The Arizona sentinel., 1910-08-11
TIMELY IiINTS
 FOR FARMERS.
4 Lesson iii Intensive Farming Ey K F. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of Arizona,
 In,,,, ftfF-

Just west Of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluvial
 flood-plain of the Colorado, lies a little farm Of 7.2 acres which on May l, 1865, was virgin
 bottomland, covered with SaiLweed, arrow
 brush and cTeosote bushes The original
 purpose of the tract was for planting selected
 varieties Of Gate palms imported by the U. >;
 Department of Agriculture from the Ola
 world. The Experiment station, May 2, Ee- gun preparing the glound, and on May Z0 the
 work of leVeiiing, bordering and irrigatlnS
 the tract and the planting Of lo2 palms. was
 THE PLAN OF WORK.
 Recognizing, hOweN cr, that a farmer with
 his living to make meantime, cannot afford
 10 wait for an orchard to come into bearing,
 it was planned to plant crops for quick re-
 turns between the trte-roNys, thus putting the
 work on a feasible basis from the small farm
 CTS point of view. In order to ecOnomize
 ground the irTigating 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-haf an acre in
 size. lrrigating water from the Colorado
 Valley F. & l. Canal was obtained in tine GUS
 tomary manner and E. L. Crane, himself Yuma Valley farmer, undertook the care of
 what was nickname6 our play farm"
 In size, as well as in the intensive character of he work planned, this farm" IS the op- poste of the average holdings of this locality. The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa, corn, barley, and foTijSeS i'll general, conlpaT lively little attention being given to Vege- tables and fruits. Withal, the cost of leVeillng land in this region is high, rarely falling be- low twenty dollar an acre at current prlceS for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost, eX- elusive of maintenance, of the Government iTrigating system now under construction will be about SS.50 an acre annually for ten years. To meet these and other heavy items of expense in connection with the establish menJ of farm in this region, intensive crops of a more remuDeratlVe character than those now in vogue, are essential. It was partly, therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon these financial aspects of the general situn- tin" that this cultural work was planned. RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND.
 Tle soil of our tract, a warm, sandy foam well adapted to garGening operations, was leVelled, ditched and bOrdered at a contract price of Sl7. .2Q 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 SG0.lG; lumber foI headgates cost S33.57; a drive well point and pipe, pltcheT-SpOut pumr and barrel, Sl3 fj a small lumber two-room house, including five and one half days carpenter hire, Slj275; and brush-root shelter for horses, about $500. Only skilled l labor employed in leVelling, 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 dinarly 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 l cash outlay Of about $i00.G0. Tn addition, in ! the average instance must be included a team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip ment ShovelS hoes and other small tools. CROPS AND NAREETs.
 The crops selected for the season Of 1906 were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda | onions. Rockyford cantaioupes, Dwarf Cham
 pion and Burpee's Quarter Century tomatoes, and alfalfa, besides a few hills of waterlnclUns
 and SuDdry 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 various crops are on the basis of net cash le- turns to the small farmer, who with ar aver age family Of five and team Of horses is as ! sEInled to do the work required, as explained below. Items necessitaIing cash outlay, as | seed, iYrigating water. and crates are deducted | fPeyn gross returns. Water costs an average
 of 50 eeDts for irrigation per acre for the crops grown- The yields in certain instances are Low, clue to the unimproYed condition of the soil which, like desert soils i'll geC.ral, was
 kew in nitrogen and organic matter. Some small salty ayeas slso affected yields locally. White Bernagsaa onions; 1T acres; Seed
 planted Sept zS-Els,t. 5, 1905. Young onions transplaste8, Feb 5-9 l9ef Crop natured about Sls4s E. ffetd, 3ef6 pounds of dry on- ions. Highest p7fce received, 2lsc a pound; lowest price received, l.Se q pound Entire crop ln=srk steIi tD Eun&.