The Arizona sentinel., 1900-01-13
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 are peculiarly adapted for this branch of agricultural enterprise. The development of these resources is of the utmost importance and is at tracting carefnl 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 even tbe most skept ical, oftao Onderful superiority of Yuma County over Southern California in fruit growing, and which must lead to large and varied production, l of the most remunerative character
 The Commissioner of Immigration in his report, published in 1886, writes as follows of the rich l valley of the Gila, Colorado and Calt 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 iourney to the sea. By constant overlows and change of channel the deposit of this rich vegetable matter has form ed soil of extreme fertility Near ths streams it l is dark 1lluvial 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 apacity of these valleys is not surpassed by lands of equal area in any pert of the United States. So rapid and prolific
 is the growth of the fruits, cereals and vegetables that the labor Of the cutivetor is reduced to the minimum. ln nearly all of them two crops a year can be growth, and vegetation is one month ahead | of California. The farmers plants a cottonwood sapling before his door, and within the year he has shade tree twenty-five feet high! Alfalfa can be cut six times during the season. and it is an actual
 fact the grape-cuttings have produced within eigh- teen monthsl 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 Nis harvest is ready. Roses are in bloom, frui5 trees are blossoming, and the grain fields sea of green, when the fields of the Eastern farmers are covered with snow and ice.
 Every variety grIns grasses, fruits and vege- 1 tables grown in the temperate and semi-rropic zones can be produced in the valleys of Arizona. l Wheat, corn barley, oats ard all the small grains give yield of from twenty-five to fifty bushels to the acre. Alfalfa, clover, timothy, Bermuda and all the cultivated grasses grow luxuriantly, the former giving from eight to ten tons to the acre each year, Every variety of vegetable raised in the United States can be grown ip Arizona and 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 the sugarcane but little attention is paid to the cuti- vation of other staples but it has been demonstrat 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 cztton grown in the Gila valley.
 "But it is their adaptabillty for fruit culture that assures to these valley lands dense popula- ! tion and aprosperous future. Almost every var iety known be raised in their fruitful sois The apple, pear, plum, peach, apricot, quince and tarine, are of delicious flavor, and give a gen erOus yield. The grape of all varieties isa home in these sunny wales. No place in the grape-grow- ing belt of the Pacific Coast can show so prolific a yield. The quality is all that could be desired; and the wine, although it's manufacture is yet ex- perimental. is of fine flavor, delicious bouquet, | and uns lrpassed by any native product as table | beverage. Experiments with the raisn- grape have shown that this climate and soil possess every advantage for the production and curing of this staple article of commerce.
 Besides the fruits already mentioned the or ange, lemon, lime, olive, fig, pomegranate, and others of the citrus family, be grown success fully in the valleys of Southern Arizona Orange trees are now in bearing in the Salt River valley and at Yuma; while the bananas is also being cul- tivated at the latter place. Inc Afizoia orange in quality and flavor will compare favorably with the best California
 ''In the valleys of the Colorado the Salt and the Gila liYers there is for thousands. It is not too much to say that nowhere within the limits of this broad Union can be found a more desirable region for the making of homo. No Iaborious clearing of the land is required; it lies almost ready for the blow. Trees and shrubbery have so rapid growth that within eighteen months the immigrant can surround his abode with attractions which would require years to mature in less favored climates. Fruits ripen and are ready for market a full month before the California product The 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 have made of Southern California arden. Arizona presents unrivaled opportunities Thousands of acres, now prohtless, can be made productive by Le construction of irrigating dtches and there is no investment which assures larger or more permanent returns.''