The Arizona sentinel., 1895-09-07
FRUIT CULTURE.

Fruit production throughout Arizona is a sub- ject of great interest at present, and will no
 doubt, be the principal industry in Yuma County
 The remarkable results that have sprung from
 very superficial and imperfect culture has de- | monstrated that the soil and climate of Yuma
 County are peculiarly adapted for this branch of agricultural enterprise The development of these
 resources is of the utmost importance and is at
 tracting careful attention. Experiments have been
 made, with care, and facts in regard to the culture
 of different kinds of fruits have been collected
 which cannot fail to convince tbe most skept-
 ical, of the wonderful superiority of Yuma County
 over Southern California in fruit growing, and
 which must lead to large and varied production, of the most remunerative character.
 The Commissioner of Immigration in his report, published in 1888, writes as follows of the rich valleys of the Gila, Colorado and Salt rivers.
 1.-The soil of these valleys is among the richest
 on the continent. It is formed of the detritus
 which the streams for ages have brought down
 from their mountain homes in their journey to the sea. By constant over1ows and change of channel
 the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form
 ed soil of extreme fertility, Near the streams it is dark alIuvial mold, well adapted to small
 grains and grasses. Farther back there is Q rich
 sandy loam, mellow and porous, and especially favorable for fruit culture. It has been already demonstrated that the productive capacity of these valleys is not surpassed by lands of equal in any part of the United States So rapid and prolific is the growth of the fruits cereals and vegetables that the labor of the cutivator is reduced to the minimum. In nearly all of them two crops year can be growth, and vegetation is month ahead of California. The farmers plants cottonwood sapling before his door, and within the year he has shade tree twenty-five feet high! Alfalfa can be cut six times during the season, and it is actual fact the grape-cuttings have produced within eigh- teen months, What State or Territory can make such showing? The climate, it must be remem- bered, is nearly perpetual summer. Snow never falls in these southern valleys The farmer begins to plant in November, and by the middle of May his harvest is ready. Roses are in bloom, fruit trees blossomng, and the grain fields are sea of green, when the fields of the Eastern farmers are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety of grains, grasses, fruits and vege- tables grown in the temperate and semi-tropic zones can be produced in the valleys of Arizona Wheat corn. barley, oats and all the small grains give yield of from twenty-five to fifty bushels to the acre. Alfalfa, clover, timothy, Bermuda and all the cultivated grasses grow luxurianty, the former giving from eight to ten tons to the acre each year, Every variety of vegetable raised in the United States can be grown in Arizona, and nowhere are they found of better quality.
 eBesides the products mentioned, these semi tropical valleys produce cotton, sugar-cane, to- bacco, hemp and rice With the exception of the sugar-cane but little attention is paid to the cuti vation of other staples but it has been demonstrat ed that the soil and climate are specially adapted to their successful growth Cotton growing is no experiment in Arizona, for 1t IS on record that when the Europeans first penetrated this region, they found the Pima Indians wearing fabrics made of cotton grown in the Gila valley.
 ''But it is their adaptabilIty for fruit culture that assures to these valley lands dense popula tion and aprosperous future. Almost every var iety known can be raised in their fruitful soils The apple, pear, plum, beach, apricot, quince and nec- tarine, are of delicious flavor, and give gen. erous yield The grape of all varieties is at home in these sunny vales No place in the grape-grow- l ing belt of the Pacific Coast show so prolific yield. The quality is all that could be desired; and the wine, although it's manufacture is yet ex perimental, is of fine flavor, delicious bouquet, and unsurpassed by any native product as table beverage. Experiments with the raisin-grape have shown that this climate and soil possess every advantage for the production and curing of this staple article of commerce.
 ''Besides the fruits already mentioned, tho or ange, lemon, lime, olive, fig, pomegranate, and others of the citrus family, can be grown success fully in the valleys of Southern Arizona. Orange trees are now in bearing in the Salt River valley and at Yuma; while the bananas is also being cul- tivated at the latter place. The Arizona orange in quality and flavor will compare favoraby with the best California.
 "In the valleys of the Colorado, the Salt and the Gila rivers, there is for thousands It is not too much to say that nowhere within the limits of this broad Union be found more desirable region for the making of home No laborous clearing of the land is required; it lies almost ready for the blow. Trees and shrubbery have so rapid growth that within eighteen months the immigrant surround his abode with attractions which would require years to mature in less favored climates. Fruits ripen and are ready for market ! full month before the California product. The bright sunshine makes life luxury, and the pure, Try atmosphere brings health to all who nhale it. Tor the establishment of colonies, such we have
 Ar;1 ! ,