Realizing these many advantages, a few of our most progressive farmers on either side of the river have combined to profit by these conditions. For some five years the Tempe-Mesa Produce Company has been in successful operation. Less than three years ago was organized the Maricopa Creamery Company, which has been in successful operation for the past two years. It is organized upon a cooperative basis, the stock in the main being held among the farmers and dairymen. By hard work and careful management the beginning of a great industry in our valley has been put upon a solid business basis. The milk producers have been treated fairly, and at the same time the stockholder has realized a small per cent for the use of his money. In the meantime a trade has been secured which far exceeds the productive capacity of the present herds to supply. There is no question but that the man who goes into the dairy business and handles it with business sense, such as is necessary for success in anything, will realize handsomely upon his investment, whether that investment be brains and specialized skill, careful, conscientious labor for another, or the capital of the investor seeking a fair interest upon his money in a perfectly safe business.

HORTICULTURE.

Ever since the first irrigating canal was taken out of the Salt River in 1868 fruits have been raised here for family use; but as the valley had no connection by rail with the outside world, there was no incentive to plant orchards and expect a commercial return. The completion of the Maricopa and Phoenix and the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix railways, however, gave the valley markets both east and west, since which time the acreage of all kinds of fruits has been constantly increasing, and fruits raised in this valley have been marketed from Augusta, Me., to Los Angeles. Fresh apricots, grapes, oranges, pears, almonds, peaches, watermelons, dried fruits, and pickled olives have been shipped in carload lots for the past three years. This valley also supplies all points in Arizona by shipments with all varieties of fruits, and has shipped early apricots and watermelons even to California. There are about 800 acres in the valley planted to apricots. The principal varieties are the Royal, the Moorpark, and the Newcastle. Apricots here are regular bearers, and every year the trees bear more fruit than should be permitted to mature. This is one thing that the orchardists here, as elsewhere, are slow to learn. If the fruits on the trees were thinned soon after it formed, not only would the remaining fruit be much larger in size, but the quality would be finer. Several new varieties of apricots, of larger size and better flavor than the standard varieties, have been introduced in the valley. The fruit of the Elvey seedling, first grown by Mr. T. K. Elvey, of this valley, is large and of fine flavor and the trees bear regularly. There are also a few trees of a variety something similar to the old peach-apricot, but the fruit is of much finer quality and larger in size and is probably similar to the Routier apricot, recently introduced into California.

Apricots ripen here early in May, which is some three weeks earlier than the California apricot matures.

Apricot trees are set 109 to the acre, and when in full bearing ought to average over 200 pounds per tree. Three hundred to 350 pounds is nothing uncommon for a full-grown tree. Several carloads of apricots have been shipped East in refrigerator cars. Owing to the perishable nature of the fruit, however, it is considered more satisfactory by many horticulturists to dry the fruit and dispose of the crop in that way. Rain is almost unheard of during the time when apricots mature, which gives the growers here an opportunity to dry their fruit under ideal conditions. Four or 5 pounds of green fruit will make 1. pound of dried fruit, which sells for about 8 cents per pound.

The better variety of peaches here bear regularly. The Salway is one of the most satisfactory varieties. It grows very large, has a fine flavor, and is suitable for canning or drying. The Strawberry peach and the Orange and Lemon Clings are all fine-flavored fruit of beautiful appearance, and do well here.

The principal varieties of pears raised are the Bartlett and Winter Nellis. Both bear regularly and abundantly and are readily marketed, both_green and dried. The Winter Nellis pear is very hardy and will stand very rough handling. After picking they can be packed into barrels, and if necessary shipped to Liverpool. Almond trees grow rapidly, commence to bear at 3 years old and are in full bearing at 8 years of age. The best varieties are Ne Plus Ultra, I X L, Nonpareil, Paper Shell, and Smith Seedling. This latter variety was discovered and introduced by Mr. A. H. Smith, of this valley, who claims that it blossoms later than other varieties and for that reason is less liable to frosts in exposed places in the valley. Full-grown trees will bear 60 pounds of almonds and over to the tree.

Last year growers received 10 cents per pound in Phoenix. The largest and most profitable almond orchard in the West is owned by Mr. E. J. Trippel, of Mesa, Ariz.

The Salt River Valley is undoubtedly the ideal home of the grape. Among the varieties suited to this climate are the Muscat, Malaga, Thompson Seedless, Rose of Peru, Mission, and Sultana. They bear abundantly every year. A failure in the grape crop is absolutely unknown. To a person unfamiliar with conditions in a country like this the average yield seems phenomenal. A full-grown Thompson Seedless vine will bear in weight half as much fruit as an apricot tree, and when it is remembered that the vines are set about 500 to the acre it will be readily understood that a man with 10 acres of grapes will have something of a crop to harvest. The seedless Sultana when dried makes the commercial California currant. The Muscat is a raisin grape and needs no introduction to our readers, as that has been the standard raisin grape of Italy and France, as well as California, for many years. The long warm summer of Arizona, which gives our oranges their exquisite flavor, also puts sugar in the grapes, which is one of the requisites for first-class raisins. For the same reason here grapes are too sweet to make good dry wines, but are well adapted for making the sweeter wines and brandies.

Arizona strawberries have more than a local reputation. Express shipments are made from Phoenix from spring to fall of a quality of berry which equals, if not surpasses, berries from any other locality in the world. The Arizona everbearing strawberry, which was first propagated in this valley, is now on every nursery list in California.

In California, Italy, and France olive trees come into bearing when about 10 years old. The oldest olive trees in the Salt River Valley are only 6 years old, and last year bore abundantly, which was all the more notable as the California crop in that year was a complete failure. The olive is a comparatively hardy tree and seems to thrive well on sandy, rocky soil, but responds in yield to richer soil. The principal varieties so far planted here are Manzanillo, Navadillo, Mission, and Columella. The Manzanillo and Navadillo are the heaviest bearers, the Manzanillo being the best pickling olive, and the Navadillo is the best adapted to oil. These two varieties begin to ripen the latter part of August, which is about two months earlier than the same varieties mature in California. Both pickling and crushing for oil are comparatively simple processes, and there is no reason why Arizona should not produce as fine olive oil and pickles as are made in the world. Three carloads of olives were pickled in Phoenix las fall and shipped to Eastern markets.

While during the past three years Arizona has become well known in many sections of the country as producing very fine deciduous fruits, yet it is through her citrus fruits, and especially her oranges, that Arizona has gained special distinction outside of her own borders. Salt River Valley oranges are well known in the markets of New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other Eastern cities. A large commission house wrote to a dealer here last fall that the finest oranges received in that market during the season were from the Salt River Valley. At the California Midwinter Fair Salt River Valley Washington navel oranges received a first-premium gold medal for excellence, and this after being picked for two months and shipped a thousand miles. Not alone are the Washington navel oranges of the Salt River Valley as fine in quality as any grown, thin skined, sweeter than those from California, as juicy as a Jamaica orange, and more highly colored than those from the Indian River country of Florida, but, what is more important than all to the grower, they are the earliest navel oranges to ripen in the United States. Orange picking commences in the valley early in November and lasts until after the holidays, the latest varieties ripening in January. California navel oranges ripen the latter part of December, January, and February. Last year the Ingleside Company had a carload of navel oranges in the Chicago market nearly a week before Thanksgiving.

Many varieties are raised here, including the Washington navel, St. Michael's, Jaffa, Heart's Tardiff, Mediterranean Sweets, and Parson Brown. The navel is of course the popular variety in the markets of the East, and are our largest and finest fruit. They do not, however, bear quite so heavily as some other varieties. Blood oranges, while much smaller than the navel, have a distinct and excellent quality, and have many friends. The little Japanese “Kid Glove" oranges, the Mandarin and the Tangerine, bear regularly and well here, and are quite profitable,

The orange is a very long-lived tree. In California and the countries surrounding the Mediterranean orange trees bear regularly up to one hundred years, and there seems to be no reason why they should be shorter lived here. Trees come

into bearing here at three years, after which time the yield will probably increase steadily up to twenty-five years.

The great freezes which for two successive seasons have devastated the entire State of Florida seem to demonstrate the fact that there is no citrus belt in this country outside of Arizona and California. During last winter, which was an unusually cold one, not a tree was damaged in the citrus belt of this valley.

There are 1,000 acres now planted to oranges About 50 acres on the south side of Salt River and the balance along the foothills, commencing at a point about 6 miles due north of Phoenix and running east to the east end of Camel Back Mountain. The largest grove in the valley is owned by the Ingleside Company. It lies directly south of Camel Back Mountain and is under the Arizona Canal. This grove is the oldest in the valley, contains about 100 acres, and is planted almost entirely to Washington navel oranges.

The foreman of the Ingleside grove estimates that the yield on the oldest trees will average about 250 boxes per acre.

There is a very fine group of citrus groves about a mile and a half west of the Ingleside grove. This includes Mr. W. J. Murphy's grove of Washington navels and grape fruit, Dr. Hardy's grove of Jaffas and Mediterranean Sweets and Mr. Ward's grove. Mr. Ward, perhaps, cultivates more different varieties of citrus fruits than any other grower in the valley. His orchard includes grape fruit, tangerines, Jaffas, Mediterranean Sweets, and lemons.

The nearest groves to Phoenix are in the suburb of Orangewood, on Central ave nue, about 6 miles north of Phoenix. There are at present 10 orchards in this attractive suburb and are planted almost exclusively to Washington navel oranges. Many of these groves are owned by retired business men, who expect to make their orange groves the site of ideal homes. The oldest of these groves belongs to Dr. Mulvane, a prominent physician of Chicago, who plans to make his future home in this valley. All of these groves are in a high state of cultivation and give promise of large returns when the trees come into full bearing.

There is a great future in this valley for the propagation of pomeloes or grape fruit. Grape fruit ripens here very early, and there are some varieties which can be put on the market fully matured at Thanksgiving. At that time last fall grape fruit was selling in New York and Chicago at $8 per box. It needs no expert mathematician to compute profits at these figures. Grape fruit bears regularly and well here, and the varieties so far introduced seem really to improve under the conditions they find in this valley. Some of the growers here are experimenting with a seedless variety, which gives good promise of success.

Lemons have been propagated on a small scale for several years, and do very well. The profits in them, however, are smaller than in oranges and pomeloes, and for that reason they have not been extensively cultivated.

The Salt River Valley enjoys the distinction of being the only place in the United States where dates can be successfully raised. The date palm tree flourishes in southern California, but does not fruit. Only the female or pistillate tree bears, which has to be fertilized from the pollen of the blossom of the male or staminate tree. All the female trees over 6 years of age in the valley bear regularly when pollenized. Several bunches of dates were shipped in 1897 to the horticultural fair in Madison Square Garden. The quality of the dates was highly commented on, and they were one of the unique features of the fair.

In addition to the above named, many other varieties of fruit are grown in the valley, and while excellent in quality, are not so extensively raised as the kinds mentioned. Plums deserve special mention. All of the finer California varieties are grown and do well. The Prunis Simona is a delicious fruit, large, of a golden straw-color, changing to a deep crimson. The Wickson is a little smaller, being about the size of the Kelsey Japan, and is a delicious fruit, either eaten ripe or for canning purposes. The Wickson plum begins to bear at 2 years old, and is in full bearing at four or five years, when the average amounts to over 150 pounds per tree. The white or Smyrna fig of commerce is grown in the valley, but the trees bear irregularly, and there is but little profit in raising them. The black or purple fig bears abundantly and has two or three crops every year. It makes a fine table fruit and a jam par excellence.

Loquates, guavas, Japanese persimmons. and other kinds of what might be termed fancy varieties of fruits have been grown to a limited extent.

ALMOND CULTURE.

It has been demonstrated beyond a doubt that the culture of the almond is destined to be one of the leading industries of this valley. It is well to assert the fact that whoever enters into this line of horticulture and hopes for success must bring to bear upon his work the same keen perception that he applies to any other

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