The Arizona sentinel., 1898-07-23
LANDS AND SOILS.

| The lands of Yuma County comprise the rive, bottoms and valleys and the uplands or mesas The bottom ands are mOister and slightly mere fertile if, indeed it is possible to make comparisons where all are wonderfully productive and prolific The uplands or mesas are warmer and, perhaps
 lightly for better the cultivation the citrus fruits
 Yuma containsa variety of soil The valley land Of the Gila and Colorado rivers have for the most | part deep sedimentary soil of brownish, gray sandy loam, resting, in most places upon a gray clay Subsoil at depth of from ten to twenty feet below the surface, The clay subsoil forms hard pan which is impervious to water These soils have been slowly formed by the decomposition of shales sandstones, marls. lmestones etc., mixed with or ganic and vegetable matter, washed down by the mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited durng the course of centuries. The fertilizins OroWnlsh mud held in the wat tlof the Colorado and Glla rivers resembles that from the Nile. and ts quantity varies from 0.1 to O5 per cent. though the water when even considerably discolor- ed by mud is good to drink, resembling in this res- peet the Missouri river water A chemical analysis of the sediments of the Colorado and of the Nile exhibits wonderful similarity in the constituent parts of each. That of the Colorado exhibiting a trlhe less potassa, most phOsphorio acid and car bonade of limestone beds through which the Colo rado passes. In other respects the sediment of the Colorado is almost identical with that of the Nile It will be noticed therefore that when ths water e used for irrigation it is superior to artes w srs since it is constantly supplying the laa6 wi5b .5 richestfertilizing eleueuts The sg! Of the vaIavs IS extremely rich in deiOmposed vegetable matter and uncombined car9oU, readily a1scr5i1- tbs aerial gases such espec.&liy az oxygen. which en- tering the soil, decorlposes the organic matters SO that they can be taken up and n0ursh the piants which may be considered a leading feature in it fertility. It also readily takes up and retains moisture, while the rmness of its particles affords every facility for percolation and the activity of capillary action. In its mechanical composition its particles are in state of very fine division which renders 1t more productive than coarser soils I acquires heat readily in the daytime, and the loss oi the heat at night is very gradual SO that 1t re. mains always warm and Is not subject to sudden changes of heat and cold Besides it's essential con- stituents of water, organic or vegetable matter, sand and clay chemical analysis shows that lime, soda, magnesia, iron, ammonia and available forms Of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash enter into composition in the proportions best adapted to add to it's fertility though, of course, Is always the case in soil analysis, it's composition varies in different localities and is not always constant.
 The sol the uplands, or mesas, lighter and more graveuy and in some places of lree loamy, calcareous character. The mesa lands are warm and generous. They seem especially adapted for the grape, olive and citrus fruits generally Their soil contains more magnesia, lime or chalk than the bottom lands It never cracks and retains moisture admirably in summer It is oft that character which will produce wine that will keep good for fifty or hundred years, and improve annually, not being liable to souri, or exposure to the air. after one year old to become turbid and change color in the bottle or glass