The Arizona sentinel., 1910-04-07

food plain of the Colorado lies LITTLE farm
OF ~ acres which on May l. 1868, was virgin
bcttonland, covered with s8ltwecd. arrow
brush and creOSOte bushes. The original
purpose of the tract was for planting selected
vaIieti"s of date palms imported by the u ;;
department Of Agriculture from the CID
World. The Experiment station, May :, be-
gan preparing the ground, and on hlay 70 the
work Of leve!iing, bordering and irrigating
the Tract and the planting of l12 palms, was
completed.
THE pAAN OF woEE.
Recognizing. however, that n farmer with
bis living to make meantime, cannot afford
to wait for an orchard to come into bearing,
Il was planned Ia plant crops fer quick re-
.urns between the tree-rOWS, thus putting the
work on a feasible basis from the small farm
Cr'S point Of view. In order 10 economic
ground The irrigatin% borders were 50 placed
as To cninCide with the rows CT PAINS, 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 T. * l. Canal was obtained III the Gus
ton3Iry manner and Il. l.. Crane, himself 81
Ynma Valley iarmer un!ae[toc * the care OF
In size, as well as in the intensive character
OF the work pInDeI i, this farm" is the Or-
posite of the average holdings Of this locality
The prevailing crops OF the region are alfalfa,
corn, barley, and loraGes IN general, c0li. para
lively little attention being given TO vege-
tables and fruits. Withal, the cost CT leVclhng
la}ld 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 Govern ment
irTigating system now under construction
Will be about $3.50 an acre annually for ten
years. 10 meet these and other heavy items
of ex perSe in connection with the establish
mcnI Of a farm i'll this region, Intensive CROPS
Of n more remuncTatiVe character Than those
row in vogue, are essen tial. II was partly,
therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon
these financial aspects Of the general situa-
ton, that this cultural work was planned.
RFCIA3sTto,S OF THE GT,lrrND
The soil Of our tract a warm, sandy loan,
well adapted to gardening operations, was
| levelied, ditched and b0iGered at contract
price of 1920 an acre, considerably less than
the average for the locality, reckoning the
labor of rlen and teams at current rates. In
addition, barbed wire and posts for fencing
cost Sti0.lt; lumber to- headgatcs cost S39.57;
| a drive well point and pipe, a pitcheT-SpOut
| pump and II barrel, SIS -; a small lumber
| two-roOm house. including five and One-half
! DAYS carpenter i.ire, Sl52.15; and n brush-roof
shelter for horses, about SOC Only skilled
labor employed iii dwelling, bordering aud
| ditching the ground, and for part construc-
ton Of the house, is included in the above
| estimates, as tie common labor required
,iinarily V ould be, ana in this case was, fur
uShed by the farmer himself
TO bring this ground under cultivation and
! make it iiabitable for a small farmer and his
! family, as stated above, therefore required a
! cash outlay of about SiC0jO. In addition, in
! lie average instance must he included
| team wagon. pillow, narrow, haying equip
| ment shoyels hoes and other small tools.
| CROPS AND MARKETS.
The crops selected for the. season of 1906
we've EaTiy kCse potatoes, White Bernuda,
| onions. liockyford cantaioupes, Dwarf Cham-
! piOn and i}urpee'S Quarter Century tomatoes,
and alfalfa, besides n few hills of WaternelOnS
! ami SuGdEy vegetables.
| The produce was marketed in Yuma with
! the exception Of tomatoes, which, for Ike
| largest part, were expressed to Tucson and
Bisbee. The following statements for the
| various crops are on The basis OF net cash
/ flt. i.nF
| age family of five and Il team Of horses is as
SUncd 10 do the work required. as explained
below. Items neceSSitatiHG cash outlay, rs
/ seed irrigating water and crates aIe deducted
/ from gross returns. Water costs an average
of ~ cents for irIiga ion per acre for the crops
! grown. The yields in certain Instances are
| low, Cue to the unimprOVPd condition of the
soil, which, like desert soils in ger-ial, was
! low in nitrogen and organic matter. Some
/ small salty areas also affected Yields locally.
| White Bermuda onions: II acres; Seed
planted Sept. q Oct 3, 1868. Young onions
| trans planted Feb. 80 1906 Crop Inatured
about June I. Yield, 1910 pounds of dry on
ions Highest price received, 2lIc a pound;
lowest price received, l.Sc a pound. Entire
crop marketed in Yuma.
Cash Cash
! outlay. returns.
/ seed .....-..e...-..... ..-..-.. ) 2.SS
! 9 ilrigatious in seed bed and
/ s irrgGtiJnS in field, about $50
| Sacks and sUndTy, about. 2.55
! 1916 pounds of onions at %
: l.SC 5000. 1900. 800. .--......-. ST3.2t
| Net cash returns, not de-
| Quoting labor -.....--...-... Of.30
1921 1921
The amount of labor expended uNon this
! crop was large for the area, especially at the
/ transplanting time. One days team work in
! preparing the land and about % days mems
! time, were required to bring it through. al
! though the work was not heavy and could
! hove h2SH largely performed by boys. The
: ~ wa$ toy owing to the desert ana infer
tjli2" d" a-.lri 'r OF the soil. onions requiring