The Arizona sentinel., 1898-09-17
LANDS AND SOILS.

The lands of Yuma County copnrisa tbo r,,o~ bottoms and valleys and the uplands or mesas Tho. bottom ands moister and slightly mere fertile it, indeed, it is possible to make comparisons where all are so wonderfully productive and prolific The uplands or mesas are warmer and. perbane
 lightly for betterthe cultivation the citrus fruit Yuma contains 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 a bard pan which is impervious to water These soils have been slowly formed by the decomposition of shales sandstones, marls imestones etc., mixed with or ganc and vegetable matter, washed down by the mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited during the course of centuries. The fertilizns orownish mud held in the wat tlof the Colorado and GIla rivers resembles that from the Nile. and us quantity varies from O.I to O.5 per cent though the water hen even considerably discoIor- ed by mud is good drink, resembling in this res pect the Missouri river water A chemical analysis or the sediments of the Colorado and of the Nile exhibits wonderful similarity in the constituent parts of each. That of the Colorado exhibiting a
 
 ponade 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 VIII be noticed therefore, that when this water is used for irrigation is superior to artesian waters since It IS constantly supplying the land with the clements The soil of the valleys IS extremely rich in dedomposed vegetable matter and uneombined carbon, readily absorbing the aerial gases, such especially as oxygen, which en- terng the soil, decomposes the organic matters SO that they can be taken up and nOurish the plants "hlch may be considered leading feature in it fertility. It also readily takes up and retains moisture while the rmness of its particles affords every facility for percoation and the activity of capillary action. In its mechanical composition it's 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 Of the heat at night is very gradual so that it re- mains always warm and is not subject to sudden | changes of heat and cold. Besides its essential con- stltuents of water, organic vegetable matter, sand and clay, chemical analysis shows that lime soda magneSia, iron, ammonia and available forms of nitrogen, phosphorc acid and potash enter into composition in the proportions best adapted to add to it's fertility, though, of course as is always the case in soil analysis it's composition varies in different localities and is not always constant.
 The soi the uplands, or mesas, lighter and more gravelly and in some places of a lree, loamy character. The mesa lands are warm and 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 S1ranf,- I1x-.,
 will produce wine that will keep good for fifty or a hundred years, and improve annually, not being liable to sour, or exposure to the air. after one year old, to become turbid and change color in the bottle or glass