was 

 represented that our share in the profits would be up- 

 ward of $400,000, simply for booming the scheme ! 

 We are urged to join a large party of agricultural 

 editors who start next week to view the site of this 

 fabulous wealth. Yet we decline! Why? Because we 

 have enough to do to attend to our own business; 

 because we believe an agricultural journal should be 

 perfectly independent and free to work for the farm- 

 ers' welfare; because we believe no farm journal 

 should thus mortgage itself to any scheme or delude 

 its readers with the idea that its advocacy is solely 

 in their interest when it is really in the interest of 

 an outside scheme in which the publisher hap- 

 pens to be engaged. These are reasons enough 

 for any self-respecting journalist to keep free from 

 all such entanglements. We also decline to be 

 a party to the scheme in question because we 

 utterly oppose this species of financiering that aims 

 to burden industry with tolls to pay dividends on 

 fictitious capital. Agriculture can't stand it in irri- 

 gation works any more than in railroads. American 

 Agriculturist. 



