The Arizona sentinel., 1879-12-20
ARIZONA l'- SENTINEL IT , Il
64TURDAY, DECEMBER 20 1879.
Sugar culture in Yuma County

Iel6frlng to me production or Su-
 gar; sorghum, beet-root and
 cane, are of course the chief arti-
 cles from which marketable sugar
 must be made. All sorts of pro- jects are being csnvassed, and
 land adapted to the gro ath of
 these vege. able products is being sought and it's merits and demer- it's being discussed.
 Right here in Yuma County, along the Colorado River bottoms, we have just the proper locus for an undertaking of this kind. The soil siS well adapted to the growth Of the three sugar prOduc- ing vegetables, as has been we'll proved, not by surmise or theory, but by actual success in the raiS- ing Of sugar cane on the San Jsi- dro ranche and its conversion into sugar, not for one season but for several, which settles the question as to climate and soil.
 The only real obstacle to suc- ces of an enterprise of this kind here is that of irrigation. In reply we can showa large never 1ailing supply of water in the Colorado River. bitches are not only expensive in their first cost, but their maintenance implies a never ceasfng outlay. This ob- stacle is easily and economically remedied
 MT. Tadeken, who has had much eXperence with the sugar plantations in Lousianna and more especially in the Sandwich Islands, from the first starting of plantations to their successful management, has been studying this subject and finds that it would be a practicable affair to irrigate by means of a portable steam pump and boiler on wheels to be moved from field 10 field along the river. Such Lump as would be requir- ed and boiler can be purchased readily for $2000 or less; five hun dred dollars worth of seed from the Sandwich Islands would plant ten acres, each acre of which l would in one season furnish seed | for te; more acres. While this cane for seed is growing, two crops of sorghum can be raised, which would materially help to pay expenses until sugar from the cane be placed on the market.
 An acre of cane here would yield from two 10 three tons of sugar and about twenty barrels of syrup. Open, CT Jamaica trains, as they are called in the N est Indies, are easily obtaina- ble, inexpensive to set up and keep in order, and do not require skilled labor in their manage ment.
 We are informed that an acre of good cane, suitable for seed, can be readily purchased in the Sandwich Islands or S25O;. the transportation of the cane to Yuma should not cost more than as much more. An acre of cane furnishes an abundance of joints with which to plant ten acres. There are large tracts of land along the Gila and Colorado rivers and between them, well adapted | for this culture, and still belong ing to the public domain. There are various Acts of Congress under which proprie torship of them can be obtained at small outlay of capital.
 There is much agitation tend. ing towards the abrogation of that clause in the treaty which admits sugar free of duty from the Sand wich Islands. Should this be done, the duty of five cents per pound, and the increas, ed demand for the article must of a necessity demand the cultl- vation of larger acreage of sugar producing Vegetables. and those