The Arizona sentinel., 1910-07-07
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS,
A Lesson in Intensive Farming by K II. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment. Station
University of Arizona, .IaOuarV l5. 1907.

Just west of Yuma, Arizona, ii the alluYlai flood plain of the Colorado, lies little farm Of 7.3 acres which oil May l, 1905, ~aS virgin bottOmIand, covered with Saltweed, arrow brush and creoSote bushes. Tne 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 7, be- gan preparing the ground, and on May zO the work Of leveiing, bordering and irrigating the tract and the planting of l02 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 trce-rows, thus putting the work on feasible basis from the small farm CTS point of view. In order to CconomlZe ground the irrigating 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 half an acre in size. lrrigating water from the Colorado Valley ?. & l. Canal was obtained III the GUS tomarg manner and E. 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 holiifngs or this locality The prevailing crops of the region gre alfalfa, corn. barley, and foTages ill general, conlEara- 1 lively little attention being given 10 Yege- i cables and fruits. Withal, the cost of leNeilng l land in this region is high, rarely falling be- ! low twenty dollars an acre at current prices 1 for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost eN- elusive of maintenance, of the Government | rrigatng system now under construction will be about g 50 an acre annually for ten years. To meet these and other heavy Items | of experse in connection with ihe establish menJ of a farm in this region, intensive crops | of a more renluner&tive Character than those | now in vogue, are essential IL was partly, ! therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon these financial aspects Of the general s:lGit-
 tin" that this cultural work was planned. RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND. The soil Of our tract, a warDl, sandy lCaln well adapted to gardening cperatiops, was l levelled, ditched and bordered at cc1trect price CT Sl7 2H an acre, considerably less than | the average for the locality, reckoning the | labor of men and teams at current rates. In | addition, baTDed wire and posts fer fencing
 cost S60 10; lumber fOc headgates cost SS9.o1; | a drive well point and pipe, a pitcherSpout | puinp and a barrel, SIS .45: a SInal, lumber | two-rCom house, including five and one-half
 days carpenter hire, Sla2.75; and brush-roof | shelter for horses, about $j00. Only skilled 1 labor employed in leVelling, bordering and Gitching the ground, and for part construc- 1 tion of the house, is included in the above l 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 habtable for small farmer and his | family, as stated above, therefore required a
 cash outlay of about S4009. In addition, in
 the average instance must be included a ! team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip
 ment shOvels hoes and other small teols.
 CROPS AND MARKETS.
 The crops selected for Ine season Of 1906 | were Early Rose potatoes, Whl;e Bermuda
 onions. Rockyford cantaioupes, Dwarf Cham l pion and Burpec's Quarter Cen tury tomatoes, 1 and alfalfa, besides few hills of waterIneions ! ;ind suRdry vegetables.
 | rhe produce was marketed in Yuma wi tn l the exception of tomatoes, which, for The | largest part, were expressed to Tucson and I Bisbec. The following statements for the various crops are on the basis of net cash le- ] turns te tlae small farmer, who with ar aver age family of five and a team of horses is as
 sllned t0 do tho work required. as explained below. Items neceSsitating cash outlay, as seed, i7rigaiing Water. and crates are deducted from gross returns. Water costs an average Of 50 cents for irrigation per acre for the crops kgrowM ghe yields in certain instances are How, due t0 the unimproyed condition of the soil, which, like desert soils in eeE.idl, was low in nitrogen and organic matter. Some ] small salty areas also affected yields locally. | White BermSda onions; .47 acres; Seed Eplanted Sept. ? Oct. 3, 1905. Young onions ktranSpIssnted, Feb. 5-9, l90G. Crop matured
 about June k. Yie!G, 39i6 pounds of dry on- ions. Highest price received, 2Iac a pound;
 lowest price received, l.Sc pound. EMtire | crop marketed in Iama.
 ! Cash Cash outlay. returns.