The Arizona sentinel., 1911-02-02
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMERS,
A Lesson lu Intensive Farming by R Ii. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment Station
University of Arizona,


 Just west oi Yuma, Arizona, in tie aliuvial flood plain Of the Colorado, lies little farm of 7.2 acres which on May l, lSU5, was virgin bottCmland, covered with satTecd, &EroW- brush and cIeosote busLes. The original purpose Of tGc tract was for planting selected varieties Of oate palms imported by the O. S Department Of Agriculture from the Old World. The Ex pertinent station, May ?. be- gan preparing the ground, and on May 20 the work Of dwelling, bordering and irriSating the tract and the planting of l52 palms, was com pleted.
 THE PLAN oF WORK.
 Recognizing, however, that q farmer with bis living to make meantime, cannot afford to wait for all 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 er'S 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. lrrigating water from the Colorado Valley y. & ]. Canal was obtained in the GUS tomaTy manner and l.. h. 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 holdings of this locality. The prevailing crops of the region are alfalfa, corn, barley, and fOra?eS i'll general, coI. para lively i:Jtle attention being given to vege- tables and fruits Withal, the cost of levsllIng land in this region is high, rarely falling be low twenty dollars an acre at current prices for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost, eX- elusive of maintenance, of the GOVernment irrigatng system now under construction will be about $35O an acre annually for ten years. To meet these and other heavy items of eX per Se III connection With the eStaDliSh- menJ of d farm in this region, intensive crops of more remunerative character than those now in vogue, ale 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.
 RKCLA NATION OF THE GROUND.
 The soil Of our tract, a WarIn, sandy loam well adapted to gardening operations, was leveiled, ditched and bordered at a contract price Of Sl1 NI an acre, considerably less than the average for the locality, IGckouing the labor of men and teams al current rates. In addition, barbed wire and posts for fencing cost SG0 lu; lumber for headgatcS cost S39.3I; a drive well point and pipe, pitcher-spout pump. and a barrel, $l3.45; a small lumber two-room house, including five and one half days carpenter hire. Sl52.75; and brush-roof shelter for horses, about s5.OO. Only skilled labor employed in leVelling, bordering and ditching the ground, and for part eOnStrUC- tion of the house, IS included in the above estimates as tue 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 habitabie for a small farmer and his family, as stated above, therefore required cash outlay Of about S40000 In addition, in the average instance must be included q team, wagon. 1'l"T, harrow, having equip 
 CROPS AND MARKETS.
 The crops selected for the se;ISOn of i90G were Barry Rose potatoes, N hl;e Bermuda onions, RockyGOrd cantaiouneS, Dwarf Cham pion and Burpces Quarter Century tomatoes, and alfalfa, besides a few hills Of waUcrmclons and sundry vegetables
 The produce was marketed in Yuma with the exception of tomatoes, which, for the largest part, were expressed to Tucson ana Bisbee. The following statements for the various crops are on Inc basis or net cash re- turns to the small farmer, who with an aver age family Of five and team of horses is as stunned to do the work required. as explained below. Items neceSSitating cash outlay, aS seed, irrigating water andcratcs are deducted from gross returns. Water costs an average of 50 cents for irrigation per acre for the crops grown. The yicidS in certain instances are low, due to the uuinl lproved condition Of the soil, which, like desert soils in grEurai was low in nitrogen and oIYai,ic lnatter Some small salty areas also affected yields locally White Bermu1a onions .4T acres; Seed planted Sept. 2 Oct. 5, l9t0. Young onions transplanted, Feb J-g, lSG6. Crop n:ai urea about June ]. Yield, 39lG pounds Of dry on- ions. Highest price received, 2hc d pound: lowest price received, l.Sc pound. Entire crop marketed in Yuma.
 Cash Cash
 outlay. returns.