The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1894-09-15

0 the ella and Colorado ivels have for the most
part deep sedimentary soil of brownish, gray
sandy 10 IN, resting, in most places, upon a gray
clay subsoil at de 9TH of from zen to twenty feet
below the surface, The clay subsoil forms hard
pan which is impervious to water. These soils have
been slowly formed by the decomposition of shales
sandstones, marls limestones et,., mixed with or
glnc and vegetable matter, woshed down by the
mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited
during the course of centuries. The fertilizing
brownish mud held in the water of the Colorado
and ella rivers resembles that from the Nile, and
IT'S quantity varies from o. to O.5 per cent,
though the water when even considerably discolor-
ed by mud is good to drink, resembling in this res
pect the Missouri river water. chemical analysis
of the sediments of the Colorado and of the Nile
exhibits a wonderful similarity in the constituent
parts of each. That of the Colorado exhibiting a
trfe less potlssa, most phoSphoric acid and car
bonade of limestone beds through which the Colo
RADIO passrs In other respects the sediment of the
Colorado is almost identic with that of the Nile
1t will be noticed therefore, that when this water is
used for irrigation it is superior to artesan waters
since it is constantly supplying the land with the
richest fersilizng elements The soil of the valleys
is extremely rich in dedomposed vegetable matter
and unco ubined carbon, readily absorbing the
aerial gases such especially, oxygen, which en-
tering the soil, decomposes the organic matters so
that they can be taken up ami nourish the plants
which may be considered a leading feature in its
fertility 1t also readily takes up and retains
moisture while the rmness of its particles affords
every facility for percolation and the activity of
capillary action. In is mechanical composition its
particles are in a state of very fine division, which
renders it more productive than coarser soils It
acquires heat readily in the daytime and the loss
of the heat at night is very gradual, that it
mans always warm and is not subject to sudden
changes of heat and cold. Besides its essential con-
stituents of water, organic or vegetable matter,
sand and clay, chemical analysis shows that lime
soda, magnesa, iron, ammonia and available forms
of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash enter into
composition in tn proportions best adapted to
add to its fertility though, of course, is always
the case In soil analysis, its composition varies in
different localities and is not always constant.
The soil of the uplands, or mesas, is lighter and
more gravelly and in some places of Free loamy,
calcareous character. The mesa lands are warm and
generous. They seem especially adapted for the
grape olive and citrus fruits generally. Their soil
contains more magneSia, lime chalk than the
bottom lands. 1t cracks and retains moisture
admirably in summer 1t is of that character which
will produc- a wine that will keep good for fifty or
a hundred years, and improve annually, not being
liable to sour or exposure to the air, after one
year old TO become turbid and change color in the
bottle or glass.
We safely say that the soil of Yuma County
nowhere be surpassed, containing as it does all
the essential elements of richness and fertility.