The Arizona sentinel., 1910-10-06
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS.
4 Lesson in intensive Farming by F F. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of Arizona 1DftI

University of Arizona,
 January l5 1907 Just west of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluVial food plain of tic Colorado, lies little farm bottolnland, covered with saitweed, arrow brush and creoSOte bushes. The original purpose of tho tract was for planting selected varieties Of Gate palms imported by the U. S Department of Agriculture from the Old World. The Experiment. station, May 7, be gan preparing the ground and on May 70 the work Of evelliEg, bordering and irrgatinS the tract and the planting of l52 palms, was completed.
 THE PLAN OF WORK.
 Recognizing, however, that 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 ecOnomiZe ground the irIigating borders were so placed as to coincide with tie rows of palms, thus utilizing space otherwise usually wasted. The tract was divided by the borders into lands, for the most part one-haR 2n acre in size. lrrigating water from the Colorado Valley r. x l. Canal was obtained in the GUS toInary manner and k. l.. Crane, himself a Yuma Valley farmer, undertook the care of what was nicllnamed 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 forGgeS ill general, compara- lively lltJle attention Delng gwen 10 NeEe- tables and fruits. Withal, the cost of levelllng land in this region is high, rarely falling be- tow twen ty dollars an acre at current prices for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost, eX- elusive of maintenance, of the Government rrigating system now under construction will be about S3.50 an acre annually for ten years. To meet these and other heavy items Of eXpersc in connection with the eStahliSh- ment of a farm in this region, intensive crops of a more rrlnune1atiVe character than those now in vCgle, are essential. It was partly, therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon these financial aspects of the general situa- tinn that this cultural work was planned.
 RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND
 The soil of our tract a warm, sandy loam we'll adapted to gardening operations, was leveled, ditched and bordered at a contract price Of Sl7.2u 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 S50.i0; lumber for headgatCS cost S39.57; a drive wei point and pipe, pitcher-spGut pump and @ barrel, Sl345 a small lumber two-loom hopSe, including five and one half days carpenter hire, Si5275; and a bTuSh-rCOf shelter for horses, about S500. Only skilled labor employed ill leYelliDg, bordering and ditching 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
 To bring this ground under cultivation and make it habitable for a small farmer and his family, as stated above, therefore required a
 
 the average instance must be included a team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip ment shOvcls hoes and other small tools.
 CROPS AND MARKETS. The crops selected for the season of 1906 were Early Hose potatoes, White Bermuda onions. Nocky!ord cantaioupes, Dwarf Cham pion and burpee's Quarter Century tomatoes, and alfalfa, besides few hills of watermeionS and SCEdry vegetables.
 The produce was marketed in Yuma with the exception of t0matOes which, for the. 2 To WTr q aln q Bisbee. Ebe following statements for the various crops are on the basis Of net cash re- tafhs to the small farmer, who with ar aver asSe family Of live and a team of horses Is as suINeG to dO the work required. as explained below. Etetg2S nceeSSiteting cash outlay, as seed, iFrigai ing water. and crates are deducted from gsoSS returns Water costs an average 'Of 5c cents Scr irrigation per for the crops growR. The yields in certain instances are low, due to the uninIproved condition of the soil, which, like desert soils in ger .Iitl, was low il1 rM rosen aAd organic matter. Some small salty ayeas aIso affected yields locally. White BeFIaada onions; fl acres; Seed planted Scp5- 21-Oet. 3, 1905 Young onions transpla1ate6s, Feb. 5a, Iaesi Crop matured about June 7. Yield, 39l6 pounds of ttry on- ions. Highest price received 21ac a pound; lowest price rece2ved, 1Se pound. Entire crop marketed in SGEnCs
 Cash Cash
 01t!ay. returns. Seed 2SS IrrigatiCns in seed bed and
 s Sirrigations in feid- about $50 Sacks and sundry, about. 2.56 39lG pounds of onions at 2.J-
 l.SC. $-3.2 Net cash returns, not de-
 ductlng labor. .............. 6f33
 S73.2f S7S.24 The amount of labor expended upon this crop was large for the area, especially at the transplanting time. One days team work in preparing the land and about g days, mems time, were required to bring it through, al- though the work was not heavy and could have been largely performed by boys. The yield was low owing to the desert and unfef- tiliGeG character of the soil. onions requiring large amounts of organic matter in the soil to give good results.
 EaI.y Rose potatoes; .Si acres: Seed pota- toes planted Feb. l6-l9 1908. Beginning to bloom April l3. Crop all harvested June IS. Yield, 26l5 pounds. Highest psice, May 2t Shc. Bulk of crop, 2Ac. All marketed iu Yuma.
 Cash Cash
 outlay. returns 25O pounds seed-potatoes and
 freight on same. .......~.... S.O3 IrIigating water for seSbania
 used as fertilizer. 2.9s 2irrigations for crop. .8f FOrmaiine for scab, includ-
 ing express. .....-.......... 100 26l5 pounds of potatoes at
 S1s s2222lc..................- s7O.Ue Net cash returns, not de-
 ducttng laDOr-.........,.... 57.l5
 STOCO S70O0 The amount Of labor required for the crop itself was about l3 working days gith team l12 days. The sesEania used aS green mauur- ing on the west half of the potato ground was given l7 irrigatiOnS. Bermuda grass, more over, fiouTished beneath the sesbania to such an extent as subsequently, to require B days labor for cleaning up the .i5 acres so fcrtilized Although the larger part of the crop cane from the Scsbania fertiliZed portion Of the po- tatoeS this method of enrching the soil proved very costly, 2 days mans time and 3 days team-wOrk being required to pat the SeS- bania under and afterwards get rid Cf tue Bermuda grass. Nevertheless, the labor en- tailed could easily have been managed by d careful farmer, as the Bermuda digging was done in January when other work was not urCent.
 Tomatoes. Dwarf Champion and BUrpee'; Quarter Century; .52 acres: Seed planted iu March io-l5. First ripe tomatoes. June "a. Last Of marketable crop. Sept $. field, nTS'-