Higley, ArizonaWhere we Make It Rain; When we Need It

I'unIpz,lg P/out of L. H. Sore

FACTS VOLICHED I'()R BY THE

BOARD of TRADE

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HIGLEY ARiZONA

rc!That promising part of the earth

known as the Higley country consistscf approximately 3½ townships nearthe center of which, on the ArizonaEastern railroad. 25 miles southeastof Phoenix is the townsite of Higley.It is the civic center at this time forabout 500 people, living in the Higleydistrict, on land acquired from thegovernment very recently and thesole water supply of which is thepumping plant. This area is situatedin the eastern eid of the Salt rivervalley, world famed for its irrigationsystem and the Roosevelt dam thatsupplies it, but the Eastern canal,which forms the eastern boundary ofthe Salt river system, is the westernboundary of the Higley section. Thealtitude of Higley is 1300 feet, 200feet higher than Phoenix, so that allthat has been :said and written of thesoil, climate and conditions prevailingin the Salt river valley, applies withequal force to Higley, except for theslight difference in altitude and thewater supply, and in this respect thepeople of Higley believe the manwith the pump has a little shade thebest of it.

The world has no more ideal cli-mate or better soil conditions for gen-eral farming, fruit raising, stock andpoultry. To specialize would be tolist fifty possible crops and all live-

stock..The postoffice and store were

cpened in Higley by L. H. Sorey in

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February, 1910, since when he hasconducted them successfully and atthat time he was the desert outpostand has witnessed the assembling ofthis community of 500, which cooper-ates in sending this invitation to theworld to come and join them.

The postoffice supplies its patronsthrough a rural route, many of thesettlers have telephones, and, themoney has been raised for a $6,000school house on the townsite, a partof which is platted. A depot andsome. . three or four other buildingsconstitute the present "town" whichin the near future. . should begin asteady growth as" the surroundingcountry develops.

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WHAT SETTLERS SAY.I have spent the last six years in

Higley, engaged in general gardening,poultry raising aild the planting of anorchard. No country can produce bet-ter turkeys nor more favorable con-ditions for their culture, and as formy trees from one to four years old,there are none better. Those in bear-ing could not carry this year's cropto maturity without thinning.

1 have eight acres and a $500 pump-ing plant throwing 100 gallons a min-ute, plenty of water for my acreage,or even more if confined to trees.H. W. Tice.

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The orchard, the cut of which ap-pears in this article, was plantedJanuary 25, 1911, and that year re-

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ceived just one-fourth of one acre footof irrigating water. During the year1912 but .46 of an acre foot was ap-plied. and .96 of an acre foot wasused in 1913. The photograph wastaken when the trees had been in tineground just 32 months. During 1913most of the trees bore an abundantcrop of fruit. In 1914 the water usedwas increased in amount to meet theneeds of larger and full fruiting trees.1.16 acre feet being applied, the orch-ard making a satisfactory growth be-sides bearing a full crop of fruit.

For several years past the writerhas been employed by the Departmentof Agriculture in irrigation investigations and has been in charge of theexperimental tract at Higley on whichthe things mentioned in this articleare grown. The tract is irrigated bya pumping plant, the capacity of whichis frequently tested by tank measure-ment, and where necessary weirs areused at distributing points. This ismentioned to show that the amountsof water applied are accurately meas-ured, not estimated.

The needs of 39 varieties of fruittrees, various varieties of vine fruits,forage plants and sugar cane havebeen studied and experimented on.The result of these years of carefulpractical investigation has been toprove that large quantities of waterare not advisable in, nor necessaryfor the production of paying crops.

Our Higley district has a wonderful

soil, capable of growing most of thefruits aiid grains of the temperateand sub-tropical zones. On the exper-imental tract date palms, oranges,olives, and sugar cane flourish along-side the hardy peach, apricot andplum; while eucalyptus and cotton-wocd alike find a congenial home, and

Agricultural Experiment Parmthe oleander blooms in the openground almost the year around.

'It is a:proven fact that 1½ acre feetof water per annum is abundant forfruit trees, and that the finest andmost profitable fruits grow luxuriantlyin our soilA. L. Hawley.

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I have lived in iouthern Californiafor many years and have been in An-

zona almost two years. After fullycomparing and investigating the con-ditions in both states, I find myselfthe owner of 160 acres of the bestland I ever saw, near Higley, Arizona.I installed a 500 gallon per minutepumping plant. I have grown on theacreage basis, successfully and profit-ably, many things, such as the variouskinds of vegetables, cotton, alfalfa,broom corn, etc. I believe the Higleysoil and climate are second to nonefor such crops, as well as deciduousfruits and vines, and many otherfarm products that I have notpersonally grown. Water in our dis-trict here is very much cheaper thanwhere I have lived in California andwe have hardly a one of the tree dis-eases in Arizona that we had to com-bat in California.

I am preparing to plant quite anacreage cf fruit trees next spring.-Pernel Barnett.

I moved on my tract of land 5 milessouth and 2 miles east of Higley inthe spring of 1915, and installed a2 li. p. pimping plant and commenceda number of experiments in cultiva-tion. Although we are not farmers,having followed engineering hereto-fore, we have had very encouragingsuccess in raising Irish potatoes,sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, water-melons, string beans, peas, egg plant,peanuts, chickens and turkeys, andhave about 250 young trees growing

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nicely. This has been a very dryseason, so being able to do all thiswith a 2 h. p. plant, we feel much en-coiiraged to think what we can dowhen we get a good sized plant towork withthe increased amount ofwater it will give us.L. Y. Wood-man see.

Mr. Woodmansee had only been onhis place 7 months when he wrotethis article.L. H. Sorey, SecretaryBoard of Trade.

The 20 acres of peaches and apri-cots, the picture of which is herewithexhibited, were planted in February,1914. The same month we planted10 acres of alfalfa, cutting in the sum-mer of 1914 five times, the yield beingas much as one ton to the acre, percutting. The first cutting in the springof 1915 yielded 2 tons per acre, fol-lowed by splendid cuttings all summer.

We grew both in 1914 and 1915 veryprofitably and successfully long stapleEgyptian cotton, milo maize, feterita,melons and garden truck.

AU our crops are grown on landthat was never farmed until 1914.

Our pumping plant was not installeduntil February of that year. It deliv-ers 1100 gallons of water per minuteand the main point, without weedseeds. which under the large gravityirrigation projects are brought alongwith the water and are doing immensedamage.

On account of the brush not being7-

cleared off the land in time for earlyplanting our 1914 crop of cotton waslight, yield being bales (375 lbs.)to the acre, which we sold for 21cper pound. This year's crop will bemuch heavier.

We are now farming 100 acres, butexpect to increase our acreage fromyear to year. We are stocking theentire place with hogs, cattle andbrood mares which we have foundvery profitable.

Germann OrchardPlanted in 1914The Arizona Eastern railroad has

put in a station on the corner of ourranch which is called Germann andwhich is a great benefit to all who livein this vicinity, as now we do not haveto haul our freight 31y miles fromHigley.The Germann Ranch.

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I have lived in the Higley sectionthree years, have erected a 70 h. p.engine and pumping plant and have8-

successfully grown cotton, alfalfa,barley, wheat, maize and garden, andplanted an orchard of five acres of allkinds of deciduous trees except ap-ples and cherries, and have a few cit-rus trees, all of which are thriving.

Barley with four two-inch irriga-tions yielded about 20 sacks to theacre and wheat WITHOUT ANY irri-gation yielded about 10 sacks. Alfalfais fine. Have a good pumping plantand plenty of water from an abundantunderground supply. As all Higleysoil is the best in the valley I am sat-isfied with natural conditions andhuman improvements are being per-fected as fast as intelligent coopera-tion of the people can effect them.H. C. Meyer.

My three years of practical experi-menting, as well as my observationof what others are doing, has satis-fied me beyond doubt that we cangrow onions, potatoes, cabbage andmost other garden vegetables suc-cessfully; also milo maize, MexicanJune corn, feterita, sorghum, broomcorn and kindred grains; also melonsof all kinds, sudan grass, spinelesscactus, cotton, as well as barley, oats,wheat and alfalfa. However, I ammost interested in deciduous fruitgrowing and am fully satisfied thatplums, peaches, apricots and quinceswill all do well here. My two-year-oldtrees of the varieties just named setfruit well this year. It is my belief

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that the Salt river valley will, whendeveloped, rival the far-famed Fresnodistrict of California in the produc-tiosi of deciduous fruits, as well as inthe production of grapes and melons,and that the Higley district on ac-count of the character of its soil, itsrailroad facilities, and its dependablesupply of water, will rank among the

R. L. Thiebaud Orchard-2V2 years oldfirst. We have what seems to be aninexhaustible supply of undergroundwater that is being successfullyp u m p e d for irrigation purposesthroughout the district, and this un-derground supply of good pure wateris more reliable and dependable thanthat from the clouds in most coun-tries depending upon the natural rain-fall.R. L. Thiebaud, Buena VistaRanch, Higley, Arizona.

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In May, 1914, I completed the in-stallation of my 30 horsepower pump-ing plant. Since this time I have suc-cessfully grown different crops ofcowpeas, barley, milo maize, wheatand vegetables. I have a nice flock ofhens now and intend making a hogranch out of my 160 acre place in thenear future. Am now preparing myfirst 10 acres of land for alfalfa forpasture.

My experience proves to me thatthe growing of annual crops such as Ihave raised is profitable under apumping plant system of irrigation.R. 0. Myers.

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Higley furnishes ideal conditionsfor the production of hogs. The cli-mate permits a continuous croppingseason for hog pasture, enabling thefarmer to secure two litters of pigsper year. Litters dropped in Octoberhog down rye and barley in July andAugust, thus finishing them for mar-ket when about eight months old.Litters dropped in March hog downcowpeas, peanuts, kafir and milo.Alfalfa furnishes pasture for abouteight months in the year and is oneof the best forage crops known forhogs. Brood sows between the per-iods of gestation need no other feed.Alfalfa, when marketed through thehog route, brings $14 per ton.

Hog cholera has never been knownin Higley and there exists a steadydemand for hog products. The hog

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makes the orchard, dairy and generalfarm more profitable.

I have lived in Higley four years,keeping hogs only experimentally un- /til this year when we started theseason with about twenty; have soldsome and now have about eighty,little and big. Have made a littlemoney on the few handled and am sat-isfied with the prospect for futureprofits.

I have seven acres of peaches and

Hogs

apricots, all young but growing splen-didly. This year I had 20 acres ofwheat that with a single irrigationproduced 10 1/2 sacks to the acre. Lastyear I picked four bales of cottonfrom six acres,P. B. Werdon.

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Higley has not overlooked the hen.We keep hens to a profit and purpose,specializing on poultry. One acre ofalfalfa and free range around it hasgiven ample support to our flocks, to-gether with the usual feeding. "Room"

Sunnysidefor chickens is not a problem in Hig-ley and every condition, includingmarket, is favorable to the industry.Our few hundred fowls have made usmoney and as soon as our conditionswarrant it we will have at least 1,000.Mrs. John Beal, Sunriyside Ranch.

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After having carefully observedthe development of southern Cal-ifornia for fifteen years and see-ing the phenomenal progress madethere, it illustrates to my mind, in away, what can be done right here.This valley has soil equal to any of

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Sudan Grass, grown without IrrigationCalifornia, it has beneath it an inex-haustible supply of splendid waterboth for domestic and irrigation pur-poses and the natural condition of thesurface is such that but very littletime and expense, compared withother sections, is required to prepareit for cultivation and irrigation. Theabove cut is a photographic view ofa field of sudan grass, grown by my-self, without irrigation, on landcleared in January (this year, 1915),seed sown March 20, and harvestedJune 26. On land adjoining this andcleared at the same time, I havegrown successfully, melons, corn, po-tatoes and all kinds of garden truck,with irrigation. I also have threehundred and twelve fruit trees thathave made a wonderful growth forthe first year.M. D. Thiebaud, ownerof The Oasis.

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Higley, Ariz., Nov. 1, 1915.

My pumping plant is small, havinga capacity of 50 gallons per minute,forcing me to confine my area of irri-gated land to a few acres, and to thecultivation of vegetables, melons andnursery.

I have successfully grown with apumping plant of 50 gallons capacityper minute, and found ready sale forvegetables, melons and nursery, andhave demonstrated beyond doubt thatanyone with the means to developwater from our underground flow, canin a few years surround himself witha beautiful home and productive fieldsof profitable crops. That we canpump water cheaply is no longer aquestion.

Our soil certainly cannot be excelledby any locality in the valley, and be-ing on the main line of the ArizonaEastern railroad, our shipping facili-ties are excellent.

Those of small means, and neces-sarily small plants, can by propermanagement, I think, do well herewith poultry, especially turkeys.

Small grainwheat and barleycanbe grown without irrigation duringfavorable seasons, and need not besown until after the rains come andthe ground is sufficiently soaked toinsure a cropB. M. Crenshaw.

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EAST CHANDLER WATER USERS.

A part of the landowners of landslying southwest of Higley, which isalso southeast of Chandler, have or-ganized and incorporated a companyknown as the East Chandler WaterUsers' Association for the purpose ofirrigating their lands from largepumping plants along the lines of thelatest and most improved methods.One of their plants will, when in-stalled, deliver 3600 gallons of waterper minute and will irrigate 1000 acresof land. This takes the operation ofthe plant out of the hands of thefarmer and places it in the hands ofexperts, which insures steady opera-tion and economy in every way. Italso enables the land owner to se-cure his water for the least possiblecost of installation, as well as opera-tion and maintenance, installationcost being less than $15.00 per acre.Under this system water is as cheapas gravity water; hence the pumpingplant farmer competes with the grav-ity water farmer in the raising of allannual crops and has many advan-tages over him in the production ofall fruits and vegetables, as well asbeing able to apply his water to theannual crops to much better advan-tage. The business of the associationis managed by a board of seven direc-tors, of which H. C. Meyers is pres-ident and Guy Tyler secretary. The

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company is cooperative, hence all itsdirectors are landowners within theirproject. Contracts for the first largeunits have been let, others will soonfollow and it is expected that the

Higley Freight Depot

first of these plants will be deliveringwater before January 1, 1916GuyTyler, Secretary.

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The development of our land hasjust begun, so we have many acresstill in their natural condition await-ing the intelligent farmer's efforts toreduce them to productive fields.

Raw titled lands can be bought atvery reasonable prices, ranging from$15.00 an acre to $65.00. Improvedlands sell much higher, some evenrunning as high as $150.00 per acre,while other land sells at $50.00.

The difference in prices is caused17-

by the same conditions that enter intothe value of lands in any other coun-try, namely, improvements and loca-tion.

If the purchaser has only a smallamount of means at his command andbuys raw land, he should provide him-self with at least a 3 horsepowerpumping plant, which would furnishwater enough to raise considerablegarden and fruit and an acre of al-falfa.

By proper management he couldkeep 500 chickens, a horse, a cow anda few hogs, which would make himan ideal home and a nice income.His bank account would show a

nice increase every year. If he hasmore means at his command his fieldof labor and development is unlimited.

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The picture of the threshing outfitherewith exhibited is my new Casemachine, with which I made the sea-son's run around Higley. There wereabout 10,000 sacks, 22,500 bushels ofall kinds of grain threshed here thisyear. Among the best yields was D.S. Hill's oats, which threshed 40 sacksto the acre, and Wm. Piester's barley.31 sacks to the acre, and wheat formyself that threshed 17 sacksLopIngram.

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Lou Ingram Threshing for Ira Hicks

OFFICERS OF

HIGLEY BOARD OF TRADE

L. THIEBAUD Presideiit

L. H. SOREY Secretary

C. B. GARDNER Director

J. A. GERMANN Director

W. A. EDWARDS Director

GUY TYLER Director

G. WALLINGFORD Director

L. Y. WOODMANSEE Director

J. BEAL Director

Write any of the above for furtherinformation.