The Arizona sentinel., 1897-07-24
can nowhere be surpassed, containing as 1t does all the essential elements of richness and fertility.

the essential clenentS or richness and fertility.
 FRUIT CULTURE.
 Fruit production throughout Arizona is sub iect 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 peculiarly adapted for this branch of agricultural enterp~is=. The development Of these resources is of the utmost importance and is az tracting care:nl 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 most skept ical of the wonderful superiority Of Yuma County over Southern California in fruit growing, ard which must lead to large and varied production, l of the most remunerative character.
 The Co missioner of immigration In his report, published in ss8, writes as follows of the rich valley of the Gila. Colorado and caIt rivers. The soil of these valleys is amony the richest l 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 constal overdows and change of channel, the depo,it Of this rich vegetable matter has form ed soil of ,xtreme fertility, Near the streams if is dark alluvial mold well adapted to small | grains and grasses. Farther back there Is ri-h 1 sandy loarn, mellow and porous, and especially 1 favorable for fruit culture. It has been already demonstrated that the productive capacity of these valleys is not surpassed by Ian Is of equal area in any part of the United States. So rapid and prolific is the growth of the ruits cereals and vegetables that the labor of the culsivator is reduced to the minimum. In nearly all of them two crops year 1 can be growth, and vegetation is one month ahead | of California. The farmers plants a cottonwood snpDg before his door, and within the year he has Q shade tree twenty-five feet highI Alfalfa can be cut six t nes dlrng the sels0n and it is actual fat the grape cuttings have produced within eigh- teen mo ths! What State or Territory can make such showing? The climate, 1t must be remem- bered, is nearly perpetual summer. Snow never fal< in these southern valleys. The farmer begins to plant in November, and by the middle of Nay his harvest is ready. Roses sre in bloom, fruit trees are blos .oming, and the graiT fields sea of green, when the fields of the Eastern farmers l are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety 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 Ill the small grains give yield of from twenty-five to fifty bushels to 1 the,acre Alfalfa, clover, timothy, Bermuda and all the cultivated grasses grow luxuriantly, the former giving from ei ,ht to ten tons to the acre each year, Every variety of vegetable raised in the United States can be grown in Arizona, and nowhere arc they found of betts quality.
 Besides the products mentioned, these semi tropical val cys produce cotton, sugar-cane, to- baeco hempand rice With the exception of the sugarcane but little attention is paid to the cuti- vaton of other staples but ir has been demonstrate ed that the soil and climate are specially adapted to their successful growth. Cotton-growinS is no experiment in AriZona. for it is on record thai when the Europeans first penetrated this region, they found the 'ina lni lnI wearing fabrics made of cotton grown in the Gila V. Hey.
 sBut it is their ada stability for fruit culture that assures to theSe Fallsy lands 1enss pOpula- tion and aprosyerous future. Almost every var iety known can he raised in their fruitful sos The apple, pear, plum, peach, apricot, quince and nee tarine, are sf delicious flavor, and give gen. erous yieli The grape of all varieties home in thes, sunny wales. No place in the grape-grow' ing belt of the Pach, Coast can show so prolific a yield. Tn qullity is all that could be desired and the wine, although it's manufacture IS vet ex- perimental, is of fine flavor. delicious bouquet and unsurpassed by any native product as 2 table beverage. Experiments with the raisin- grape have shown that this climate and soil possess every advantage for the proiuct!on and curing Of this staple article of commerce.
 l ''Besides rhe frnits slIe ady mentioned, the CT ange, lemon, lime, olive, fig. pomegrlnate, 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- tivated at the latter place. The Arizona orange in quality and flavor will compare fayorably with the best California.
 "in the valleys of the Colorad. the Salt and the Gila livers 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 la5orious clearing of the land is required; 1t lies almost ready for the blow. Trees and -hrubtery nave so rapid growth that within eighteen months the immie rant can surround his abode wieh attractions which would req lire years to natur in less favored 1 climates. Fruits rpen and ready for market { a full month fore the California proiuCG. The bright sunshine makes life luxury, and the pure, dry atmosphere brings health to all who irhale It.
 
 made of Southern alifornia a arden, Arizona presents unrivaIed opportunities Thousands of acres, now prohtless, car he made productive by the construction of irrgating hes, and there is no investment which assures larger or more permanent retuins.'
 The foregoing statements are not exaggerated; in fact. they fall short of doing justice to this won der;Gl land. Pineapples, dates, amo Ids and wal nuts will do well. Strawb :rries, raspberries, black berries entrants, gooseberries and all varieties of small frsi1s be successfully cultivated Indeed, 1 Yuma County is not only the natural home of the citrus and semi-tropical fruits, as alm:st every fruit, nut, plant grain, gra.s or vegetable which be produced in either tropic or temperate zone will thrive in it's rich and fertile soils.
 I ARIZONA.