The Arizona sentinel., 1898-04-09
FRUIT CULTURE.

Fruit production throughout Arizona is sub- 1 jeet great interest at present, and will nc 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 are peculiarly adapted for this branch of agricultural enterprise The development of these
 resources is of the utmost importance and is at tracung 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-
 ica!, of the wonderful superiority of Yuma County over Southern California in fruit growing, and
 which must lead to a large and varied production,
 of the most remunerative character.
 The Cor missioner Of Immigration in his report.
 published m Ss6, writes as follows of the rich
 valleys ot the Giia, Colorado and Cat 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 overflows and change of channel
 the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form
 ed soil of ,xtreme fertility, Near ths streams it IS dark aluvial mold, well adapted to small grains and grasses. Farther back there is Q 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 raduced to the minimum in nearly all of them two crops year p1r bp 1,I.fb d of California. The farmers plants a cottonwood saplng before his door, and within the year he has a shade tree twenty-five feet hirhl Alfalfa can be cut six times during the season and it is an actual fact the grape-clttDgs have produced within eigh- teen months. What State CT Territory can make such Q showing? The climate, it must be remem- berel, is nearly perpetual summer. Snow never falls in these southern valleys The farmer begins to plant in November, anI by the middle of Hay ,'s harvest is ready. Roses are in bloom, fruit trees are blossomng, and the grair fields a 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 semi-tropic zones can be produced in the valleys of Arizona. Wheat, corn barley, oats and all the small grains -~AN oI LASiA4 e' S4A AA'N W N0' '-'''iOAo tO the acre. Alfalfa, clover, timothy, Bermuda and all the cultivated grasses grow luxurianty, the former giving from eight to ten tons to the acre each year, Every variety of vegetable raised i'll the United Stayes can be grown i'll Arizona, and nowhere are they found of better quality.
 Besides the products mentioned, these semi tropical valleys produce cotton, sugar-cane, to- oacco, hemp and rice With the exception of the uSar-cane but little attention is paid to the cul 'atlon of other staples but it has been Gemonstra I'd that the soil and climate are specially adapted Q their successful growth Cotton growing is no l experiment. in Arizona. for it is on record that ' when the Europeans first penetrated this region, | hey found the Pima Indians wearing fabrics | made Of cotton grown in the Gila valley.
 "Bat it is their adaptabihty for fruit culture hat assures to these valley lands dense popula- ion and aprosperous future. Almost every var 5ty known can be raised in their fruitful soils. The Pple pear, plum, peach, apricot, Quinco and nee 1rAe, are Of delicious flavor, and give gen fous yield. The grape Of all varieties isa home l these sunny wales. No place in the grape-grow lg belt of the Pacific Coast can show prolific ieId' The quality is all that could be desired; ac the wine, although it's manufacture is yet eX erlmeDtal, Is of a fine flavor, delicious bouquet nd unsurpassed by any native product as 8 table