The Arizona sentinel., 1895-05-11

more gravoy and in some places of free, loamy, calcareous character. The mesa lands warm and generous. They seem especially adapted for the grape olive and citrus fruits generally Their soil | contains more magnesis, 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 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 glass.
 We can safely say that the soil of Yuma County can nowhere be surpassed, containing as it does all the essential clements of richness and fertility. | FRUIT CULTURE.
 Fruit production throughout Arizona is Q 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 entcrp-ise. The development of these resources is of the utmost importance and is at 1 tractiug 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 even tbe mostskept- ical, ofthe wonderful superiority of Yuma County over Southern California in fruit growing, and which must lead to a large and varied production, l of the most remuneratiye character.
 l The Commissioner of Immigration in his report, published in 1886, writes as follows of the rich valleys of the Gila, Colorado and Salt rivers.
 The soil cf 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 1 sea By constant oyerfOws and change of channel, the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form ed soil of ,xtreme fertility, Near the streams it | is dark alluvial mold well adapted to small | grains and grasses. Farther back there is rich sandy loam, mellow and porous, and especially 1 favorable for fruit culture. It has been already demon strated that the productive capacity Of these valleys is not surpassed by Ian Is 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 cultivator is reduced to the minimum. In nearly all of them two c.cp cops year can can he cl, and vegetation is month ahead l of California. The farmers plants a cottonwood saplng before his door, and within the year he has a shade tree twenty-five feet high! Alfalfa be cut six times during the season, and it is actual fact the grapecuttings have produced within eigh- teen months What State or Territory can make such a 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 are blossoming, and the grain fields sea l of green, when the fields of the Eastern farmers l are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety of grains grasses, fruits and vege- | tables grown in the temperate and sem-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 luxuriantly, 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.
 'Besides the products mentioned, these semi tropical valleys produce cotton, sugarcane to- | bacco, hemp and rice. With the exception of the sugareane, but little attention is paid to the cuti- vaton of other staples; but it has been demonstrat ed that the soil and climate specially adapted to their successful growth. Cotton growing is no l experiment in Arizona, for it is 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 adaptabillty for fruit culture l 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 peach, apricot, quince and nee ! tarine, are of delicious flavor, and give gen erouS yield. The grape of all varieties is at home in these sunny wales. No place in the grape-grow- ing belt of the Pacific Coast can show so prolific yield. The quality is all that could be desired and the wine, although it's manufacture is vet ex- perimental, is of a fine flavor, delicious bouquet and unsurpassed by any native product table l 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 fruts already mentioned, the or 1 ango, lemon, lime, olive, fig, pomegranate, and others of the citrus family, 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. tvated at the latter place. The Arizona orange in quality and flavor will compare fsvorably with the best California.
 "In the valleys of the Colorado, the sait and the Gila rivers, there is room for thousands IL is not tco much to say that nowhere within the limits ot this broad Union be found a more desirable region for the making of 6 home. No iaborious clearing of the land is required it lies almost ready for the blow. Trees and shrubLery have so rapid a growth that within eighteen months the immigrant surround his abode with attractions which would require years to matur2 in less favored climates. Fruits rpen aad are ready fer nasket d full month D fore the California product. The br.gh. sunshine makes life luxury. and the pure dry atmosphere brings L5altt to all who inhae it. For the es5a5ishrens oE colonies, spch w5 hays made q 6oCthe-1 Callforria } arisn, Arizona presents unrivaled opportunities Thousands oi