The Arizona sentinel., 1907-02-13
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, 1907.

University of Arizona, January l5, 1907. Just west of Yuma, Arizona, In the alluyial ! hood-p plain Of the Colorado, lies a little farm ] Of 7.2 acres which on May l, 1905, was virgin 1 bottomland covered with Satweed arrow brush and creOsOte' bushes. Tne original purpose of the tract was for planting selected varieties of date palms imported by the U. S. r Department of Agriculture from the Old World. The Experiment station, May ,, be gan preparing the ground, and on May 20 the work of levelling, bordering and irrigating the tract and the blasting of l52 palms, was completed.
 THE PLAN OF WORK.
 | Recognizing, however, that a farmer with ! his living to make meantime, cannot afford i to wait for an orchard to come into bearing, it was planned to plant crops for quick re- | turns between the tree-rowS thus putting the wOrk on a feasible basis from the small farm | CTS point Of view. In order to economiZe ground the-irTigating borders were placed as to coincide with the rows of palms. thus utilizing space otherwise usually wasted. | The tract was divided by the bOlderS into | lands, for the most part one-half an acre in | size. lTrigating water from the Colorado l Valley F. & l. Canal was obtained in the GUS | tOnIary manner, aid E.. l.. Crane, himself a l 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- posite of the average holdings of this locality. The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa, corn, barley, and forases in general, compartl-
 
 tables and fruits. Witha, the cost of levelling land i'll this region is high, rarely falling be- low twenty dolsiss 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 i'll this region, intensive crops of a niOre renlunerative character than those now in vogue, are essential. It was partly, therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon these financial aspects of the general situe- ton, that this cultural work was planned.
 RECLAMATION OF THE GRJUSD.
 The soil of our tract, a warm, sandy loam well adapted to gardening operations, was levelled, ditehed and boidered at contract price of $l7 2G an acre, considerably less than the average for the locality, reckoning the labor of men and teams at current rates. In addition, barbed wire and posts for fencing cost S60.I0; lumber for headgateS cost S3g.57; drive well point and pipe, a pitcher-spout pump and a barrel, SIS 45; a small lumber two-room house, including i've and one half days carpenter hire, Sl52.E0 and a brush-roof shelter for horses, about S5 co. Only skilled labor employed in levelling, bordering and ditching the ground, and for part construc- ton of the house, Is included in the above estimates as the common labor required or dinarily would be, and in this case was, fur nished by the farmer himself.
 To bring this ground under cultivation and make It habitabie for a small farmer and his family, as stated above, therefore required cash outlay of about SIO0.ao. In addition, in the average instance must be included a team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip nlent, shovels hoes, and other small tools.
 CROPS AND MARKETS.
 The crops selected for the season of 1866 were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda onions. Rocky ford can taiou pes, Dwarf Cham piOn and Burpee'S Quarter Century tomatoes, and alfalfa, besides d few hills of waterInelonS and sundry vegetables.
 The produce was marketed in Yuma with the exception of tomatoes, which, for the largest parI, were expressed :o Tucson and Bisbee. The following statements for the various crops are on the basis of net cash Ie- turns to the small farmer, who with al. aver age family of five and team of horses is aS- suned to do he work required. as explained below. Items neeeSSitating cash outlay, as seed, irrigating water, and crates are deducted from gross returns. Water costs an average of 90 cents for irrigation per acre for the crops grown. The yields in certain instances are low, Cne to the uniinproyel condition of the soil, which, like desert soils in general, was low in nitrogen and organic matter. Some small salty areas also affected yields locally.
 White Bermuda onions; .47 acres; Seed planted Sept. N-Oct. 3, 1905. Young onions tranSplanted, Feb 5-9, l9h. Crop matured about June l. Yield, 39i6 pounds of dry on- ions. Highest price received, 2%e a pound: lowest price received, l.Sc pound. Entire crop marketed i'll Yuma.