The Arizona sentinel., 1894-06-09
LANDS AND SOILS.

The lands of Yuma County comprise the river
 bottoms and valleys and the uplands mesas. The
 bottom lands are moister and slightly more fertile, if, indeed. it is possible to make comparisons where all are so wonderfully productive and prolific. 1 The uplands or mesas warmer and, perhaps, slightly better for the cultivation of the citrus fruits Yuma containsa variety of soil The valley lands the Gila and Colorado rivers have for the most part deep sedimentary soil of brownish, gray sandy To m, resting, in most places, upon gray clay subsoil at a depth of from ten 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 shaes, sandstones, marIs imestones, etc., mixed with or ganic and vegetable matter, washed down by the mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited during the of centuries. The fertilizing brownish mud held in the water of the Colorado and Gila rivers resembles that from the Nile, and its quantity varies from O.. to O.5 per cent, though the water when considerably discolor- ed by mud is good to drink, resembling in this pect the Missouri river water. chemical analysis of the sediments of the Colorado and of the Nile exhibits wonderful similarity in the constituent parts of each. That of the Colorado exhibiting a tri1e less potassa, most phosphoric acid and bonade of limestone beds through which the Colo rado passes In other poets the sediment of the Colorado is almost identical with that of the Nile. It will be noticed therefore, that when this water is used for irrigation is superior to artesian waters since it is constantly supplying the land with the richest fertilizng elements. The soil of the valleys
 is extremely rich in dedomposed vegetable matter and uncombined carbon, readily absorbing the aerial raSe SI1che eSneniallV which tering the soil, decomposes the organic matters that they can be taken up and nourish the plants which may be considered a leading featur, in it's fertility. It also readily takes up and retains moisture while the firmness of it's particles affords every facility for percolation and the activity of capillary action. In it's mechanical composition its particles 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 re- mains always warm and is not subject to sudden changes of heat and cold. Besides it's essential stituents of water, organic vegetable matter, sand and clay, chemical analysis shows that lime, soda, magnesia, iron, ammonia and available forms of nitrogen, phosphorc acid and potash enter into composition in tn proportions best adapted to add to it's fertility, though, of course, is always the in soil analysis, its composition varies in different localities and is not always constant.
 The soil of the uplands, 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 or chalk than the bottom lands It never cracks and retains moisture admirably in summer. It is of that character which will produce wine that will keep good for fifty hundred years, and improve annually, not being liable to sour, on exposure to the air, after year old to become turbid and change color in the bottle or glass.
 We sefely say that the soil of Yuma unty nowhere be surpassed containing as it does all the essential elements of richness and fertility.