[Cir. 126— B) 



THE WORK OF THE YUMA EXPERIMENT FARM IN 1912/ 



By W. A. Peterson, Farm Superintendent, Office of Western Irrigation Agriculture. 



INTRODUCTION, 



The Yuma Reclamation Project is characterized by climatic condi- 

 tions peculiarly favorable to the production of a great variety of crops. 

 The rainfall of the region averages only about 3 inches a year 

 and is not a factor in crop production. The climate is warm during 

 most of the year, the temperature for a period of 35 years rangmg 

 from a minimum of 16° to a maximum of 120° F. These conditions 

 are specially favorable to such crops as cotton, alfalfa and alfalfa 

 seed, figs, dates, sweet potatoes, and other crops which require a 

 warm climate and which are well suited to intensive culture. 



Since the establishment of the Yuma Expermient Farm (fig. 1) 

 on its present site in 1909, experiments have been conducted with a 



^i£>-'j?^ j5-,aLAtV'C - 



Fig. 1.— View of buildings on the Yuma Experiment Farm. 



view to improving the cultural methods applicable to the above- 

 named crops, to finding superior varieties, and to breeding superior 

 strams of the varieties under test. Much of this work is done in 

 cooperation with other offices of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 

 The offices concerned in the cooperative work in 1912 are the follow- 

 ing: The Office of Crop Physiology and Breeding Investigations 



1 Issued May 10, 1913. 



The Yuma Experiment Farm is located on the Yuma Reclamation Project, 7 miles north of Yuma, Ariz., 

 and adjacent to Bard, Cal. It consists of 160 acres of land, all of which is hrigable. The land was with- 

 drawn from entry in 1909 by the Department of the Interior to be used as an experiment farm. Opera- 

 tions on the tract were begun in the spring of 1910. A farmhouse and an office building were constructed 

 by the Reclamation Ser\-ice; a tool house and a machine shed have been built by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. (See fig. 1.) The farm is under the direct supervision of a superintendent detailed 

 from the Office of Western Irrigation Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, and that office furnishes the 

 funds necessary to maintain the farm. On January 1, 1913, Mr. R. V.. Blair succeeded Mr. Peter.son as 

 farm superintendent. 



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