The Arizona sentinel., 1895-02-02

O the Gila and Colorado ivers have for the most
 part deep sedimentary soil of browrish, gray
 san'y lonm, resting, in most places, upon a gray cla, subsoil at a depth of from ten to twenty feet
 below the surface, The clay subsoil forms a hard
 pan which is impervious to water These soils have
 been slowly formed by the decomposition of shales.
 sandstones, marls llmestones etc, mixed with or i g,nic and vegetable matter, washed down by the
 mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited during the course of centuries The fertilzing
 brownish mud held in the water of the Colorado and Gila rivers resembles that from the Nile, and
 its quantity varies from O.1 to O5 per cent, though the water when even considerably discOlOr- ed by mud is good to drink resembling in this res poet the Missouri river water. A 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 trihe less potassa, most phosphoric acid and bonade of limestone beds through which the Colo rado passes. In other respects the sediment of the Colorado is almost identical with that of the Nile. It will be noticed therefore, that when this water is used fer irrigation it is superior to artesian waters since it is constantly supplying the land with the richest fertiiizing elements The soil of the valleys is extremely rich in dedomposed vegetable matter and uncombined carbon, readily absorbing the aerial gases, such especially, oxygen, which tering the soil decomposes the organic matters so that they can be taken up and nourish the plants which may he considered a leading feature in its fertility. It also readily takes up end retains moisture, while the rmness of its particles affords every facility for percolaion and the activity of capillary action. In ts mechanical composition its particles in state of very fine division, which renders it more productive than coarser soils It acquiries heat readily in the daytime, and the loss of the heat at night is very gradual so that it re- mains always warm and is not subject to sudden changes of heat and cold Besides it's essential con stituents of water, organic Or vegetable matter, sand and clay, chemical analysis shows that lime, soda magnesia, iron, ammonia and available forms of nitrogen phosphoric acid and potash enter into composition in the proportions best adapted to add to it's fertility though of course, as 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 gravely 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 It never cracks and retains moisture admirably in summer It is of that character which will produce wine that will keep good for fifty or hundred years, and improve annually, not being liable to sour, exposure to the air, after one year old, to become tuTbid and change color in the bottle glass.
 We can safely say that the soil of Yuma County can nowhere be surpassed, containing as it does all the essential elements of richness and fertility.