The Arizona sentinel., 1899-10-14
FRUIT CULTURE.

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 tracting carefn 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, tbe most skept ical, oft5s Onderful 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 Commissioner of Immigration In his report, published in sS6, writes as follows of the rich vallel 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 over1ows and change of channel the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form ed soil of extreme fertility, Near the streams it is dark &lluvial mold, we'll adapted to small grains and grasses. Farther back there is a rich sandy loam, mellow and porous, and especially | favorable for fruit culture. It has been already demonstrated that the productive apacty 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 cultivator is reduced to the minimum. Tn nearly all of them two crops a year can be growth, and vegetation is month ahead of California. The farmers plants a cottonwood sapng before his door, and within the year he has Q shade tree twenty-five feet high! Alfalfa be cut six times during the season, and it is actual fact the cuttings have produced within egh teen months What State or Territory can make such Q 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 Nis harvest is ready. Roses in bloom, fruit trees are blOssoming, and the grain fields re sea of green, when the fields of the Eastern farmer are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety grains grasses, fruits and vege tables grown in the temperate and semi-Cropi
 zones can be produced in the valleys of Arizona
 Wheat, corn barley, oats ard all the small grain give yield of from twenty-five to fifty bushels t.
 the acre. Alfalfa, clover, timothy, Bermuda ant all the cultivated grasses grow luxuriantly, tn
 former giving from eight to ten tons to the acr each year, Every variety of vegetable raised il l the United States can be grown iB Arizona, an
 nowhere are they found of better quality.
 "Besdes the products mentioned these semi
 tropical valleys produce cotton, sugar-cane, to
 bacco hemp and rice With the exception of tn sugar-cane but little attention is paid to the cult
 vation of other staples but it has been demonstra I to their successful growth. Cotton-growing is n
 experiment in Arizona, for it is on record tha when the Europeans first penetrated this regioI they found the Pima Indians wearing fabric l made of o.tton grown in the Cila valley.
 ''But it is their adaptabilIty for fruit cultur
 that assures to these valley lands dense popula
 tion and aprosperous future. Almost every val
 ety known be raised in their fruitful soils. I'll i apple, pear, plum, peach, apricot quince and ne s tarine, are of delicious flavor, and give gel
 erous yield. The grape of all varieties isa hon
 in these sunny wales. No place in the grape-grov
 ing belt of the Pacific Coast can show so prolific | yield. The quality is all that could be desre h and the wine, although it's manufacture is yet e r perimental is of fine flavor, delicious bouque
 and uns 1rp2ssed by any native product tab |. beverage. Experiments with the raisin-g graz l have shown that this climate and soil posse e every advantage for the production and curing n this staple article of commerce.
 q ''Besides the fruits already mentioned the O j. ange, lemon, lime, olive, fig, pomegranate, ar others of the citrus family, can be grown success y fully in the valleys of Southern Arizona. Oranl . trees now in bearing in the Salt River vallt Il and at Yuma; while the bananas is also being GU tivated at the latter place. The Arizona orange
 quality and flavor will compare favorably with u
 best California.
 "In the valleys of the Colorado, the Salt and tl
 Gila rivers, there is room for thousands. It is n
 too much to say that nowhere within the limits
 this broad Union be found a more desirab
 region for the making of home No laborio1
 clearing of the land is required it lies almo e ready for the blow. Trees and shrubbery have
 rapid growth that within eighteen months u
 immigrant can surround his abode with attraction
 which would require years to mature in less favort
 climates. Fruits ripen and are ready for mark IS full month before the California product. TT
 bright sunshine makes life luxury, and the pur o dry atmosphere brings health to all who inhale
 For the establishment of colonies, such as we Ina,
 made of Southern California a arden, Arizor Il presents unrivaled opportunities Thousands r acres now proftless can be made productiI
 by de construction of irrigating ditches and thel I is no investment which assures larger or mo N permanent returns."