THE UPPER PHOTO SHOWS WHERE THE WATERS OF SPANISH FORK FLOW DOWN THROUGH A PIPE, TO FURNISH POWER. THE LOWER PHOTO SHOWS THIS POWER HOUSE. THE UPPER PHOTOS SHOW THE POWER CANAL AND TUNNEL WHICH CARRY THE WATERS OF SPANISH FORK; THE LOWER, THE MOUNTAIN THROUGH WHICH THIS TUNNEL IS BORED. opportunities now offered to secure valuable farms in the Utah Valley, at merely nominal prices, are the most attractive to be found anywhere in the United States. Land at present obtainable there for a few dollars an acre is quite as desirable in all respects as areas in the Grand Valley, of Colorado, which have been sold for nearly $5,000 an acre -the highest price ever paid for agricultural land. All it needs is water, which will soon be supplied. It is a beautiful country. The Utah Valley is like a level floor, walled on either side by ranges of gigantic mountains. Nothing more picturesque can be imagined. A veritable paradise in the midst of the desert. WOMAN HAS FINEST ROOF-GARDEN WHAT is declared to be the finest roof-garden in the world is that owned and managed by a lady, Mrs. Blackwell, of Seattle, Washington. It occupies a space of twelve thousand square feet, and, in addition to well-laidout grass lawns, flower-beds with beautiful blooms, shrubs, trees, and climbing vines, there is a charming tea-house and a pagoda. The whole of the work in this aerial garden is done by Mrs. Blackwell and her two daughters. In addition to fruit trees, there are a number of ash and birch trees, six holly bushes, four hawthorns, a few evergreens, two laburnums, and several Arabia trees, together with one small apple tree, which bears enormously large fruit. Besides this there are large shrubs, like the lilac, and quantities of roses, there being three hundred or more bushes. The climbers, which add softness and grace and give the flowing lines needed to complete the picture, are jasmine, Virginia creeper grape, three varieties of clematis, wistaria, ivy and climbing roses. The photograph herewith shown gives a good idea of the beauty of this unique garden. REMARKABLE ROOF-GARDEN OF MRS. BLACKWELL. OF SEATTLE. WASHINGTON, DATES FROM OUR OWN DESERT O By CHARLTON LAWRENCE EDHOLM UR Southwestern desert is developing a new industry which will add a delicious fruit to our native food supply, the fresh date of high quality, which will replace the low grade imported product, the sticky dried dates from the Persian Gulf. The Deglet Noor date grown in southern California and Arizona is as much more appetizing than the messy lump of dried, crushed and unclean dates that the grocer pries off the ordinary cube, as a sound, sweet, rosy-cheeked apple is superior to the leathery slice of the same fruit which the clerk scoops out of the dried apple barrel. Within a few years we may see the Eastern mar ket supplied with the fancy fresh dates from our own desert, for already this de licious fruit is sold in Los Angeles, though the output is quite limited. For some years the U. S. Government has conducted experiments in date growing with shoots brought from famous orchards in Persia, Tunis and Egypt. These tests and the results of planting by ranchers in southern California and Arizona have demonstrated that the date can be profitably cultivated within our own borders, and various companies are now being formed to go into the business on a large scale. Just what this industry may mean in the Southwest can only be guessed at but its possibilities. seem very great for there is not only the food value of the fruit to be considered but also the various by-products of a date orchard which make the palm in its native land a sort of universal provider. TEN-YEAR-OLD OFF-SHOOTS BANKED SO AS TO FORM INDEPENDENT ROOTS. The leaves furnish a long fibre which is excellent for cordage, mats, baskets and so forth. The pulpy part of the leaf and stem can be made into paper which is said to be of a superior quality; while sugar, alcohol, wax, starch and dyeing material form other by-products of the date palm, to say nothing of the wine made from sap of the old trees. In its African home the palm is also used for building and furniture making and in fact enough beautiful pieces of furniture have been made by amateurs in this country from the palm stems to suggest another by-product. Thus in the cultivation of a desert plant we may find a partial solution to the problem of reclaiming our own arid wastes. The conditions for successful date growing are stated in the Arab proverb CLUSTERS OF GOLDEN SWEETNESS. that "the palm should have its feet in the water and its head in the fire." An abundance of water at the roots, but the least possible humidity in the atmosphere are the chief requisites, and these are found in various parts of Arizona and southern California, notably the Salton Basin. Here the water is brought up from wells at a depth of about one hundred feet, while artesian water is found at about five hundred feet. The desert heat is intensified in this basin by the bare slopes of the mountains near by, which throw back the rays of the sun into the centre of the valley, producing an exceedingly dry and hot atmosphere. A large acreage has been set out in date palms near Indio on the Salton Basin and until these young trees are producing there will be good profits from raising alfalfa which is planted between the trees, this doubling up of the crops being advantageous to both. Even more valuable than the alfalfa as a secondary crop is the cotton which is now being produced in the Coachella and Imperial valleys and which flourishes under like conditions with the date. This can be planted between the thirty-foot rows of trees without damage to either crop. Experiments have shown that the area adapted to date growing in California is also suitable for the raising of the long-fibred Egyptian cotton, an expensive variety which we import to the extent of sixteen million dollars every year. One of the companies which is going into the date business extensively has built a cotton gin and warehouse |