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Show COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 31 earn considerable money each yearLbry picking cotton for white farmers. This cotton has become a principal crop in the Salt River Valley, about 35,000 acres being grown there this season, of which the Indian8 near Sacaton had 100 acres, realizing approximately $10,000 therefrom. A new variety of this cotton has been developed at the Sacaton farm, named "Pima," which yields approximately 1 bale per acre and sells for as much as 75 cents per pound. Successful experiments have also been made at this farm with Bermuda onions, soy beans, Peruvian alfalfa, pecans, pomegranates, date palms, pistachio nuts, grapes, etc. Besides the farm at Sacaton preliminary work has been carried on at several other places in cooperation with the experts of the Department of Agriculture, including the culture of dates at Martinez and Palm Springs, Egyptian cotton at Colorado River, Salt River, and Fort Mojave, and Chinese vegetables at San Juan. The following appeared in the Christian Science Monitor shortly after my return from a tour of the desert countries in Arizona and southern California: WA~HINQTODN. ,C . Oato Sells, Commhioner of Indian Affairs, has returned to Washington from a two months' tour of the deaerts in Arieona and Southern California. During his trip Commiesioner Sells traveled hundreds of miles in automobiles, and many miles on horseback, frequently climbing mountains on foot and wading rivers. He inspected the watersheds OF the Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico for the purpose of locating possible reservoir and dam sitea, and traversed the entire Salt River Valley. He closely followed the Colorado River from Needles, Ariz., to Yuma, Cal., inspected the Parker and Yuma Reservation irrigation possibilities, and studied conditions in the Imoerial Vallev. his definite oumoae beine to thorouehlv familiarize himself with the water conditions and p r o d u c ~ v e ~ i b i l i kof et he iesert countries of the South-weat. Among- other thine-@ a ccom~lishedd urin-a his t r i ~t,h e commissioner effected Dre-liminary arrangements for pwer to be used in pumping and for clearing, leveling and putting into cultivation 50,WO acres in one tract of desert land on the Pima Reser-vation, southwest of Phoenix. Commieaioner Sells says that with water theee deeert landa'are capable of almost unbelievable produdion; that Egyptisn long-staple cotton is fast becoming a chief crop, making approximately one bale to the am, and now selling for 70 cents a pound; that alfalfa grows in great quantities, being cut seven or eight times each seaaon, and that milo maize produces abundantly; that there are more cattle and hogs fed in the Salt River, Yuma, and Imperial Valleys than in any other equal tarritory in the world. The commbioner visited one ranch in the Yuma Valley where 7,000 hogs were being fed. It ia his purpose, witbin the next 18 months, to develop not only the 50,000 acres on the Pima Reservation, but in like manner thousands of acres on the Parker and Yuma Reservations. With the first-hand information Commissioner Sells obtained on thia trip, he is able to rapidly and effectively transform portions of the great deserts of the Southwest into lands suitable for the production of food for the world'simmediate necessities. |