of the Virgin River with the Colorado River, along the Grand Wash Cliffs, midway between Jerome and Flagstaff, whence it follows the southern rim of the Mogollon Mountains to the southeast corner of Apache County, where the Black River crosses the east border of the state. The northern province belongs to the Colorado Plateau, and consists of many relatively level plateaus, with an average elevation of 7000 feet above sea level, from the surface of which rise abruptly mountain ranges, isolated peaks, flat-topped hills or buttes, and mesas. The plateaus are separated by scarps and canyons, and differ greatly in elevation and climate. Through the northwestern portion of Arizona the Colorado River has cut the most stupendous gorge in the world — the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, which is more than a mile in depth. Over hundreds of square miles there have been worn in the horizontally stratified rocks a complex series of gorges and chasms, which, according to the tints of the different strata, are colored red, yellow, purple, and brown. The climate is temperate, with cold winters, during which there are severe frosts and snow falls occasionally. The summer season is similar to that of Kansas. The annual rainfall varies in different portions of northern Arizona from 10 to 20 inches, and agriculture is largely dependent on irrigation. The plateaus are covered with bunch grasses, and the mountains are timbered with one of the finest pine forests in the western states.

Southern Arizona forms a part of the Basin and Range Province, and consists of broad desert plains crossed by many low, short mountain ranges running north and south. A large part of this area is destitute of rivers and lakes, and the hot, dry, sandy plains are nearly treeless. More than 30,000 square miles, or a little more than one-fourth of the territory of Arizona, lying chiefly in the southwestern third of the state, will probably always remain waste desert land. The average elevation of southern Arizona is 2000 feet above sea level; but at Yuma the altitude is not more than 350 feet. The winters are mild, and a succession of crops can be grown throughout the year. The annual rainfall ranges from 5 to 10 inches in the east to 3 inches in the west.

The northern or plateau section of Arizona is divided into the four counties of Apache, Navajo, Coconino, and Mohave, which have a combined area of 36,116,480 acres; but the portion of Mohave County lying between the Colorado River and Bill Williams Fork belongs to the southern province. The chief industry over this vast area is sheep and cattle grazing. Dry farming to be successful must be supplemented by irrigation at critical times. In all this vast region, covering 45,000 square miles, there are only a few hundred colonies of bees and a few hundred acres of alfalfa. As the Little Colorado River is lost in a deep canyon throughout its lower course, only its watershed in the eastern part of the state can be used for irrigation. Two or three crops of alfalfa are secured, and corn, winter wheat, deciduous fruits, and vegetables are successfully grown. In northwestern Arizona the water of the Colorado River can not be utilized for irrigation, as the deep canyons begin in eastern Utah and extend to the lower alluvial lands in the western part of the state. Of the plateaus north of Colorado River, the Kanab is the loftiest, reaching an elevation of more than 8000 feet. Its surface is covered partly with forests and partly with grassy parks on which bloom many beautiful flowers. But in the absence of any extended system of irrigation, except along the upper course of the Little Colorado, the outlook for agriculture and beekeeping in the larger part of northern Arizona is not promising.

Commercial beekeeping is confined almost entirely to the desert valleys of the southern half of the state, where large areas are under irrigation. Yavapai County is situated near the center of the state, and depends for irrigation on the Upper Verde River and its tributaries. This stream is a northern branch of the Salt River, and supplies water for the irrigation of 11,000 acres. The farms are small,