The Arizona sentinel., 1909-09-09
TIMELY HINTS
FOR FARMERS.
A Lesson In Intensive Farming by
r I'll. Forbes; Director and
Chemist OF Agricultural
Experiment Station
Un:vefsity of Arizona,
January Is. 1907

January IS, 1907.
Just west of yuma, Arizona in the alluvial
| flOod-plain of the Colorado, lies q little farm
OF - acres which OH May. /, 1906 was virgin
bOttomland, covered with saltwced, arrow.
brush and creosote bushes. The 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 levellng, bordering ,and irrigating
the tract and the plan ting of l52 palms, was
completed.
THE PLAN OF WORK.
Recognizing, however, that q farmer with
bis living to make meantime, c;lh1iot afford
| To wait for an orchard to come into bearing
1t was planned TO plant crops fof duick re-
turns between the tree-rows, thus ptitting the
work on a feasible basis from the small farm
| ef's point of view. In order to etonomize
ground tile 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 i'll
size: lrrigating water from the Colorado
Valley y. & l. Canal was obtniffed I'M the Gus
touary manner, and K. u, CfatIe, himself a
Yuma Valley farmer, undertook the care OF
what was nicknanIeu our play firiii''
In size, rs well as in the intensive character
of the work pianned, this ~''farm" is the op
posite Of the average holdings Of this locality.
The prevailing crotis Of The region are alfalfa
tables ;;pd fruits Withai, tie cost of levelling
| land in this region is high, rarely falling be.
low twert ty dollars an acre st current prices
| for labor and teahis. MOREOVER. the cost, ex
| c1iSiVe of maiiftenaitcd, of the Government
| irffgsting system now iirider construction
viii BE about $50 dfi ns5s aVhhuatfy for ten
Sc IN ess xh Gtsf the hesf esfabsh sm
n1ent Of q farih in this rtsUii, intensive crops
! Of a more ren1unerative thafactef than those
now III Yogue; nre essen tfal. 1t Wis partly
! these Financial ASPECTS OF the central stua.
ton, that this cultural work wds piafned.
KEcLAMATfoN OF THE oKoGsb.
wei adapted to gafdefrg opefatiotis, was
ltyelled. dtched and bUideivd ait d rHtract
price of 81 20 an acre, cOfisdeifibfy less than
the average for the lletii.y, fetEbniifs the
addition, barbed wife anu posts for iehcing
cost stO.l0; lunIIter for ksadgdtas cost sSg.5i;
a drive well point aha .ptge, pttthet:spout
two-room house. intluditts iive afjf one. Half
DAYS carpenter hire, sf5s 10; and Il bThsh-ftof
shelter for horses, atoEt $3.g0: Only skilled
labor eftgISys rig u leseitTs berdefhs gnu
ton of the liouse, IS incfudgd III the above
estimateS; as the conIffon labof redttted ora
dinarfty woitld be, and il this case wEs, fur
niShed by the farmer himself.
To bring this ground under cultivation and
make it habitabe for a small farmer ana his
fanIfly, us stated above, therefore REQUIRED a
cash outlay of about SI00.U. In addition, in
the average instance must be iiicludtd a
teahI, wagon. cblow, harrow, hayihg equip
ment ShOvels hoes and other small tools.
CROPS AND MARKETS..
The crops selected for the season of 1906
were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda
pion and BUrpee's Quarter Cefstttfy tomatoes,
and alfalfa, besides few hills of watermelons
and suRdry 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 tltsh re-
turns 70 the small farmer, who with lit, aver
age family of five and Il team of horses is as
sufyTed to do the work reduied. as Explained
below. ltefIfs necesSitating cash CfttTy, as
seed, irrigating water. anu cfEyteS arc deducted
from gross returns Water costs an average
of 50 cents for irrigation per acre for the crops
grown. The yields in certain instances are
low, Cue to the unimpr6Ved condition OF the
soil, which, like desert soils in ger -r8l, was
low i'll nitrogen and GtSnnic matter Some
small salty areas also affected Yields iocsfly.
White Bermuda orioha; At acres; seed
planted Sept. 27-Oct. 3; 1903. Young of1ionS
transplanted, Feb. SO, 1906. Crop matured
about June |. Yield. 1916 pounds Of dry on
ions. Highest price received PIC a poufid;
lowest price received, lSc pound. Entire
crop marketed in Yuma.
Cash Cash
outlay. returns.
Seed ........., ......;- 28S
r..