The Arizona sentinel., 1910-12-08
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS.
A Lesson i1 Intensive Farming by R II. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of A rizona,

January l5, 1907. Just west of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluvial flood plain of the Colorado, lies little farm of 72 acres which on May 1, 1905, was virgin bottomland, covered with saltweed, arrow brush and cFeOSote 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 Ex pertinent station, May 2, be- gan preparing the ground, and on May 20 the
 work of levelling, 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, 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 er'S 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 F. & l. Canal was obtained in the GUS tomary manner and k. 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, compara- lively little attention being given to vege- tables and fruits. Withal, the cost of levelling lanQ Tn JnlS region IS nlRD, TaT6ly Dc- low twen ty dollars an acre at current prices for labor and teams. Moreover. the cost eX- elusive of maintenance, or the Government irrigating system now under construction will be about S3.5O 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 a more remunerative 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- tion 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 bordered at contract price Of ST. aI an acre, considerably less than the average for the locality, reckoning the labor of men and teams at current rates. In cost S60.l0; lumber for headgateS cost S3957; a drive well point and pipe, pitcher-SpOut pump and a barrel, Sl345; a small lumber
 two-room house. including five and one half days carpenter hire, Sl5275; and a 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 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 an d make it habitabe for small farmer and his
 family, as stated above, therefore required a
 cash outlay of about S400.00. In addition, in the average instance must be included a
 team, wagon. blow, harrow, having 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
 onions. Rockytord cantaiOupes, Dwarf Cham
 pion and Burpee's Quarter Century tomatoes,
 and alfalfa, besides a few hills of watermelonS
 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 an aver
 age family of five and team of horses is aS-
 stunned to do the work required. as explained
 below. Items necessitating cash outlay, aS
 seed, irrigatiDg 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, cue to the unimproved condition of the
 soil, which, like desert soils in geE.ral, was
 lew in nitrogen and organic matter. Some
 small salty areas also affected yields locally.
 White Bermuda onions; AT acres; Seed
 planted Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 1905. Young onions
 transplanted, Feb. 5-9, l90d. Crop matured
 about June l. Yield, 39l6 pounds of dry on-
 iOns- Highest price received, 2ac a pound:
 lowest price received, l.Sc pound. Entire
 crop marketed in Yuma.