The Arizona sentinel., 1898-02-26
FRUIT CULTURE.

] Fruit production throughout Arizona is a sub
 jcct 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 l 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, 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 remuncratiye character
 The Commissioner Of Immigration in his report,
 published in 1886, writes as follows of the rich
 valleys 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 journeg to the sea. By constant overdows and change of channel the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form
 ed soil of oXJreme fertility, Near th3 streams il is dark alluvial mold, well adapted to small grains and grasses Farther back there is a rich sandy oam, 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 cuItyator is reduced to the minimum. Tn nearly all of them two crops 9 year can be growth, and vegetation is one month ahead of California. The farmers plants cottonwood saplng before his door, and within the year he has a shade tree twenty-five feet hieh! Alfalfa be cut six times during the season, and it actual fact the grape cuttings have produced within eigh teen months, What State ar Territory can 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 '5S harvest is ready. Roses are in bloom, fruit trees are blossoming, and the grain fields 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 ill the United States he grown in Arizona, and nowhere are they found of better quality.
 Besides the products mentioned, these semi tropical valleys produce cotton, sugar cane, to- 0acco, hemp and rice With the exception of the sugarcane, but little attention is paid to the cuti vation of other staples; but it has been demonstrat ed that the soil and climate specially adapted to their successful growth. Cotton-g growing is no experiment ill Arizona, for it is on record that when the Europeans first penetrated this region, they found the Pima Indians wearing fabrics 1 made of cotton grown in the Gila valley
 "But it is their adaptabhty for fruit culture that assures to these valley lands dense popula- ion and aprosperous future Almost every var ety known be raised in their fruitful soils The ppie, pear, plum, peach, apricot quince and nee arine, are Of delicious flavor, and give gen .rous yield. The grape of all varieties ia home n these sunny wales. No place ill the grape-grow ng belt of the Pacific Coast can show 50 prolific 'icd The quality is all that could be desired; md the wine, althoushits manufacture is yet eX- is of fine flavor, delicious bouquet, md unsurpassed by any native product is a table