The Arizona sentinel., 1910-07-28
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS.
A lesson in Intensive Farming by K ii. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of Arizona,

University of Arizona,
 January l5, IaT. lust west of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluvial | flood plain of the Colorado, lies little farm of 7.2 acres which on May l, 1905, was virgin bottomIand, covered with Saitweed, 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 Old World. The Experiment station, May be gan preparing the ground, and on May ~ the work of levelling, bordering and irrIgatlnG the tract and the planting of !o2 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 Tor qulcK re- turns between the tTcC-rows, thus putting the work on q feasible basis from the Sulail ia1ln- CTS point of view. In order to cconolnlZe ground the irrgating borders were so placed as to coincide with the rows Of palms, thus utilizing space otherwise usually wasted. The tract was divided by the bolderS into lands, for the most part onc-haif an acre III size. lrrgating water from the Colorado Valley P. & l. Canal was obtained i'll the GUS tomary manner and E l.. Crane, himself a Yuma Valley farmer, undertook thc care of what was nicknamed our play farm" In size, as well as in the intensive character of the work planned, this 'farm k the op- poste of the average holdings of this locality The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa, com, barley, and fOTages i'll general, colnttla- lively little attention being given 10 Vtge- tables and fruits. Withal, the cost oi lcNelllng land in this region is high, rarely falling be- low tWen ty dollars an acre at current prices for labor and teams. Moreover. the cost, cX- elusive of maintenance, of the Government irrigating system now under construction will be about $50 an acre annually Tor ten years. To meet these and other heavy Items of expense m connection with the esiablish- menJ of a farm in ths region, intensive crops of a more remuncTativc character than those now in vogue, are essential. IL was partly, therefore as an object lesson bearing upon A. q hp | fin" that this cultural work was planned. RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND. The soil of our tract warm sandy loan well adapted to gardening operations, was | levelled, ditchcd and bOfdcrCd at a contract | price of Sl7.20 an acre, considerably less than l tine average for the locality, reckoning the | labor of men and teams at current rates. 1n | addition, barbCd wire and posts for fencing | cost sGU l0 lumber for headgateS cost S39.5I; a drive well point and pipe, a pltcher-spout pump and d barrel, Nl3 h: a small IulilDCr | IwO-room house, including five and one half | days carpenter hire, Si2.15; and brush-rooi | shelter for horses, about S0G. Only skilled | lahor employed in leVeiling, 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 l 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 bis | family, as stated above, therefore required a | cash outlay of about Sf0oOD. Tn addition, in the average instance must be Included | team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip l ment slrovels .hoeS and other small tools.
 CROPS AND MARKERS. l The crops selected for tue season of i91G | were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda onions. Rock yford cantaioupcs, Dwarf Cham l piun and Burpcc'S Quarter Century tomatoes | and alfalfa, besides q few hills Of watcrnclons and sundry vegetables.
 1 The produce was marketed in | una With ] the exception of tomatoes, which, for the | largest part, were expressed to Tucson and Bisbce. The following statements for the ! sic of turns to the small farmer. who with aE aver | age family of five and a team of horses is as | sUned to do the work required. as explained below. Items neceSSitatlng cash outlay, as seed, iTriga aling water. and crates :tre 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. Gne to the unimprOyed condition of the soil, which, like desert soils in ger:oIai, was low in nitrogen and organic matter. some small salty areas also affected yields locally. 1 White Bermuda onions; 1T acres; seed planted Sept Z1 Oct 3, lW1. Young onions | transplantc,!, Feb J9, i90i. Crop matured l about June :. Yield, 5S6 pounds of dry On- ions. Highest price received 2l2c a pOund; lowest price received, l.Sc q pound. Entire crop marketed iD II1na
 outlay returns. Seed ....-.-...-.- t-.-.-.- 2SS
 l Irrigations in seed bed and
 | $ irrigationS i'll field, abOut 3.0O
 l Sacks and sundry, about 2=S
 39lG pounds of onions at 2.5-
 | I.Sc.........-.. .....-.... S.5.A Net cash returns, not de-
 l ducting labor. -.....-.. 84.D
 STS24 S732I
 The amount of labor expended upon this crop was large for the area, especially at the | tranSplant ting time. One days team work in preparing the land and about 32 days, men 's time, were required 10 br1nE IL through, ai- though the work was not heavy and could have been largely performed by boys. The yield was low owing to the desert and unfer-
 
 large amounts of organic matter in the soil to give good results.
 EaT:y Rose potatoes; .S4 acres: Seed pota- toes planted Feb l6-l9, lS6. Beginning to bloom April l3. Crop all harvested June l3. Yield, 26I5 pounds. Highest price, May 2i, 3%c. Bulk of crop, 2Ac. All marketed ill | Yuma.
 OaSL Cash outlay, returns 250 pounds seed-potatoes and
 1 freight on same. ............ SOS | lrriga,tinc water for scSbania
 used as ferIiliZer-...... 2.S irrigationS for crop........ .Hf , 1 FCrmaline for Scab, includ-
 ing express ....-.---.---..-. l-UU 26ij pounds of potatoes at
 5h-2A ..-...........-.- $70U , Net cash returns, not de-
 ductng labor 5El3 S-00O S7OOt 1 The amount of labor required for the crop | itself was about l0 working days, wish team IlH days. The scsbania used as green manur. ing on the west half Of the potato ground was gwen Y irrigationS Bermuda grass, more over, tlOuTiShed beneath tne SeSbanla to such an extent as subsequently, to require 23 days labor for cleaning up the i0acreS so fcrtiliZed Although the larger rart of the crop came from the Sesbani3t fertiliZed portion of the DO tatoes, this method of enriching the soil proved very costly, 27 days mans time and days teamwork being required tG put the $eS- bania under and afterwards get rid of the , Bermuda grass. Nevertheless, the iHhCr en- tailed could easily have been managed bY q lNn T done in January when other work was not , urgent.
 Tomatoes Dwarf Champion and Burpec'S Quarter Century; .52 acres: Feed planted i'll | cold-fraine, Feb l. l9GG Trans plan led to field March l2-i5 First ripe tomatoes, June i9 Last Of mark etabic crop, Sept. .. llCd. first class, ll2S1 rounds: second class, Saiab!r, -2il pounds, waste, most of which coC!t havC