The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-03-13

A4Cl nave AOeb4lLS0 EAO4| VI ~
$500 an acre on early cabbages, and
all along the line. in roasting ears,
beans. potatoes, cucumbers, eggplant,
caulifiower, the prolific production,
the certainty of the crop under irriga-
ton and the fact that they get into
the market ahead of all others and
bring fancy prices make truck-grow-
ing an exceedingly alluring oeeupa-
ton
This is declared to be a section
adapted to all kinds of citrus fruits,
and orchards of oranges. lemons and
grape fruit are being extensively
planted. Pecans. English walnuts
and other nuts, as well as bananas
bic and profitable commercial pro-
ducts. and grapes are expected to
thrive as they do in California.
Cotton grows in perfection here,
but with other crops producing from
$500 to over $1,000 an acre il is not
likely that a very extensive cultiva-
ton of cotton will be INDUCED in in
the irrigation district.
Of such importance is the deyel-
opment here conceded to be that the
government has established an agri-
cultural station, utilizing a portion
of the abandoned Fort Brown
grounds for the purpose. Here ex-
perimentation will be carried on in
wide variety of soil products Near
ly 1000 varieties of plants and shrubs
are already in the ground There are
1877 varieties of cotton. 297 grape
! vines and 200 different kinds of Gao
tus, including a practically spineless
variety which the government has
imported from Italy.
Before the ST. Louis. Brownsville &
Mexico railroad was built into this
country, little over four years ago,
the whole aspect was forbidding
waste of mesquite and cactus, cleared
lands being practically unknown, ex-
cept on occasion along the river
j banks, and in all the territory now
penetrated by the railroad there were
not more than five farm houses when
the road was begun. Now no fairer
view of pleasing, smiling acres can be
found than those to be seen from the
! car window at frequent intervals
throughout all the irrigated belt.
Here is destined to be a marvel
ously wealthy region, with the small
! farmer as the rule, and thriving
towns and beautiful homes and great
( hotels Astounding. as in Southern Cal
ifornia.
This will be playground for the
people of the Middle North and West
Brownsville will add the comforts
and convenience to the charm she
now owns as link with the long
since passed.
The intercoastal canal will be built
from New Orleans to Brownsville
some day. There will be many rail-
roads built into this section. some of
them already in formative state,
and with bridges across the Rio
I Grande, certain soon to come,
! Brownsville's Importance and size
| will be greatly augmental through
] becoming the American border city,
| the first metropolis at hand, to which
will be tributary the vast develop
ment that is certain to spread along
the Mexican coast from Matamoros
( to Tampico at no distant day
/ IHSjC 10 uSNClODIltul oil OhCl CA
j as, and it would require volumes to
! present the picture completely and
in detail A chapter may be written
on the remarkable activity in rail-
road propositions. The artesian belt
country is worthy story of its own.
/ The way Texas onions have knocked
/ the Bermuda out of the market is an
! interesting sidelight on the develop
ment at hand The iron ores. the
coal and the lignite-all these and
almost countless others call for spe-
i cial treatment in detail. All is in
/ teresting, but in nothing is the trans
j formation greater than in the substi-
tuition of crops worth hundreds of
dollars an acre for mesquite and cae-
/ tus, and this story is herewith given
in considerable detail.
! The pioneer in the sugar-growing
industry in on the American side of
( the Rio Grande in the ruIay sugar
plantation, located in the valley about
seevn miles from Brownsville, which
! has been in constant operation for 80
years. Although not an extensive
operation. there being only 400 acres
I III Tue III SulNlf dlAOu, sCN
the results of the efforts here have
been constant proof of the adapt
ability of the Lower Rio Grande Val
ley to a high success in sugar-grow-
ing The Brulay plantation is still
in the hands of the Brulay family,
Mr.. Louis Brulay being the present
head of the enterprise. A sugar mill
of 125 tons daily capacity has been
operated from the beginning, and
the enterprise has been uniformly
successful The lands of the plan
tation are irrigated by water from
the Rio Grande, and year in and year
out during the time the plantation
has been under cultivation. and the
average yield of cane has been 80
tons per acre.
The most extensive sugar exter-
prise in the valley is the plantation
and mill of the Ohio & Texas Sugar
Co. This organization is composed
entire of Columbus (Ohio) people.
who own 2000 acres of land south
of Brownsville, and have put about
400 acres in cane. Going into the
territory two years ago, the company
ORGANIZED 81 500 90 caDifaI and mr.