The Arizona sentinel., 1899-01-28
FRUIT CULTURE.

Frait production throughout Arizona is a sub
 ject O 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 that the soil and climate of Yuma County arc peculiarly adapted for this branch of agricultural enterprise. The development of these resources is of the utmost importance and is ct tractiug careful attention. Experiments have been madc 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, off, Vnderful superiority of Yuma County over southern California ill fruit growing, and which must lead to large and varied production, Of the most rcmunorative character.
 The Co, missioner of Immigration in his report published in 886, writes as follows of the rich valley 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 journos to the sea By constai overhows and change of channel the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form
 ed soil of xtreme fertility, Near th3 streams it is q dark alluyia mold, well adapted to small G sandy loan, mellow and porous, and especially i favorable for fruit culture. It has been already demon strated that the productive apacity 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 a year can be growth, and vegetation is one month ahead of California The farmers plants cottonwood sapng before his door, and within the he has shade tree twenty-five feet hi@h! Alfalfa can be cut six times during the season, and it is an actual fact the grape-cuttings have produced within egh teen months What State CT Territory can make such showing? The climate, it must be remem- bcred, is nearly perpetual summer. Snow never fails in these southern valleys The farmer begins to plant in November, and by the middle of nay lis harvest is ready Roses are in bloom, fruit trees are blosscmng, and the grair fields are sea of green when the ields of the Eastern farmers l are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety O grains grasses, fruits and vese- tables grown in the temperate and semltropic
 zones can be produced in the valleys of Alizona. Wheat, barley, oats and all the smal. grains give yield of from twenty-five to fifty bushels to [ Jlt NCIS Ali@il't' SlO'SA5 VAA1AOo4iJB ~-N 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 can be grown iD Arizona, and
 nowhere are they found of better quality.
 ''Besidcs the products mentioned, these semi 1 tropical valleys produce cotton, sugarc to- ! bacco, 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 demonstrate | ed that the soil and climate are specially adapted { to their successful growth. Cotton growing is no
 experiment in Arizona, for it is on record that
 when the Europeans first penetrated this region,
 they found the Pima Indians wearing fabrics
 made of ,tton grown in the Gila valley.
 "But it is their adaptabillty for fruit culture
 that assures to these valley lands denso popula
 5iou and apyosperous future. Almost every var
 ety known can be raised in their fruitful soils. The
 apple, pear plum peach, apricot, qlinee and nee
 tsrine, are of delicious flavor, and give gen.
 erous yield. The grape of.all varieties ia home
 in these sunny vales. No place in the grape-grow-
 ing belt of the Pacific Coast show so prolific 2
 yield. The quality is all that could be desired
 and the wine, although its manufacture IS yet ex-
 pecimoBtal. is of a fine flavor, delicious bouquet,
 ,td un, lrra,,eJ by any native product as 3 table