The Arizona sentinel., 1907-08-28
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS,
A Lesson in Intensive Farming by R. Ii. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station.
University of Arizona, January l5. lgu7.

Just west of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluvial flood plain of the Colorado, lies a little farm of 7.2 acres which on May l, 1905, was virgin 1 bottOmand, covered with Saltweed, arrow l brush and creoSote bushes. The original purpose of the tract was for planting selected | varieties of date palms imported by the U. S. Department of Agriculture from the Old World. The Experiment. station, May 2. be- gan preparing the ground, and on May 20 the work of leveling, bordering and irrigating the tract and the planting of l52 palms, was ! completed
 THE PLAN OF WORK.
 Recognizing, however, that a farmer with his living to make meantime, cannot afford to wait for an orchard to come into bearing 1t was planned to plant crops for quick re- turns between the tree-rowS, thus putting the work on feasible basis from the small farm CTS point of view. In order to econOmiZe ground the irrigating borders were so placed as to coincide with the rows of palms, thus utilizing space otherwise usually wasted The tract was divided by the borders into lands, for the most part one half an acre in size. lrrigating water from the Colorado Valley r. & l. Canal was obtained in the GUS tomary manner, and F.. l.. Crane, himself a Yuma Valley farmer, undertook the care of what was nicknamed our play farm"
 In size, as well as in the intensive character of the work planned, this "farm'' is the op- The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa, corn, barley, and fOrages in general, compara- lively little attention being given to vege- tables and fruits. Withal the cost of levelling land in this region is high, rarely falling be- low twenty dollars an acre at current prices for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost, ex- elusive of maintenance, of the Government irrigating system now under construction will be about S3.50 an acre annually for ten years. To meet these and other heavy items of expense in connection with the establish ment of farm in this region, intensive crops of more remuneratve character than those now in vOgue are essential It was partly, | therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon | these financial aspects of the general situa- | ton, that this cultural work was planned.
 RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND.
 The soil of our tract, a warm, sandy loam | well adapted to gardening operations, was | leVelled, ditched and boIdered at contract | price Of Sl7 20 an acre, considerably less than | the average for the locality, reckoning the | labor of men and teams al current rates. In | addition, barbed wire and posts for fencing | cost S60 l0; lumber for headgates cost $39 .57; a drive well point and pipe, a pitcher-spout | pump and a barrel, Sl345; small lumber | two-rOOm house, including five and one. half | days carpenter hire, Sl5275; and a brush-rOOf | shelter for horses, about $5 00. Only skilled | labor employed in levelling, bordering and | dtching the ground, and for part cOnStruc-. teS, as the common labor required or dnarly would be, and in this case was, fur nShed by the farmer himself
 To bring this ground under cultivation and make it habttabe for a small farmer and his family, as stated above, therefore required a cash outlay of about SI00 10. In addition, in the average instance must be included a team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip mcnt, shovels hoes and other small tools.
 CROPS AND MARKETS.
 The crops selected for the season of 1906 were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda onions. ROckyfOrd can taioupeS, Dwarf Cham pion and Burpee's Qunrter Century tomatoes, and alfalfa, besides q few hills of watermclons and Sundry vegetables.
 The produce was marketed in Yuma with the exception of tomatoes, which, for the largest part, were expressed to Tucson and BiSbee. The following statements for the various crops are on the basis of net cash re- turns to the small farmer who with ar aver age family of five and a team of horses is aS- sumed to do the work required. aS explained below. Items necesSitating cash outlay, as seed, irriGating water, and crates are deducted from gross returns Water costs an average of 50 cents for irrigation Der acre for the crops grown. The yields i'll certain instances are low, due to the unimproyed condition of the soil, which, like desert soils in gCC.Ial, was low in nitrogen and organic matter. Some small salty areas also affected yields locally. White Bermuda onions; .47 acres; Seed planted Sept. ?! Oct. 3, 1905. Young onions trans planted, Feb. 5-9 lgi Crop matured about June l. Yield, 39l6 pounds of dry on ons. Highest price received, 21sc pound: owest price received, l.Sc pound. Entire { ;Fop marketed in Yuma.
 Cash Cash
 outlay. returns. Seed d.......................... 2SS Irrigations in seed bed and
 s Sirrigations in field. about $50 sacks and sundry, about. 2.56 I9l6 pounds of onions at 2.5 , l.Sc ................--.. S732i Net cash returns, not de- f ductlDg labor. 6f30
 S73N S732i ] The amount of labor expended upon this 'rOp was large for the area, especially at the ting time. One days team work in preparing the land and about g days, men's ime, were required to bring it through, a1- hOugh the work was not heavy and could rave beer largely performed by boys. The field was low owing to the desert and unfer- iliZed character of the soil, onions requiring srge amounts of organic matter in the soil to i've good results. Early Rose potatoes; .8f acres: Seed pota- Oes planted Feb. I6I9, 1906. Beginning to loom 4 pril l3. Crop all harvested June I3. field, 26I5 pounds. Highest price, May 2t, 1@c. Bulk of crop, 224c All marketed in 'uma. 1
 Cash Cash
 outlay. returns. L J0 poun dS seed-pOtatoes and
 freight on same. ............ SG3 a rrigating water for Sesbania
 used as fertilizer 2gS b for crup......... .Sl
 for scab, incfud- a ing express ................ I.GU ] il5 pounds of potatoes at e S19-254C. ........... @10U = let cash returns, not de- ( ducting labor. ........ 57.1j
 s70.OO 5000 The amount Of labor required for the crop self was about l5 working days with team z days. The seSbanfa used aS green Ilar1ur- t lz on the west half Of the potato ground was L. ven l7 irrfgationS. Bermuda grass more U