The Arizona sentinel., 1897-09-18
can nowhere be surpassed, containing as 1t does all the essential elements of richness and fertility
 R3TTI'P CJrI nITPE

the essential elements of richness and fertility. FRUIT CULTURE.
 Fruit production throughout Arizona is Q sub Ject 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 enterprise. The development of these ! resources is of the utmost importance and is st- traeting careful attention Experiments have been made, with c9re and facts in regard to She culture l 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 i over Southern California in fruit growing, and
 which must lead to large and varied production,
 of the most remunerative character.
 The Con missioner of immigration In his report, published ill Ss6, writes as follows of the rich
 valleys of the GiIa, Colorado and Salt rivers.
 | ''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 iourneY to the sea. By constant overfows and change of channel,
 the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form
 ed soil of ,xtreme fertility, Near ths streams it
 is dark alluvial mold, well adapted to small grains and grasses Farther back there is a rich sandy loam, 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 lands of equal area 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 crops year
 can be growth, and vegetation is one month ahead
 of California. The farmers plants a cottonwood
 sapling before his door, and within the year he has
 a shade tree twenty-five feet high! Alfalfa can be
 six times during the season. and is an actual
 fact the grape-cuttings have produced within eigh- teen months! What State or Territory 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 in bloom, fruit trees blossoming, and the grain fields are sea of green, when the fields of the Eastern farmers
 are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety grains grasses, fruits and vege-
 tables grown in the temperate and semitropic 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 ir the United States can be grown in Arizona, and n nowhere are they found of better quality. "Besides the products mentioned, these semi
 tropical valleys produce cotton, sugar-cane, to-
 bacco, hemp and rice. With the exception of th' ;o to
 vation of other staples; but it has been demonstrat ed that the soil and climate specially adapted to their successful growth. Cotton-growing is nt experiment in Arizona. for it is on record ths S when the Europeans first penetrated this region 0 they found the Pima Indians wearing fabric :. made of cotton grown in the Gila valley.
 = ''But it is their adaPtabillty for fruit cultur r that assures to these valley lands dense popula :. ton and aprospereus future. Almost every var
 ety known can be raised in their fruitful soils Tn , apple, pear, plum, peach, apricot, quinee and nee tarine, are of delicious flavor, and give gen e erous yield. The grape of all varieties iss hom | In these sunny wales. No place in the grapegrow
 ing belt of the Pacific Coast can show so prolific , yield. The quality is all that could be desired and the wine, although its manufacture is yet ex u perimental is of fine flavor, delicious bouquet . and unsurpassed by any native product as a tabl n beverage. Experiments with the raisin-grap
 have shown that this climate and soil posses :, every advantage for the production and curing o Il this staple article of commerce
 d "Besides the fruits already mentioned, the or Il ange, lemon, lime, olive, fig, pomegranate, an h others of the citrus family, be grown success :, fully in the valleys of Southern Arizona. Orang N trees are now in bearing in the Salt River valle e and at Yuma; while the bananas is also being cul tivated at the latter place. The Arizona orange IT. quality and flavor will compare tavoraby with th F. best California.
 ''In the valleys of the Colorado, the Salt and tn ' Gia rivers there is for thousands. It is no IT too much to say that nowhere within the limits # this broad Union be found more desirabl n region for the making of home. No laboriou , clearing of the land is required; it lies almos
 ready for the blow. Trees and shrubbery have 8 < rapid growth that within eighteen months tn
 immigrant can surround his abode with attraction
 which would require years to mature in less favore
 | climates. Fruits ripen and are ready for marke
 a full month before the California product. Tn . bright sunshine makes life luxury, and the pure
 dry atmosphere brings health to all who inhale II
 For the establishment of colonies, such as we hay
 made of Southern California arden, Arizon ' presents unrivaled opportunities Thousands o
 acres, now proftless, can be made productiv by the construction of irrgatng ditches and ther st is no investment which assures larger or nor y | permanent returns"
 y The foregoing statements not exaggerated in fact they fall short of doing justice to this won l. derful land. Pineapples, dates, almonds and wal nuts will do we'll Strawberries, raspberries, black B berries. entrants, gooseberres and all varieties small fruits be successfully cultivated Indeed e Yuma County is not only the natural home of tn u citrus and sem-tropical fruits, as almost ever. s fruit, nut, plant, gran grass vegetable whicl Q eau be produced in either tropic temperate a will thrive in it's rich and fertile soils.
 - ARIZONA.