The Arizona sentinel., 1908-09-30
TIMELY HINTS
FOR FARMERS,
A Lesson in Intensive Farming by
K II. Forbes, Director and
Chemist of Agricultural
Experiment Station
University of Arizona,
January Is. 1907.

university OF Arizona,
January Is, 1907.
Just west of Yuma Arizona in the alluvial
f1ood-piain Of the Colorado, lies little farm
Of ID acres which on May |, 1905, was virgin
bottOnland, covered with saltweed, arrow
brush and creosote bushes. Toe original
purpose of the tract was for planting selected
varieties of date palms imported by the u. =.
department Of Agriculture from the Old
World. The Experiment station, May 2. be-
gan preparing the ground, and on May % the
work of leveling, bordering and irrigating
the tract and the planting of l52 palms, was
completed.
THE PLAN OF WORK.
Recognizing, however, that Il 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 q feasible basis from the small farm
er's point of view. In order TO economiZe
ground the rrigating 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 =. q l. Canal was obtained in the Gus
tomary manner, and Il. h. Crane, himself
Yuma Valley farmer, undertook the care of
what was ncknamed our play farm"
In size, as we'll as in the Intensive character
of the work planned, this farm is the OPP
poste of the average holdings OF this locality.
The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa,
corn, barley, and forages III general, compara-
lively little attention being given to yege-
tables and fruits. Withal, the cost of levellng
land In this region is high, rarely falling be-
low TWEEN ty dollars an acre at current prices
for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost, ex-
elusive of maintenance, of the Government
irTigating system now under construction
will be about $3.50 an acre annually for ten
years. To meet these and other heavy items
of expense in connection with the establish
menJ of 81 farm in this region, intensive crops
of a more remunerative character than those
now in vogue, are essen tial. 1t 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, Il warm, sandy loan
we'll adapted to gardening operations, was
levelled; ditched and boIdered at a contract
price of SlT 20 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 500 l0; lumber for headgates cost S3957;
drive well point and pipe, u pitcher-spout
pump and a barrel, $l3.45: small lumber
two-room house including five and onehalf
DAYS carpenter hire, Sl52.75; and Il brush-roof
shelter for horses, about $500. Only skilled
labor employed In levelling, bordering and
ditching the ground, and for part construc-
ton OF the house, is included i'll the above
esti mates, 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 habitable for small farmer and his
family, as stated above, therefore required
cash outlay of about S400.,W. In addition, In
the average instance must be included a
team, wagon. plOw, harrow, haying equip
ment shoveis hoes and other small tools.