The Arizona sentinel., 1911-01-19
TIMELY HINTS
 FOR FARMEnS.
4 Lesson in Intensive Farming by K Fl. Forbes, Director and Chemist of Agricultural
 Experiment. Station
University Of Arizona,

Just west of Yuma, Arizona in the alluvial | Good-plain Of the COloTa2O lies a little farm | of 7.2 acres " hich on May 1, 1905, was virgin bottomand, covered with sattwced, 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. Tine EY pertinent station, May 2 be gan plepari!Ig Ilie grCEnd, and on May 2U the work Of iev-lling, bordering and irrigi,ting the tract and tie planting of l52 palms, was THE PLAN OF WORK.
 Recognizing, however, that a farmer with his living 10 make meantime, cannot afford 1 to wait for an orchard to come into bearing, l it was planned to plant crops for quick re- turns between the tree-rOws, thus putting the work On a feasible basis from tEe small farm er's point of view. In order to ecOnomiZe ground the irrigating borders were so placed ;;s 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 F. 6 1. Canal was obtained in the GUS tOmary manner and l.. 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 tne op- pOsite of the average holdings of Iiis locality. The prevailing crops of the regiuI are alfalfa, corn, barley, and forages in general, compara- lively little attention being given tC Vege- tables and fruits. Withal, tLe cost 2f leTCiInG land in this region is high, rarely falling be- low twen " dollars an acre at current prices for labor and teams. Moreover, the cost, eX- elusive of maintenance, of the Govern inent irrigating system now under construction will be about ESQ an acre annually far ten years. T0 meet these and other ';eaVy items of expense in connection with thc establish ment of a larm in this rcsiCn. Intensive crops of 8 more renluneratiye character than these now in vogue, are essential. IL Was partly, therefore, as an object lesson bearing upon these financial aspects Of the genera. s.tUR- tiO" that this cultural work was planned.
 RtsCLA NATION OF THE Gi!Dj<;9.t
 The sGil Of our tiact, a warJ1, SaiGy loan well adGLtci to gardening operations, was levelc6, dltched ard boidered at contract price Of $I7.2J an acre, considerably less than the average for tie locality, reckoning the labor of men and teams at current rates. In addition, barhed wire and posts for fencing cost S50.lU; lumber for headsates cost S39.57; drive well point and pipe, t pitcherSpOut pump and barrel, sl3.45; smai. lumber Lwo-room house, including five and one hall days carpenter hire, Sl52.75; and a brush-roof shelter for horses, about $500. Only skilled labor employed in leveling, bordering and ditching the ground, and for part construc- ton Of the house, is included in the above estimates, as the common laOor required dinarily would be, and in this case was, fur nished by the farmer himself.
 To bring this ground under cultivation and make it hahitable for a small farmer and his family, as stated above, therefore required a cash outlay of about S400O0. In addition, in the average instance must be included a team, wagon. blow, harrow, having equip ment shOvels hoes and other small tools.
 CROPS AND MARKETS.
 The crops selected for Ute season of 1906 were Early Rose potatoes, White Bermuda onions, Rockyford can taioupes, Dwarf Cham pion and Eurpee's Quarter Century tomatoes, and alfalfa, besides a few hills of watermelonS and SuEdry 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 fer the various crops are on the basis of net cash Ic- turns to the small farmer, who with ar. aver ege family of five and a team of horses is as suincd to do the work required. as explained below. Items necesSitating cash outlay, as seed, irrigating water, and crates are deducted from gross returns. Water costs an average or 50 cents for irrigation Der for the crops ero"n The yields in certain instances are low, cue to the Cnimproved condition Of the soil, which, like desert soils in gcr.,dl. was low i.l nitrogen and organic matter. Some small salty areas also affected yields locally.
 WE'ic Bermuda onions; IT acres: Seed pialy, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 1905 Young onions transplanted, Feb. 5-9, l90a. Crop maturcd about June l. Yield, 39i6 po.inds of dry oi.- iCHS. Highest price received, ct.c S pound: 1 lowest price received, ISc pound. Entire | GIcp marketed in Yuma.
 Cash Cash