2272 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



High-school courses to include the teaching of horti- 

 culture and agriculture have been endowed by the first 

 state legislature of Arizona. All high-schools providing 

 facilities for agricultural instruction are entitled to 

 receive to the amount of $2,500 a year. Under the 

 stimulus of this endowment, nine high-schools have 

 installed these courses of instruction. 



Associations exist for the marketing of oranges in 

 Salt River Valley, of apples in the Verde and Gila 

 valleys, and of miscellaneous produce in the Yuma and 

 Gila River valleys. For the advantageous marketing of 

 crops, association is necessary in a region somewhat 

 distant from markets, and the movement toward 

 association in connection with all horticultural indus- 

 tries in Arizona is strong. 



Statistics (Thirteenth Census). 



The land area of Arizona is 72,838,400 acres, of which 

 1.7 per cent, or 1,246,613 acres, is in farms. Of this 

 land in farms, 28.1 per cent, or 350,173 acres, are 

 improved; 100,061 are woodland; and 796,379 unim- 

 proved. [The total area is 113,956 square miles.] 



The leading agricultural crops are hay and forage and 

 cereals. The hay and forage occupied 102,490 acres in 



1909 compared to 92,674 acres in 1899, an increase of 

 10.6 per cent. The value of hay and forage in 1909 was 

 $2,553,228. The acreage in cereals in 1909 was 75,269; 

 in 1899, 53,958, showing an increase of 39.5 per cent in 

 acreage. The value of cereals in 1909 was $1,570,853. 

 The value of the forest products in 1909 was $45,312; 

 in 1899, $48,877. The value of sugar crops in 1909 was 

 $251,602. The acreage in sugar crops increased 2,656.8 

 per cent in the past decade, from 183 acres in 1899 to 

 5,045 acres in 1909. 



The leading horticultural crops and their value in 1909 

 were as follows: potatoes $126,695; other vegetables 

 $379,293; fruits and nuts, $334,598; flowers and plants 

 and nursery products, $15,712; small-fruits, $12,987. 



The production of all orchard fruits increased 35.8 

 per cent in quantity from 1899 to 1909. The value in- 

 creased from $96,764 in 1899 to $241,110 in 1909. 

 Apples and peaches and nectarines lead in quantity of 

 production and value. The number of bearing apple 

 trees in 1909 was 62,027; of trees not of bearing age 

 53,884. The production in 1909 was 72,814 bushels 

 valued at $109,395. The number of trees of bearing age 

 in the case of peaches and nectarines was, in 1910, 

 51,415; those not of bearing age 32,562. The production 

 was 50,102 bushels valued at $80,325. The production 

 and value of the other orchard fruits in 1909 were as 

 follows: pears, 13,289 bushels, valued at $21,331; plums 

 and prunes, 8,420 bushels, valued at $16,261; apri- 

 cots, 6,849 bushels, valued at $10,053; quinces, 1,815 

 bushels, valued at $2,805; cherries, 476 bushels, valued 

 at $840. 



There were 131,579 vines of grapes of bearing age in 



1910 and 84,510 not of bearing age. The production in 



1909 was 837,842 pounds and its value $25,371. 



The principal nuts grown in Arizona are the almonds 

 and pecans. In 1910, the almond trees of bearing age 

 numbered 6,639; those not of bearing age, 845. The 

 production of almonds in 1909 was 33,759 pounds, and 

 their value $4,193. There were, in 1910, 64 pecan trees 

 of bearing age and 212 trees not of bearing age. The 

 production in 1909 was 1,075 pounds, and value $131. 



The number of tropical fruit-trees of bearing age in 



1910 were 51,036. They included, 818 pomelos (grape- 

 fruit); 1,216 date trees; 776 pomegranates; 9,353 olives; 

 33,373 oranges; 3,848 figs; and 1,652 lemons. The pro- 

 duction and value in 1909 were as follows: pomelos, 

 820 boxes, valued at $1,508; dates, 6,500 pounds, valued 

 at $96; pomegranates, 23,360 pounds, valued at $477; 

 264,895 pounds of olives, valued at $3,073; 32,247 boxes 

 of oranges, valued at $52,341; 127,081 pounds of figs, 

 valued at $4,103; and 1,010 boxes of lemons, valued at 

 $2,034. 



The total production of all small-fruits in Arizona in 

 1909 was 112,190 quarts, and in 1899, 129,000 quarts, 

 and their value was $12,987 in 1909, as compared with 

 $12,265 in 1899. The most important of the small- 

 fruits grown in 1909 were strawberries, there being 58 

 acres devoted to the crop, producing 95,247 quarts, 

 valued at $10,775. The production of blackberries was 

 13,808 quarts, amounting in value to $1,761. The 

 other small-fruits were raspberries, loganberries, currants 

 and gooseberries. 



The leading vegetables were potatoes, sweet potatoes 

 and yams, onions, tomatoes and watermelons. In 1909, 

 from 1,151 acres of potatoes, there were produced 

 97,141 bushels, valued at $98,597. The acreage of sweet 

 potatoes and yams in 1909 was 200, the production of 

 which was 21,206 bushels, valued at $28,098. The pro- 

 duction of onions in 1909 was valued at $11,480, and 

 that of tomatoes $9,239. The value of watermelons 

 from 735 acres, in 1909, was $52,502. 



The area of land under glass, in 1909, used for the 

 production of flowers and plants, was 29,810 square 

 feet. Of these, 26,730 were covered by greenhouses and 

 3,080 by sashes and frames. The value of the products 

 from flowers and plants was $11,177. 



As regards nursery products, the value, in 1909, was 

 $4,535, as compared with $2,914 in 1899. From 1899 

 the area devoted to the production of nursery products 

 increased from 14 acres to 18 acres in 1909. 



R. H. FORBES. 



Utah. 



The whole state of Utah (Fig. 2530) is cut up with 

 mountain ranges running in a north and south direc- 

 tion. Between these mountain ranges lies the agricul- 

 tural land of the state. These valleys vary in size from 

 only 1 or 2 miles across, such as Pine Valley, to 30 or 40 

 miles in length by 8 to 15 miles in width, such as Cache 

 Valley. The deep rich soil in these valleys makes a very 

 intensive type of agriculture possible. The main fruit 

 sections are at an altitude of 4,000 to 4,800 feet above 

 sea-level. This includes the sections around Brigham, 

 Ogden, Salt Lake, Green River, and Proyo. At a higher 

 altitude, frost-injury is likely to be experienced except in 

 specially favored spots of limited area. Such small 

 areas are usually at the mouths of canons. The most 

 desirable orchard sites are situated on the bench-lands 

 and near canons, thus insuring good air-drainage to 

 ward off the occurrence of late spring frosts. Several 

 extensive observations have been made which show 

 that the average minimum temperature in the valley 

 bottoms is from 8 to 10 F. lower than the bench-lands. 

 The winter temperatures are congenial to apple-, pear,- 

 peach-, plum- and sour cherry-production even in the 

 northern part of the state, whereas apricots, sweet 

 cherries and Persian walnuts thrive along the bench- 

 land from Brigham southward. Almonds are being 

 produced in the favored sections in the vicinity of Salt 

 Lake City. 



The average rainfall throughout the orchard sec- 

 tions of the state varies from 8 to 17 inches. With 

 most of the rainfall coming during the dormant season, 

 irrigation is necessary for practically all kinds of fruit- 

 production in the state. The larger part of the orchards 

 receive water from some of the irrigation canal systems. 

 However, many acres of fruit have been developed 

 about Brigham by pumping from wells. These wells 

 vary in depth from 30 to 80 feet. Most of the pumps 

 are operated by electricity which is obtainable at a 

 very cheap rate. 



Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) is the natural vege- 

 tation of the best orchard soils. Such soils are generally 

 deep, rich and free from alkali. Greasewood (Sarco- 

 batus Baileyii) and rabbit-brush (Bigelovia sp.) are 

 found on soils containing more or less alkali, and per- 

 haps otherwise unfit for fruit land. 



