The Arizona sentinel., 1910-09-15
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS.
A Lesson In Intensive Farming by R Fl. Forbes, Director and Chemist Of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of Arizona,
 I.A = 4. ..-- 1 l l.n--


 Just west or Yuma, Arizona, in the alluYtal food-plain of the Colorado, lies a little farm l of 7.2 acres which on May l, 1905, was virgin | bottomand, covered with Saltweed, arrow i brush and creosote bushes. The original 1 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 leve!Iing, bordering and irrigating l the tract and the planting of l52 palms, was completed.
 | THE PLAN oT WORK.
 Recognizing, however, that a farmer with | his living 10 make meantime, cannot afford | 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 feasible basis from the small farm CTS point of view In order 10 econCmiZe ground the irrigating borders were so placed i 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 acre in
 size. lrrigating water from the Colorado Valley P. & l. Canal was obtained in the GUS 1 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- pOSite of the average holdings of this locality. | The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa,
 corn. barley, and forages in general, conpara- lively little attention being given to vege- tables and fruits. Withal, the cost of leVelllng ! land in this region is hiSh 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 i irrigating system now under construction will be about SS.59 an acre annually for ten years. To meet these and other heavy items ! of eXperSe in connection with the establish | ment Of a farm iii this region, intensive crops
 of a more remuneTative character than these | now in vogue, are essential. It was partly, 1 therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon | these financial aspects of the general stua-
 tin" that this cultural work was planned. 1 RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND. The soil of our tract, a warm, sandy lOam
 well adapted to gardening operations, was | levelled, ditched and bordered at contract | price Of Sl1.2J an acre, considerably less than | the average for the locality, reckoning the | labor of men and teams ali current rates. In
 addition, bareed wire and posts for fencing i cost SO0 It; lumber for headgates cost S39.57;
 a drive well Point and pipe, pitcher-SpOut | pumr and a barrel, Sl345; a small lumber
 two-rCom house. including five and one-half | days carpenter hire, Sl52.7o; and bruSh-rOof
 shelter for horses, about $500. Only skilled | labor employed in levellng, bordering and
 ditchng the ground, and for part construc-
 tion 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
 l To bring this ground under cultivation and
 make it habitable for small farmer and his l family, as stated above, therefore required a
 cash outlay of about S400.00. kn addition, in | the average instance must be included a
 team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip
 ment shovels hoes and other small tools. 1 CROPS AND MARKETS.
 The crops selected for the season of 1906
 were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda onions Rocllyford cantaiOupeS, Dwarf Cham
 pion and Burpees Quarter Century tomatoes, | and alfalfa, besides a few hills of watermelOnS
 and sundTy 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 le- 1 turns to the small farmer, who with ar. aver age family Of five and a team of horses is as i su1ISed to do the work required. as explained below. Items neceSSitating cash outlay, as | seed irrisating water. and crates are deducted | from gross returns. Water costs an average
 of 90 cents for irrigation per acre for the crops 1 grown. The yields in certain instances are 1 low, cue to the unimproYed 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 Bern;uda onions; fl acres; Seed l plan ted Sept. 2z-Oct. 3, 1865. Young onions
 ;ransplanted, Feb 5-a I95a Crop matured | about June !. Yield, 3Sl6 pounds of dry on- ions. Highest price received, 2lsc a pound; l lowest price received, ESc pound. Entire l crop marketed in Yuma.
 Cash Cash