The Arizona sentinel., 1910-06-09
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS.
A Lesson in Intensive Farming by K Ii. Forbes, Director and
 Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station @
University of Arizona,
 Innnnnr.rr lh lUll-


 Just west of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluVial flood plain of the Colorado, lies little farm of ?.2 acres which on May l, 1905, was virgin bottomland, covered With saiIWeeo, arrow purpose of the tract was for planting selected varieties of date palms imported by the U: S; Department of Agriculture rom tue Qlo World. The Experiment station, May 7, be gan preparing the ground, and on May 20 the. work of levelling, bordering and irfigatlng the tract and the planting Of lo2 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 feasible basis from the small farm CTS point of view. In order 10 economlZe ground the irrigating 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-half an acre in size. lrrigating water from the Colorado Valley P. & l. Canal was obtained in the GUS tomary manner and k. l.. Crane, himself a Yuma Valley farmer, undertook the care or 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 holdings of this locality | The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa, corn, barley, and forages in general, co1npar;t- lively little attention being given to vege- tables and fruits. Withal, the cost of levelling | land in this region is high, rarely falling be- l low twenty dollars an acre at current prices | for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost, ex- | elusive of maintenance, of the Government | irrigating system now under construction will be about S3.50 an acre annually for ten | sears. To meet these and other heavy items | of ex penSe in connection with the establish l menu of a farm ill this region, intensive crops of a more remunerative character than those | now in vogue, are essential. It was partly, | therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon | these financial aspects of the general sitGa- tior that this cultural work was planned. | RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND. | The soil of our tract, warm, sandy lOam well adapted to gardening operations, was | Tevelle', ditched and bordered at contract price of Sl7 20 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 S6l lO; lumber for headgateS cost S39.51; a drive well point and pipe, a pitcher-Spout pump and a barrel Sl3.i5; a small lumber | two-room house, including five and one bali | days carpenter hire, Sl52.75; and a brush-roof shelter for horses, about 500 only skilled 1 labor employed in levelling, bordering and l ditching the ground, and for part construc- | ton of the house, is included in the above 1 estimates, as the common labor required or &inarily would be, and in this case was, fur nished by the farmer himself
 | To bring this ground under cultivation and make it habitable for small farmer and his family, as stated above, therefore required a | cash outlay of about Sl0aG0. In addition, in the average instance must be included a team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip | paeEt shovelS hoes and other small tools. | CROPS AND MARKETS.
 Tire crops selected for the season Of 1906 were Early koSe potatoes, White Bermuda orrSops. N0ekyford can t3iou pes, Dwarf Cham pion ar6l BRspee's Quarter Century tomatoes | and alfalfa, besides a few hills of wStermeons | and sIEesry vegetables.
 The pSoduee was marketed in Yuma with the exception Gf tomatoes, which, for the largest part, were expressed to Tucson and BislbeS- The following statements for the | various cEops are on the basis of net cash le | tugrsss to the small farmer, who with aE aver | age family of i've and a teaNa of horses is aS | stunned to do the work required. as explained | hefow. btenS neeeSstating cash outlay, as seed iyrigating water. and crates are deducted frcsa gypss returrS. Water costs an average Of 50 cen t soY irriga hOn per acre for the crops | grown- Ttse yields in certain instances arc low, cue to the unimproved condition Of the | son whieh,, nke desert soils in geEofStl, was low in nitrogen and organic matter. Some small salty areas also affected yields locally | White BermHds onions; AT acres; Seed planted Sept. 23-EDcf. g. 1905. Young onions | trans planted, Feb. 5-ar l90. Crop m&tured about Junef- Yield, 39FS pounds of dry on ions Highest price receiE Ecdr clse pound lowest price received, lSc a pO&Aa. Entire crop marketed ill Yuma.
 Cash Cash outlay. returns