The Arizona sentinel., 1896-04-11

ef toe GifR and Colorado iivers have for the most part deep sedimeatary soil of browni&h, gray saniy 10 m, resting, in most places, upon gray clay subsol at de th of from ten to twenty feet below the surface, The clay subsoil forms hard pan which is imperyious tc water. These soils have been slowly formed by Ge decomposition Of shaes,
 sandstoncs, niarls imestones, et.., mixed with or glnc and vegetable matter, washed down by the 1 mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited turing ahe course of centuries. The fertilizing brownish mud held in the wat of the Colorado and Gila rivers resembles that from the Nile, and
 its quantity varies from 0.1 to O5 per cent,
 though the water when even considerably discolor- od by mud is good to drink resembling in ths res
 lsect tae Missouri river waser. 4 ch miea analysis of the sediments of the Colorado and of the Nile
 cxhib5s a wonderful similarity in the constituent parts Of each. That o: the Colorado exhibiting a
 srilo less pot tasse, most pho paoric aoia and car 5onalc of limestone beds through which the Colo
 rado pass In other respects Jh, sediment Of the
 Colorado is aln ileatio I wiea tba5 oG the Eila
 It will be ,tic.d, therefore t 5 when this vat is
 usel for irrigation it s superior to ar,eian waters
 since it is constantly supplying the land with ths
 richest fer ll;ng clements. The soil of the valleys is extremely rich in jcjom7oscd vegetable mat CT
 ard unco hined room, readily abso hing the aerial gases. sIch especially, as oXvg,n, which c8 tegng the soil, decaaposa, the org sHs matters So that they can bc taken up aa no IrisA the plants which may he considered a lealiug featur in IS i fertility. IT also resiily takes up and retains
 moisture, while tho frnness of it's particles affords
 every facility fer percolalion and the activity of capillary a:tion. In its mechanical conposi.ionits
 particles arc in state of very fine division, whsh | renders it more productive than co3rstr soils It quirics hca readily in the daytime, anl the loss
 Of the heat at night is vety gradual, that il
 ma ns always warm and is not subject 10 sudden
 canges of heat and cod Besides its essential con-
 stituents of waf-T', organic vegetable matter,
 sand and clay, chemical anal rsis shows that lime,
 soda, magnesa, iron, ammonia and available forms
 of nitrogen, phosphoric acd and potash enter into ! co n position in tn proportions best adapted to
 add to its fertility though of course, is always
 the in soil ysis, its composition varies in | different localities and is not always constant.
 The soil Of tae uplshd5, or mcsas, lighter and
 more gravcliy and in some rl ices of 6 .ree, loamy
 calc1reous character. The mesa lands are warm and generous. They seem especially ai,psed for the
 grape, olive and citrus fruits generally Their soil contains more magnesia, lime chalk than the
 bottom lands. It never cracks auI retains moi ture
 admirably ia summer It is of thl5 character which will proLuc q sine that will keep good for ffty CT 9 hundred years, and improve annua ly, not being
 liable to sour, exposure to the air. after one year oI to become tur5id and change color in the bottle or glass.
 We can safely say that the soil of Yuma County
 can nowhere be surpassed, containing it does all
 the essential elements of richness and fertility.