The Arizona sentinel., 1911-02-23
TIMELY HINTS
g.
FOR FARMERS.
A Lesson In Intensive Farming by
r ii. Forbes, Director and
Chemist of Agricultural
Experiment Station
University OF Arizona,


Just west of Yuma, Arizona, in the aliuvial
food-plain Of the Colorado, lies little iaJm
OF 10 acres which on May |, 1905, was virgin
| bottomand, covered with saltweed. arrow
brush and creosote bushes. The original
| purpose of the tract was for planting selected
varieties Of date palms imported by the U. >;
| Department of Agriculture from the Old
World. The Experiment station. Aiay 2 be-
gan preparing the ground and on May 70 the
work OF levelling, 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-rOwS, thus putting the
| work on a feasible basis from the small farm
ers 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.
lands, for the most part One-half an acre in
| size. lrrigating water from the Colorado
| Valley p. g. l. Canal was obtained in the Gus
tonary manner and +. 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 OPP
posite OF the average holdings of this locality.
The prevailing crops OF the region are alfalfa,
corn, barley, and forages i'll general, compare
| lively little attention being given to vese-
tables and fruits. Withal, the cost OF levell1ng
| 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
| irrigating system now under construction
| will be about $50 III acre annually for ten
| years. TO meet these and other heavy items
| Of expense in connection with the establish
ment Of a farm in this region, intensive crops
| Of a more remunerative character than those
| now in vogue, are essential. 1t was partly,
| therefore, as object lesson bearing upon
these financial aspects OF the general stua-
| tior that this cultural work was planned.
| RECLAMATION OF THE GROUND.
The soil of our tract, warm, sandy loan
well adapted to gardening operations, was
levelled, ditched and bordered at a contract
| price OF Sl7.N 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 $50 TO- lumber for headgates cost S39.57;
| a drive well point and pipe, pitcher-spout
| pump and barrel, Sl345; Il small lumber
| two-room house, including five and one half
days carpenter hire, Sl52 10; and brush-roof
/ shelter for horses, about $500. Only skilled
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
| dinarily 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, rs stated above, therefore required
| cash outlay Of about $4,000. IN addition, in
the average instance must be included a
| team, wagon. pillow, harrow, haying equip
ment shovels hoes and other small tools.
CROPS AND MARKETS.
The crops selected for the season OF 1906
were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda
onions. kockyford cantaiOupes, Dwarf Cham
| piOn and Burpee's Quarter Century tomatoes,
! and alfalfa, besides IL few hills of watermelons
and sundry 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 on the basis Of net cash re-
/ turns to the small farmer, who with an aver
| ag, family OF five and team OF horses is as
summed ID do the work required. as explained
| below. Items neceSStatjng cash outlay, as
seed irTigating water. and crates are deducted
| from gross returns. Water costs an average
Of 80 cents for irrigation per acre for the crops
grown. The yields in certain instances are
| low, due to the unimprovsd condition of the
soil, which, like desert soils in al. was
low in nitrogen and organic matter. Some
small salty areas also affected Yields locally.
White Bermuda onions; ~ acres; Seed
| planted Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 1905. Young onions
transpanted, Feb, So 1906 Crop matured
about June ]. Yield, 1916 pounds OF dry on
ions. Highest price received, PIC a pound;
| lowest price received, i.8c pound. Entire
crop marketed i'll Yuma.
! Cash Cash