THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICA. 



251 



with many contemplated improvements and a 

 number of horticulturists in this section cannot 

 tell where they stand." 



The Fresno Republican has the following edi- 

 torial: " The San Francisco Call gives Henry 

 Miller, the well-known land baron, a pretty severe 

 shaking up for his opposition to the Wright irri- 

 gation law. The position of the Call, that great 

 land monopolists who persistently oppose every 

 effort looking toward a more advanced system of 

 agriculture than is practiced by them are enemies 

 of the State, is well taken. The Wright irrigation 

 law is undoubtedly defective in some respects, 

 but the duty of every citizen who desires the wel- 

 fare of the State is to assist in remedying those 

 defects rather than to raise up barriers against the 

 success of any form of irrigation under public con- 

 trol. The opposition of Mr. Miller and his class 

 to irrigation under the district system is simply 

 that of any monopolist who holds large interests 

 and desires to retain an exclusive control over 

 them regardless of the effect upon the general 

 welfare." 



The hearing of the case testing the Wright law 

 in the United States Supreme Court has been def- 

 initely set for the first Monday in January. 



ARIZONA. 



By competent experts it is estimated that there 

 are 25,000 head of cattle in Salt River valley being 

 fed and fattened for the winter markets East and 

 West. 



A company of capitalists are busily engaged in 

 planting 2,000 acres of canaigre on the extensive 

 possessions of Miguel Wormser in the Salt River 

 valley. This new tanning agent is coming to the 

 front as one of the most profitable crops that can 

 be grown in the valley. It grows wild along all 

 the streams, but under cultivation the value and 

 amount of the crop is largely increased. The 

 process of extracting the acid from the roots is 

 almost identical to the process used in making 

 sugar from the sugar beet, which plant the 

 canaigre in a measure resembles. 



More than twenty new houses are in course of 

 erection at Phoenix, but still the tide of travel in- 

 creases and fills them up as fast as they are 

 finished. Merchants and business men generally 

 notice the increase of population and many de- 

 clare that the town is on the verge of a boom. 



It is reported that a good service of local trains 

 will be run from Phoanix over the new M. & P. 

 railroad and the people of Mesa and vicinity 

 are correspondingly jubilant. 



The report of Governor Hughes of Arizona to 

 the Secretary of the Interior, says that during the 

 year, Arizona was favored with a high degree of 

 prosperity. 



The present population of Arizona is placed at 

 77,000, being an increase of 7,000 during the year, 

 90 per cent of the immigrants locating in the 

 districts of Yavapai county and the agricultural 

 section of Maricopa county. 



CALIFORNIA. 



Of the 38,000,000 acres of arable land in the 

 State of California only 2,500,000 acres are yet 

 under cultivation. The population is now a little 

 over 1,250,000, or one for every two acres of 

 tilled land. With irrigation and improved 

 methods of cultivating the soil, every two acres 

 of the vast area of arable land of the State will 



easily support one person. When this is the case 

 the population will be 19,000,000. The total 

 valuation of property for 1895 is $1,132,712,674, 

 forty-three millions of which represents railroads. 



A new incorporation is the Fort Hill Land & 

 Water Company, of Claremont. Capital stock, 

 $100,000, with $17,750 paid in. The incorporators 

 are C. Hanson, of Los Angeles; Frank S. Mead, 

 Edwin E. Cole and Henry Hanson, of Pomona. 



The directors of Turlock irrigation district have 

 fixed the tax rate at $1.62 on each $100 valuation. 

 The rate in Modesto district is $1.78. Letters from 

 Judge Waymire, contractor on the Turlock canal, 

 are to the effect that he is arranging to put in the 

 necessary headgates, etc. 



The directors of the Oakdale Irrigation Company 

 will hold a meeting and it is expected that there 

 will be a formal consideration of the proposition 

 to transfer such stock to L. P. Drexel as may be 

 necessary to insure the successful operation of the 

 Oakdale canal by water supplied from the North 

 canal. 



The deed to the new Bear Valley Irrigation Com- 

 pany, in consideration of $380,000, has been filed 

 by A. G. Hubbard, of Redlands. It conveys the 

 whole Bear Valley system. 



A call has been issued by the directors of Escon- 

 dido irrigation district for a special election to 

 issue an assessment of $8,000. 



L. A. and B. A. Wright and E. B. Knapp have 

 filed water claims upon about 6,000 inches of water 

 on what is known as the Hot Sulphur Springs 

 Tract, near San Jacinto. They give notice of an in- 

 tention to divert said water, by means of a pipe 

 line, for irrigation purposes. 



L. W. Houghton had on exhibition at the Los 

 Angeles fair a sack of English walnuts, which took 

 the highest prize. His ranch is one mile south- 

 east of Downey. 



At the Orange Growers' meeting at Riverside, 

 the old eleven directors of the Riverside Fruit Ex- 

 change were re-elected, save one, C. H. Low, who 

 was replaced by Hon. H. M. Streeter. The other 

 ten are A. H. Naftzger, M. J. Daniels, D. W. Mc- 

 Leod, T. H. B. Chamblin, S. C. Evans, Jr., 

 George Frost, J. H. Wright, G. W. Garcelon, E. F. 

 Kingman, A. P. Johnson. 



An eastern firm has determined to establish an 

 extensive canning establishment at Redlands. 



A full car-load of lemons from Riverside was 

 sent to Boston, and the fruit brought $4 to $6.75 

 per box. Had it been properly graded the price of 

 some of it would have run up to $10 per box. 



The meeting of the Fruit Growers' Association 

 at Pasadena re-elected the old board of directors, 

 who organized as follows: President, George F. 

 Keenaghan; vice-president, B. F. Ball; secretary, 

 J. F. Jones. 



Mr. Joachin, of North Pasadena, has succeeded 

 in raising a fine hardshell almond, which he calls 

 the " Populist almond." It is said the fruit flour 

 ishes in the neighborhood of eucalyptus trees. 



The Pacific Coast Oil Company has begun work 

 on their mammoth storage tank at Ventura. The 

 tank, when complete, will be connected with the 

 pipe line leading to Sudden's wharf. 



Probably the largest and most promising enter- 

 prise in Southern California to-day is the well- 

 matured project of sending power from Kern river 

 to Los Angeles by electric transmission. 



