The Arizona sentinel., 1900-01-06
FRUIT CULTrRE.

FRUIT CULTURE.
 Fruit production throughout Arizona is a sub ! ject 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 at tracting careful 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, oftb, ondcrful 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 lsS6, writes as follows of the rich | valle, 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 journey to the sea. By constant overiows and change of channel the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form ed soil of rxtreme fertility Near ths streams it | is dark GlluYial mold, well 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 apacity of these valleys is not surpassed by lands of equal 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 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 high! Alfalfa can be cut six times during the season. and it is actual fact the grape-cuttings have produced within egh- teen months! What State or 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 lis harvest is ready. Roses are in bloom, fruit trees are blossoming and the grain fields re g 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 sem-rropiC zones can be produced in the valleys of Arizona Wheat corn barley, oats ard all the small grains give yield of from twenty to fifty bushels tC the acre. Alfalfa, clover, timothy, Bermuda anG all the cultivated grasses grow luxuriantly, tht 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 in Arizona, anC nowhere are they found better quality.
 "Besides the products mentioned, these semi
 tropical valleys produce cotton, sugar-cane, to-
 bacco, hemp and rice. With the exception of thu
 sugarcane but little attention is paid to the culti vaton of other staples; but it has been demonstrat ed that the soil and climate specially adapted to their successful growth. Cotton growing is m
 experiment in Arizona, for it is record tha when the Europeans first penetrated this region they found the Pima Indians wearing fabric made of c1tton grown in the Gila valley.
 ''But it is their adaptabilIty for fruit cultur
 that assures to these valley lands dense popula ton and aprosperous future. Almost every var iety known be raised in their fruitful soils Tn apple, pear, plum, peach, apricot, quinee and nee s tarine, are of delicious flavor, and give gen
 erous yield. The grape of all varieties iss hom In these sunny vales. No place in the grape-grow ing belt of the Pacific Coast can show prolific ] yield. The quality is all that could be desired l and the wine, although it's manufacture is yet ex F perimsntal. is of 2 fine flavor, delicious bouquet
 and uns lrpassed by any native product tabl
 beverage. Experiments with the raisin-grap
 have shown that this climate and soil posses every advantage for the production and curing C D this staple article of commerce.
 Besides the fruits already mentioned tho or ange, lemon, lime, olive, fig. pomegranate, an others of the citrus family, be grown success
 fully in the valleys of Southern Arizona. Orang trees are now in bearing in the Salt River valle , and at Yuma; while the bananas is also being cul tvated at the latter place. The Arizona orange il quality and flavor will compare favorably with tn
 bestCalifornia.
 'In the valleys of the Colorado, the Salt and tn Gila rivers, there is for thousands. It is no
 too much to say that nowhere within the limits o
 this broad Union be found more desirabl
 region for the making of home. No laboriou
 clearing of the land is required; it lies almos
 ready for the blow. Trees and shrubbery have S.
 rapid growth that within eighteen months tn e immigrant surround his abode with attraction
 which would require years to mature in less avore climates. Fruits ripen and are ready for marke
 8 full month before the California product. Tn
 bright sunshine makes life luxury. and the pure dry atmosphere brings health to all who inhale It
 For the establishment of colonies, such as we hay made of Southern California arden, Arizon
 presents unrivaed opportunities Thousands o
 acres, proftless, can be made productiv by construction of irrigating ditches and ther
 permanent returns"