The Arizona sentinel., 1910-06-30
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS.
A Lesson in Intensive Farming by R ii. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of Arizona,

January 10, lJUI.
 Just west of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluvial flood plain of the Colorado, lies a little farm of 72 acres which on May l, 1905, was virgin bottomland, covered with saltweed, arrow brush and creosote 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 Ola World. The Experiment station, May Z, 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
 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 | CTS point of view. In order to econom1ze 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 P. & 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. l The prevailing crops of the region gre alfalfa, | corn, barley, and fOrages i'll general, compara- lively little attention being given to vege- l tables and fruits Withal, the cost of levelllng I land in this region is high, 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 | irrigating system now under construction 1 will be about S3.5O an acre annually Tor ten l years. To meet these and other heavy items | of expense in connection with the establish | ment of a 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 sltua- tion that this cultural work was planned. | RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND.
 The soil of our tract, warm, sandy foam well adapted to gardening operations, was levelled, ditched and bordered at a contract price of Sl7.2 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.l0; lumber for headgates cost S39.57 a drive well point and pipe, pitcher-spout pump and a barrel, Sl345 a snal! lumber | two-roon house, including five and one hall days carpenter hire, Sl527 75; and brush-rool shelter for horses, about $500 Only skilled labor employed in levell1ng, 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 habitable for a small farmer and his family, as stated above, therefore required q cash outlay of about Si00.00. 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.
 l The crops selected for the season Of l90t were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda onions Rockyford can ntaiOupes, Dwarf Cham pion and Burpecs 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 l various crops are on the basis of net cash le turns to the small farmer who with ar aver age family of five and a team of horses is as stunned to do the work required. as explained below. Items necessitating cash outlay, as seed, irrigating water. and crates are deducted from gross returns Water costs an average of 30 cents for irrigation per acre for the crops grown. The yields in certain instances arc low, due to the unimprOved condition of the sOil which, like desert soils in geE~ral. was low in nitrogen and organic matter. Some small salty areas also affected yields locally
 White Bermuda onions; .47 acres; Seed planted Sept 27-Oct. 8, 1905. Young onions transplanted, Feb. 5-9, l906. Crop matured about June l.. Yield, 39l6 pounds of dry on ions Highest price received, 2lac pound lowest price received, l.Sc pound. Entire crop marketed in Yuma.
 Cash Cash i, Olftl3V