The Arizona sentinel., 1899-01-28
LANDS AND SOILS.

The lands of Yuma County comprise the river bottoms and valleys and the uplands or mesas The bottom snds moister and slightly mere fertile IT, indeed, 1t is possible to make comparisons where all are 50 wonderfully productive and prolific The uplands or mesas are warmer and perhaps
 lightly for betterthe cultivation of the citrus fruits Yuma contains vsrletv of soil The valley land of thel Gila and Colorado rivers have fer the most part deep sedimentary soil of brownish, gray san1y loam, resting, in most places, upon a gray clay subsoil at depth of from Seu to twenty feet below the surface, The clay subsoil forms hard. pan which IS mpervious to water. These soils hav,. been slowly formed by the decomposition of shales sandstones, marls. Hmestones, etc., mixed with or ganic and vegetable matter, washed down by the mighty rivers and have been gradually deposited durlng the course of centuries. The fertilizing brownish mud held in the wat Clof the Colorado and Gila rivers resembles that from the Nile, and its quantity varies from O.1 to O.5 per cent, though the water hen even considerably discolor- ed by mud is good drink, resembling in this res pect the Missouri river water. chemical analysis of the sediments of the Colorado and of the Nile exhibits a wonderful similarity in the constituent parts of each That Uf the Colorado exhibiting g trltc less potassa, most phosphoric acid and car | bonade of limestone beds through which the Colo rado psss"s In other respects the sed.ns It of the Colorado is almost identical with that of the Nile It wilfRe noticed therefore, that when this water il used for irrigation it is superior to artesian waters since it is constantly supplying the land with tht richestfertilizng elements The soil of the valIey IS extremely rich in dedomposed vegetable matter | and uncombined carbon, readily absorbing tht aerial gases, such especially, as oxygen, which en tering the soil, decomposes the organic matters $, that they can be taken up and nourish the plant, which may 1e considered a leading feature in It fertility. It also readily takes up and retains moisture while the irmness of it's particles afsrd | every facility for percolation and the activity O capillary action. In it's mechanical competition it particles in state of very fine division whicl renders it more productive than coarser soils I acquiries heat readily in the daytime, and the los of the heat at night is very gradual, so that it re mains always warm and is not subject to suddel changes of heat and cold Besides it's essential | stituents of water, organic or vegetable matter 1 sand and clay, chemical analysis shows that lime | soda magnesia, ,,iron, ammonia and available form of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash enter int composition in the proportions best adapted t. add to its fertility, though, Of course is alway the case in soil analysis, it's composition varies il different localities and is not always constant
 The soi o the upands or mesaS, lighter all, more gravelly and in some places of tree, Ioamy | calcareous character. The mesa lands are warm an generous. They seem especially adapted for tn grape olive and citrus fruits generally. Their so contains moro magnesia, lime or chalk than tn bottom lands. It never cracks and retains moistur admirably in summer. It is of that character whic will prOduc' wIne that will keep good for fifty o hundred years, and improve annually, not bein liable to sour, on exposure to the air, after year old, to become turbid and change color in tn bottle or glass