The Arizona sentinel., 1911-06-01
TIMELY HjNTS
 FOR FARMERS.
R il. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of Arizona,
 .. ,. ,- A r-.- lArl

January 10, lJ07- Just west Of Yuma, Arizona, in the alluvial nOod-plain Of the Colorado, lies little farm of 7.2 acres which on May l, 1905, was virgin bottomland, covered with saI3weed, arrow brush and creosote bushes. The 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 2, be- gan preparing the ground, and on May 20 the
 work of ievelling, bordering and irrigating the tract and the planting Of l52 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 tree-TowS, thus putting the work on feasible basis from the small farm CTS point of view. In order to ecOnOmiZe 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. lrTigating water from the Colorado Valley ?. & l. Canal was obtained in the GUS tOmary manner and k. l.. Crane, himself 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- pOste of the average holdings of this locality. The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa, corn, barley, and forages ill general, compara- lively little attention being given to vege- tables and fruits. Withal, the cost of levelllng
 land in this region is high, rarely falling be- low twen ty 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 $50 an acre annually for ten years. To meet these and other heavy items | of eXpel;se in connection with the establish ment of a farm in this region, intensive crops Of more remuncrttive character than those now in vogue, are essential. It was partly, therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon | these financial aspects of the general siJua- 1 tin,. that this cultural work was planned. RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND The soil Of our tract, warm, sandy lOam well adapted to gardening operations, was ! ievcIled, ditched and bOIdered at a contract price or ST. 20 an acre, considerably less than the average for the locality, reckoning the ! labor of men and teams at current rates. In addition, baTbed wire and posts for fencing cos S;i0 IU iuInoer for headgates cost S39.57; a q ,ye well point and pipe, pitcher-spout pu.nr and :t barre!, Sl3.t5; Q small lumber iwo-roCm house. including five and one-half days carpenter hice, 75; and brUSh-roof shelter for horses, abouJ S5.G0. Only skilled labor employed in leVelling, bordering and ditcuipg the grund. and for part COWS truction or tne house is included in the above eS inmates
 the chnLloh labor required ordinarily would
 D., and in this case was, furnished by the tarnl-
 CT hlulsalf
 TO bring this ground under cultivation and make it nabjJab,e for small farmer and is
 f"lnilv as stat ed above, tbereIore required a cash outlay of about SiQ0.00 sn addition, n