USA > California > Imperial County > The history of Imperial County, California > Part 8
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Vinous fruits, including Persian and Spanish varieties of grapes, produce largely and in some seasons bring big returns for table use. The climate is not adapted to raisin-making. Varieties of strawberries lately introduced have become big producers and money-makers.
Berries have not thus far made a good record.
It probably is in the palmaceous fruits that the big future lies, es- pecially with the date. Importations from Arabia and Morocco of the
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choicest varieties have started the industry, but the great war has delayed further importations, and propagation proceeds slowly. It will probably be a number of years before the production is standardized, but in the end will come an industry of giant proportions.
The cantaloupe melon is probably one of the most profitable crops grown in the Valley, and the acreage is being rapidly increased. There are now over 8000 acres producing these luscious melons every year, which exceeds the Georgia product by over 2000 acres. The fruit ripens earlier here than in any other region of the United States, and the qual- ity is superior. There were 12,800 acres devoted to this melon in the Valley last year, and the crop went to every corner of the country. Under the California State law none but those of the best quality could be sent out; nothing of an inferior character could be shipped. On a single day in June there were six trainloads of these melons that left Brawley, the great cantaloupe center of the county. Ninety million melons was the estimated product of the Valley last year. In the culture of this fruit systematic and careful selection of seed is the first requi- site. From the famous "Rocky Ford" strain a new variety has been developed that is regarded of superior quality not only but of greater vigor and productiveness, being also less liable to fungus attacks. It also has better carrying qualities. Some of these melon experts here claim that a cantaloupe should be picked just before it is entirely ripe, not only to secure its arrival in the distant market in the best condi- tion, but also to insure its perfect flavor. They say that many are picked too green, however, in order to reach the early market ahead of other sections, which practice is bitterly denounced by the best growers, who are jealous of their reputation, and has resulted in much damage to the industry, because one such carload often ruins the entire shipment. And yet the fact is that the melon output of this Valley is among its most important annual assets. The season of ripening begins late in May and extends until the middle of July.
DAIRY AND POULTRY INDUSTRIES
Among the important and profitable interests in the Valley today is that of the dairy. This is closely allied with the vast forage production for which it has become famous in past years. Two years ago a former chief of the dairy division of the United States Department of Agri-
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culture predicted that the State of California was destined to become the greatest dairy state in the Union because of the low cost of butter- fat production. And he asserted further that the Imperial Valley pre- sented the greatest possibility of profit of any section of the state, having every opportunity to excel as a money-maker in this business. Even at this time, of the 58 counties this Imperial County supplies half of the butter consumed in Los Angeles, and produces one-tenth of the total butter product of the state. And yet the record would seem to show that this has been done with low-bred cows and a low grade of efficiency, due to improper methods, both of which could easily have been remedied, and have been since to some extent. Farmers have learned that improved methods and more sanitary care brings better prices and larger profits. To this end they have been weeding out their herds, excluding the "boarders" and retaining the best milk producers. They are also securing some thoroughbred stock and selecting cows having the best butter records. Careful tests are being made of the individual members of the herd regarding their producing capacity and general efficiency. Greater attention is also being given to cleanliness in all the various operations of milking and handling the cream and butter, realizing that such sanitary conditions are absolutely necessary to the production of good butter from the time the milk leaves the cow until the golden product is packed for market. No department of farm work requires quite so much care to every detail as the dairy. And no other offers so much chance for careless and unclean methods. Cream and dirt make a filthy combination of the good and bad that is intol- erable, not to speak of the danger which may lurk in bacteria. The creamery man cannot entirely eliminate the contaminating ingredients which may have found their way into the cream. Clean utensils is an- other all-important item.
State Inspector Nye, who visited this region, gave some very good advice along these lines which have been heeded to some extent. Be- sides emphasizing all these sanitary features, he says cream that is quickly cooled keeps sweet much longer than when the process is grad- ual. The cream should be kept at a low temperature until ready for the separator. This, of course, is a matter that requires careful manage- ment in this climate, where it is necessary to use ice. Clean cream, cold cream and rich cream are the important factors. With proper attention
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to all these details it is claimed that butter-fat can be produced cheaper in this Valley than anywhere else. There is little need of barns in this rainless region, unless it be for shelter from the sun at times. And the season lasts for twelve months, with an ample supply of green fodder continually, which usually consists of barley and alfalfa mixed. Of late, however, this ration has been varied with silage in some instances on the theory that a contented cow will eat more and give better and richer milk. Some claim that with proper management it is possible in this Valley to keep two cows per acre, especially if silage is used. Un- der ordinary conditions, even without silage, they are not keeping one cow per acre. One progressive farmer near El Centro is keeping 35 cows on 20 acres without silage.
In 1916 some 8,000,000 pounds of butter were shipped from this Valley, which brought $2,500,000 in the markets. The average yearly product here has been estimated at over seven million pounds. This dairy industry is conducted largely by men who came into this Valley with very limited capital. A man with $300 in cash, who can pay a month's rent on 40 acres of land, usually makes a handsome surplus in a short time. It is said that the average Valley cow will produce four- fifths of a pound of butter every day, which at present prices nets forty-one cents, or $12.30 a month. This she will do for nine months in the year, making her value for butter alone $110.70. Then the skimmed milk is worth $36 per year, and the calf ought to bring about $25. This brings the cow's total yearly product to $181.70.
CHICKENS
In this epoch of disturbed civilization and national conflicts, when the food supply of the world for man and beast has become scanty and apparently inadequate, as we have been led to believe, the domestic hen becomes a vital factor to some degree in the economic branch of human existence. This docile and industrious mistress of the barnyard has suddenly been elevated to a degree of aristocratic importance unknown to her before. And yet these facts do not seem to appeal to her animal instincts to any perceptible degree. Her henship seems to pursue the even tenor of her quiet life in the usual manner, as though saying: "I am attending to my accustomed duties at the nest in the usual way; what more do you want?" Meanwhile the products of this creature are
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soaring in price with the speed of an aviator, and the people are calmly doing without omelettes, broiled chicken and other delicacies originat- ing in the poultry yard.
And yet this Imperial Valley is doing its share to alleviate matters in the emergency, in spite of the high price of feed required in the hen family. The poultry industry has grown materially here the last few years as the profits have become greater. It is, in fact, one of the quick- est and surest means by which a man of small capital can earn a good living. The mild climate, without frost or snow, favors at least two broods of chicks each year. The abundance of succulent green fodder every day in the year, and the fine local market for eggs and young poultry, all these strongly favor the business in this region. With the improved methods now in use the careful breeder now figures upon a net profit of over one dollar per hen each year. During the past fifteen years various plans have been tried in the housing and management of the yards, and the size of separate pens, with the result that now, in most cases, open sheds built perfectly tight at sides and rear, with partitions every ten feet, having an open wire netting front, with roosts against the rear wall, is the most approved plan. The floors are either of wood, cement or dirt. The average cost of housing 500 hens is found to be from $250 to $375.
While fanciers and owners keep a variety of breeds, the White Leg- horn strain is used almost universally for the best business results. And yet few of these are pure-bred stock, the effort having been to increase the size of both bird and egg. The hatching of eggs is mostly done by large plants devoted to that branch of the business, having capacities from 70,000 to 120,000 eggs at a setting. When a day old the chicks are delivered to the brooder. The male birds are sorted out and fattened for market. The feed "mash" contains many ingredients ground together. In the summer and fall alfalfa and Soudan grass are also used. The theory is that a hen well supplied with nitrogenous food should lay eggs. In some of the hen-houses a powerful nitrogenous lamp is placed at every roost, with an alarm clock attachment, which is set to switch on the light at 3 a. m. Then her henship is expected to get busy, eat her breakfast and jump on the nest. While this may seem theoretical and imaginary to many, it is claimed here that the gain in egg production from a goodly flock of hens at the winter season, when
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eggs are high, is about twenty per cent under this early light scheme. In this way one thousand well-bred hens, carefully managed and prop- erly fed, is said to insure the owner a return of at least $3000 a year.
The Valley has also acquired a reputation for fine turkeys, which have become famous throughout the West. The absence of cold rains and wet weather, among the greatest evils in turkey-raising, greatly favors the business. And it is now claimed that some 40,000 turkeys are shipped out of the Valley every year.
THE WOMEN OF THE VALLEY
While something has already been said, in an earlier chapter of this work, concerning the pioneer women of this reclaimed desert, there is very much more that might and should be said, even in this general article.
They were not what the world calls "society women" who came here with their husbands, or somebody else's husband, or sweetheart, in quest of new fields for display or adventure. Nor did they include maidens, young or old, or even attractive widows in search of new conquests in the field of matrimony. No, there's no record of any of these classes having ventured into this desolation during its early de- velopment. And if they came in later their arrival caused no ripple that was not engulfed in the more substantial social affairs that have been created and fostered by other women of a different class. Most of these are country born and bred, with an ancestry of sturdy farmers of which they have been proud to boast. They were strangers to "pink teas, tangoes and bridge parties"; simply plain women with big, noble souls, ready for any honorable and worthy task that was set before them. They came to this undeveloped Valley with the full purpose of doing their share in its reclamation and conversion into a region of prosper- ous farmers and happy homes. And they knew what was involved in that bold proposition. But they were women of undaunted courage and persistence. This was due not alone to their nature but also to their country breeding and training on the farm, the best place in the world for any woman to be born and reared. And yet after a time they real- ized that some form of social life even there was in every way desir- able. The ascetic life is unreal and unsatisfying to the average human being. There must be contact or association with others to bring out
GEORGE W. NICHOLS AND FAMILY-A TYPICAL PIONEER HOME Now comfortable and commodious bungalows with every modern feature are being built by the ranehers of Imperial County
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the best there is in any individual. Nor is it necessary to flock to the cities and villages in order to secure these opportunities, despite the erroneous impression to that effect which prevails. There is ample chance for these advantages in rural sections like this great Valley if the women themselves are so inclined. And this has been the history of this region from the beginning of its settlement. There has been a spirit of symapthetic hospitality among these noble women, and a unity of purpose that has animated so-called society circles. City friends visit here with real enjoyment and pleasure.
Numerous social clubs and associations of various kinds have been organized in different parts of the Valley, and their meetings have often been held in the school and church buildings. But there is no purpose here to speak in detail, nor even to mention the names of the leading women promoters of these organizations. The mere fact of their exist- ence shows that the uncouth features so often attributed to the life of rural communities do not exist here. The salutary influence of these associations extends to the home life and the field industries as well as in the public life.
The girl who learned to perform the duties of a farmer's wife work- ing at her mother's side on the farm, finding pleasure in that duty, is the ideal wife for a practical farmer every time. And this wholesome fact is fully confirmed right here in numerous instances. The strife and turmoil of a populous city is gloriously avoided in this joyous cadence of Nature, who always lives next door.
"Don't ever sell the old farm; it is the dearest place in all the world," writes a college lad to his mother at home. And even now in these days there is a distinct trend back to the farm all over the country with young and old. Social gatherings, concerts, lectures and other forms of community interest are growing in favor among these busy and prosperous people.
The progressive element in Calexico has in some respects led in these organized social features. The Women's Improvement Club, which was formed in 1908, has been instrumental in that vicinity, establishing a reading-room and public library. There is also a City Park Commission, which has charge of the public and school grounds. And the new Dorcas Society has many practical features of dispensing charity. Then for the past three years the mothers and teachers of the public schools have
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banded together in a Parent-Teachers' Association, which discusses questions pertaining to child welfare in general.
THE CHILDREN
And this leads directly to some mention of the children who inhabit this Valley. What about these men and women of the future, who are here training for the duties and activities which the coming years will bring? How are they being fitted for the wondrous achievement for which their parents don't yet even dream nor form any conception? The work of development and progress here is sure to go on. The momentum of the past must impel the work of the future and lead to still greater efforts and grander results than those which are being recorded here. Their greater facilities for education must lead to a broader outlook upon the affairs of life, and their training and experi- ence in this Valley will open their eyes to new possibilities in this favored region as they grow older, many of which cannot be foreseen yet by those in the arena of endeavor at the present day. Are these children being properly fitted to carry on the work which their pioneer parents have marked out for them here? Surely their tasks must prove easier than fell to the lot of their fathers and mothers. And yet it may call for some qualifications of a different character, as new conditions arise.
The schools of the Valley are progressive and well conducted. The teachers have been selected for their educational fitness not only, but with some regard as to their native equipment and tact for the control of the young minds committed to their charge, no two of them alike. The requisite qualifications for a successful teacher of any child are manifold and of vast importance, not always fully realized by district officials. The old notion that most any young lady with a fair school education, who wanted some easy position where she could earn a decent living in a dignified way, was fitted for a school teacher has been fraught with danger in the past, and has now been almost entirely abandoned.
But there is a joyous bunch of youngsters here who seem to enjoy life in full measure. They have heard the story of reclamation, with its hardships endured by their parents in the earlier years. Some of these children never saw any snow and don't understand what it is. Nor could
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they enjoy coasting down an icy hill, as they live on a level plain ; nor any skating, for there is never any ice here, nor even anything to make snowballs of. But any observant visitor to these school grounds will find no lack of active sports on the baseball plot or the links, where the merry music of juvenile laughter rings out upon the balmy air. And their evenings at home when the day's work is done are spent in music and indoor games, discussion of current events or jolly converse. The absence of saloons and other contaminating features so prevalent in other communities greatly lessens the temptation to evil and wrong- doing. Thus it is very obvious that this Valley presents an ideal atmos- phere for youthful life to a degree not often found in other regions. And it is pleasant to record also the fact that the civil governments in the cities and towns of this new county seem to be in full harmony with the best interests of the young. A remarkable feature of the region is that in this community of 50,000 people no native of the county has yet, in 1918, reached the age of graduation from the high school.
IN CONCLUSION
And now, after all that has been said concerning the general features of this newest county in the State of California, what is the conclusion of the reader? Undeveloped even yet? Yes, there will be no dispute about that ; the fact is freely admitted, even by the most enthusiastic dweller in the Valley. But this man will ask you to consider what has been done in the few years that have intervened between the great desert waste and the fertile garden of today. He is optimistic about this, and he has a right to boast over it and throw up his hat. But the work of complete reclamation has only been begun. But there is a momentous energy of purpose that gathers force as the work proceeds. New possibilities are discovered every day, and new ways to develop them are continually suggesting themselves.
The control of the great Colorado River is now more complete per- haps than ever before. And yet this will always remain the paramount problem here upon which all other features must depend. The construc- tion of a series of huge reservoirs is now under contemplation, and Congress will be asked to call a convention of all parties interested in the near future. Some six or seven of these great reservoirs are pro- posed at a total cost of $15,000,000 per acre-foot, one of these alone to
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impound 8,000,000 acre-feet of water, or three times as large as any other reservoir in the United States. The estimated cost of these vast storage basins is $50,000,000. From four to five million acres of rich land, now barren, or only partially productive, could thus be irrigated.
And it is significant to state that of this estimated cost it is claimed that the land now under cultivation in this Imperial Valley alone pro- duced this year enough to defray the entire cost of this reservoir sys- tem. This plan would also make possible a vast power development west of the Rocky Mountains. And it is further urged that this vast storage of water would be sufficient to irrigate all the irrigable land be- low the Grand Canon in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California and New Mexico, leaving a vast surplus for Mexico.
Whether or not this great project will be carried out remains to be seen, of course. The full control and conservation of this Colorado wa- ter is regarded as second only in importance to the Panama Canal. If the plan now under consideration goes through it will take at least from eight to ten years for its consummation, according to the government engineers. But unfortunately there is a vast deal of official red tape be- tween this and even the beginning of the work. The region of country drained by this wonderful river and its tributaries is about 8000 miles long and from 300 to 500 miles wide, and it comprises 244,000 square miles. This river has been likened unto the Nile, and is often called the "Nile of America" because of the similar aspects presented. The cli- mate in each case is much the same, while similar deposits of fertilizing silt are brought down.
But these features have already been referred to in some detail in previous chapters. And yet it should be said in this connection that this subject of reclamation of arid lands in the United States is beginning to attract more attention by reason of the prevailing food scarcity, which leads foreseeing men to cast about for some new source of sup- ply. Only a few days ago David Lubin, a California delegate to the In- ternational Institute of Agriculture, made the assertion that the recla- mation for cattle raising on the lands of the eleven arid states of the Union was the key to the food problem. And he proposed in his report to Congress that measures should be taken at once by the government to carry out the plan. Continuing, he said that the cattle of Europe were being rapidly eaten up, and the cattle supply of the world was diminish-
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ing under the unprecedented demand of the war for hides and meat. He did not propose this national reclamation scheme for the war merely, but for all time in the best interests of the nation. His proposition in- cludes the leading of small streams from the mountains over these arid lands, and also the boring of many artesian wells.
Be this at it may, however, it has become very apparent that the nor- mal food supply of the nation has become inadequate, and every rea- sonable effort should be made to increase it. Not that we are obliged to feed the foreign nations which are now engaged in bitter conflict, but for our own protection and welfare as the population increases, both from natural causes and the arrival of immigrants after the war. In any conservative aspect therefore that presents itself there seems great promise of a grand future for this Valley in the years to come.
"Come and see!" is the invitation we extend in closing this article. And this invitation is re-echoed from every corner of this new coun- ty. The pioneer stage of development has passed, and the period of ag- gressive activity has arrived. Modern methods and facilities are every- where apparent, and there is a hearty welcome awaiting every new- comer.
"Come and see !"
.
CHAPTER II FORMATION OF THE COLORADO DESERT
LONG ago, before the memory of man, but comparatively recent from a geological standpoint, in what is known as the middle tertiary period, the waters of the Gulf of California reached up as far as the slopes of Mounts San Jacinto and San Bernardino, taking in all of the region now known as the Imperial Valley, Salton Basin and Coachella Valley, an area of over 3000 square miles; the whole of the present delta into which emptied the erratic and unreliable Colorado River-the real heroine of the romance of the desert-for without the Colorado the waters of the sea would still bathe the foot of the mountains.
Although deprived of a part of its glory by a misnaming of the upper branches, the Colorado is one of the long rivers of the world, being about 2000 miles in length, including the Green River, which unites with the Grand to form the Colorado, the Green being really a continu- ation of the Colorado itself. The river drains a region of about' 300,000 square miles, the southwestern part of Wyoming, west Colorado, east Utah, Nevada and new and old Mexico. Most of the land is extremely dry, with an average rainfall of only 81/2 inches, the river being sup- plied chiefly from the melting snow of the mountainous parts of Wy- oming, Utah and Colorado.
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