just begun. During the year the dam of the company has been completed, and the canal is now being constructed. As previously reported, when completed the canal will carry water enough to irrigate from 175,000 to 200,000 acres of land, there being ample water in the river at all seasons of the year for that amount of land. Oranges, lemons, figs, raisins, and all the other fruits raised in southern California can be raised under this canal, and the seasons are fully a month earlier than in southern California. Those interested in the promotion of this canal will set to fruits fully 10,000 acres during the coming year. The Florence Canal, which leaves the Gila River above the town of Florence, in Pinal County, carries a large amount of water, and is capable of reclaiming a very large area of country. It has been improved and extended during the year, and its success as an irrigation enterprise is assured.

In Yuma County, on the lower Gila and along the Colorado River, the lands are very rich and especially well adapted for high-grade citrus and deciduous fruits. The climatic conditions could not be better for fruit-raising. The fruits and vegetable products of Yuma County are marketable from three to five weeks earlier than in the most favored parts of southern California. Yuma County has large irrigation interests which are being rapidly increased, several new companies having been formed within the year. The Yuma Pumping and Irrigation Company is irrigating a large tract of land from the Colorado River by means of powerful pumps. It is also proposed by a wealthy syndicate to build a very large canal, having its head at the Colorado River just above Yuma, to reclaim vast bodies of land in southern Arizona and Mexico. There is certainly an unlimited water supply in this great river that may be utilized either by pumps or gravitation.

In my judgment this portion of the Southwest will be the principal fruit-raising section on the continent before many years.

A water-storage enterprise for irrigation purposes has been inaugurated about 35 miles northwest of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, on the Agua Fria, by which it is proposed to reclaim at least 100,000 acres of land. The property is owned by the Agua Fria Land and Water Company, and the prospects are favorable to the early and successful operation of the projected reservoir and canal.

On the Santa Cruz River, in Pima County, several water-storage propositions of considerable magnitude are being considered, with a probability of early construction.

An irrigation enterprise larger than any to which I have referred has been started for the purpose of taking water from the junction of the Gila and Salt rivers through a tunnel 3 miles long on to the magnificent stretches of rich fruit lands along and south of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Maricopa County. The company as formed for this work, the Estrella Fruit Land Company, has not as yet accomplished more than the preliminary details of surveying, locating lands, etc., and the completion of the work projected will necessitate a very large outlay of money. It is proposed to reclaim 250,000 acres of the very best land in the Territory, and it is believed that the expenditure necessary to accomplish the purposes of the company will be fully justified.

Irrigation is carried on quite extensively along the Little Colorado River in Apache County, and along the Verde River in Yavapai County.

Agriculture, horticulture, and irrigation are increasing everywhere throughout the Territory, and as Arizona's soil for depth, richness,

quantity, and quality of product is conceded to be equal if not superior to any in America, the agricultural probabilities for this section are great.

The agricultural experiment station, with headquarters at the University of Arizona at Tucson, is engaged in a series of investigations that promise to be of great value to the Territory.

The laboratory work of the station, such as examination of soils and waters, making chemical analyses of all kinds, in fact, all work which requires delicate apparatus and rooms fitted up for the purpose, is carried on at the university, where laboratories specially equipped for the purpose have been provided.

For growing and testing varieties of fruits, field crops, and other plants, small experimental farms are being established in several places in the Territory.

Bulletins are published from time to time giving results of investigations, which are sent free to any applicant who will forward name and address to the director of the station.

Bulletin No. 1, by the director, gives plan of organization and outlines plan of proposed work.

No. 2, by the botanist of the station, is a preliminary report on the "Range grasses of Arizona, and overstocking the range," prepared after two months' observation in central Arizona, with suggestions in regard to protecting and perpetuating the natural growth.

No. 3, "Irrigation in Arizona," by the irrigation engineer, is a report on the water supply of the Territory as compared with Colorado and other States, canals completed and under construction, supplying water for irrigation by pumping, and comparative cost, duty of water, and measurement.

No. 4, "Water and water analysis," by the chemist. The general plan of the chemical work of the station on waters is outlined, the importance of chemical examination of water explained, showing why waters may be desirable or otherwise for domestic use or for irrigation. The composition of water from a number of wells and streams is given. Water from wells or streams in the Territory is analyzed without charge. No. 5, "Canaigre," by the director. Canaigre (botanically, Rumex hymenosepalus), a plant found growing wild on the moist soils throughout the southern half of the Territory, was thought worthy of investi gation by the station to determine its value.

The analyses of the roots of this plant show they contain from 25 to 30 per cent of tannic acid-twice the amount found in oak and hemlock bark.

For the past year the station has been carefully studying this plant to determine the best method of extracting the tannin so that it may be put on the market in the best form for shipment. Roots have been collected from various places in the Territory for testing, and plants grown to determine the following points:

(1) Will it respond to cultivation and yield enough per acre to make it profitable to grow if it can be placed on the market in large quantities?

(2) Is irrigation advisable or necessary? and if so, how much and when?

(3) Will application of water in irrigation affect the quantity and quality of tannin in the plant?

(4) What soils are best adapted to its growth?

The public was called upon for information to help determine(1) The geographical limits of the natural growth;

(2) To form an estimate of the amount that may be gathered from plants growing wild;

(3) For samples of roots from any place in the Territory where the plant grows in abundance, with description of soil and surroundings, for examination and chemical analysis, to aid in ascertaining soil requirements.

In June the director and chemist made a trip through the Salt and Gila River valleys to collect roots and examine soils.

The results obtained during the year will be published in the fall. The data secured to the present time shows that this plant responds to cultivation and light irrigation and the yield is increased two or three hundred per cent above the best patches found growing wild.

The indications are that the growing of this plant will become one of our leading and most profitable industries, and steps are being taken to plant it on a larger scale and provide facilities for placing it on the market in the best shape.

No. 6. "Soils and waters," by the chemist, reports results of an examination of the soil of the mesa near Yuma, known as the "Yuma Heights," and a comparison made with the soils in the vicinity of Fresno, Cal., and summaries of the analyses of the water of the Colorado River from samples taken daily from August 1, 1891, to February, 1892. Samples are taken daily at Yuma, and commencing March 1 from the Salt River at the head of the Arizona Canal and from the ditch at the Phoenix station. Arrangements are being made to collect samples in the same way from the upper and lower Gila Valley. The object of this work is to determine what the waters carry in suspension and in solution at all seasons of the year, and thus ascertain what is being carried onto the land in irrigation.

The first six months' examination of the Colorado shows but a small per cent of objectionable matter (i. e., alkaline salts), some lime and clay, and a considerable amount of phosphates and potash, with some nitrogenous matter, sufficient of the last three substances to be worth $3.62 per acre in an application of water 15 inches deep, estimating the value of the fertilizing material at the wholesale prices of commercial fertilizers at the eastern seaports. The investigation of the Colorado River water shows that it will enrich and keep up the fertility of the soil as well as supply moisture to growing crops.

The station is at present engaged in the continued examination of irrigation waters, study of the soils, investigation of the "salt lands," collecting data in regard to the alfalfa crop, and study of the effect of alfalfa on the soil, testing a large number of fruit trees and other plants, including those valuable for stock feed.

SETTLEMENT OF LANDS.

List of lands entered at the United States land office at Tucson, Ariz., for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892.

List of lands entered at the United States land office at Prescott, Ariz., for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892.

Total number of acres entered in the Territory, 166,756.70. The reason of small number of acres reported by the Prescott land office is because of no selections by the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company.

MINING.

Notwithstanding the adverse action of Congress in connection with silver legislation, mining has been exceedingly prosperous in Arizona during the year, and, contrary to the expectations of many, the silver production has not materially decreased, while the gold yield has largely increased.

We have no Territorial bureau for the collection and distribution of statistical knowledge on this subject, and it is therefore impossible to furnish absolutely reliable data as to development and production. I will endeavor, however, to approximate conservatively.

The most conspicuous producers of the Territory of copper, at this time, are the copper mines of Bisbee, in Cochise County; of Globe, in Gila County; the United Verde copper mines at Jerome, in Yavapai County, and the mines of the Arizona Copper Company and the Detroit Copper Company, Graham County. Other copper properties are being worked with favorable results. The copper output of Arizona for the year can be safely estimated at 40,000,000 pounds.

The principal gold producers are the mines of the Harqua Hala district, in Yuma County; the Congress, Crowned King, and Hillside mines, in Yavapai County, and the Mammoth mine, in Pinal County. Many other gold mines are being worked successfully on quartz and gravel all over the Territory.

An electric plant for placer gold mining, the largest in the United States, is just getting under way at Stanton, in mineral ground proven by previous outputs to be phenomenally rich. Old mines which had lain idle for years are being reopened. At the Vulture, in Maricopa County, a ten-stamp mill is running successfully, and it is believed that the old Vulture, which produced so much gold in former years, will again become one of the foremost producers of the country.

Arizona's gold product for the year is stated at $3,000,000. Silver is being produced liberally in every mining county in Arizona. At Tombstone, Cochise County, the old banner silver-producing district of the Territory, silver mining has been remarkably active, and although the large mills of the vicinity have not been worked, a great deal of rich silver ore has been mined and shipped out of the Territory for treatment at distant smelters. The pay roll of one company for a mouth amounted to $20,000, and upwards of $500,000 worth of ore was shipped by one company to the smelter at Socorro, N. Mex., during the year.

Pospecting for gold has been comparatively neglected heretofore in

Cochise County, but lately gold-bearing quartz has been found there in such quantities and in so many different localities that a new industry will in all probability spring up there.

In Mohave County mining this year has been very prosperous. The recent discovery of extensive and rich deposits at the White Hills, in Mohave County, has brought forth much inquiry and given a decided impetus to mining in that locality; many of the mines have been steady and profitable producers for years, and many new mines have been successfully opened during the year.

The great metal company of Phillips, Dodge & Co., of New York, has expended at least $2,000,000 upon mming property and improvements in Yavapai County, and extensive works have been erected by this company at Big Bug, Senator, and Copper Basin, consisting of smelting and milling plants for the reduction of copper, silver, and gold ores, and the manufacture of sulphuric acid; narrow gauge railways, tramways, etc.

The Yarnell gold mine, in Yavapai County, owned by a Baltimore company, is being worked with great profit.

A railroad has been surveyed, and will probably be constructed, from the Southern Pacific to Globe, Gila County, a distance of about 140 miles. With the building of this road the mineral output of the Globe district (which district is now one of the most productive in Arizona) will he very largely increased.

The mines of Cave Creek and Red Rover district, in Maricopa County, are developing well. Pinal County is coming forward rapidly as a producer.

New stage routes, railroad building, continued prospecting, and the natural growth of the Territory are making these points better known. abroad and demonstrating that the resources of the Territory are far from comprehended even at home.

In Coconino and Apache Counties, heretofore devoted mainly to stock-growing, prospecting is being carried forward by experienced men, who, in addition to discoveries of gold and silver, are uncovering treasures of onyx, lithographic stone, asbestos, and other materials needed by commerce.

The silver product of the Territory for the year is estimated at $2.200,000.

While the failure of the silver bill in Congress was a severe blow to Arizona's silver miners, there is some consolation to be gathered from the fact that while the silver product has not lessened, more attention is being devoted to the development of other perhaps equally important mining interests.

Mining looks well everywhere in the Territory, and investigation by capitalists is invited and investments recommended.

The mineral product of Arizona during the year is stated as follows:

an increase of upwards of $2,000,000 over last year's report.

ΟΝΥΧ.

As reported last year, large deposits of onyx were discovered in various localities in the Territory. A great deal of development has