The Arizona sentinel., 1898-11-12
FRUIT CULTURE.

[ Fruit production throughout Arizona is sub 1 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 thai 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 carefnl 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, oft ~Jnderful superiority of Yuma County over Southern California in fruit growing, and W hich must lead to large and varied production of the most remuneratve character.
 1 The Co missioner of Immigration in his report ! published in 8S6, writes as follows of the rich vale, of the Gila, 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 journey 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 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 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 cultvator is reduced to the minimum In nearly all of them two crops year can be growth, and vegetation is one month ahead 1 ~. Tba farm nlantS a sapling before his door, and within the he has shade tree twenty five feet high. Alfalfa can be cut six times during the season, and it is actual fact the pe-cuttings have produced within eigh teen moi ths, 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 lis harvest is ready. Roses are in bloom, fruit trees are blossomng, and the grair fields are Sta 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 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 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 ip Arizona, and nowhere are they found of better quality.
 "Besdes the products mentioned, these semi tropical valleys produce cotton, sugar-cane' to- bacco, hemp and rice. With the exception of the sugar but little attention is paid to the cultl vation of other staples but it has been demonstrat ed that the soil and climate are specially aoapted to their successful growth. Cotton-groWlhS IS no experiment in Arizona, for it is on record that when the Europeans first penetrated this regloh' they found the Pima Indians wearing faDrlcs 1 made of cotton grown in the Gils valley
 ''But it is their adaptabihty for fruit culture that assures to these valley lands dense popuia- tion and aprosperous future. Almost every var ietv known can be raised in their fruitful solls The apple pear, plum, peach, apricot, qulnce anu nee tarine. are of delicious flavor, and give gen erous yield. The grape of all varieties lss nome in these sunny wales. No place in the grape-gro"-
 ing belt of the Pacific Coast can show so pro'ih0 yield. The quality is all that could be deSlreu' and the wine, although it's manufacture Is 'eO eA
 perimental, is of fine flavor, delicious oouque'' aria ms Iry2e,srd by any native product as teo"