The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-12-27

Newspapers may be more or less
4uclined 10 aXags ration when eXtol-
ing the attractions OF their respective
erritories. Real estate agents are
also quite apt TO do the same thing.
ut when the speaker is d man who
l.s no personal interest in the codn-
5.g of which he peaks, then one may
Cepend upon getting an imparuai
opinion In VIM l. Rockwell the
Government irrigation expert, the
lower Rs Grande Valley is fortunate
u having not only thoroughly hon
est and disinterested critic, but one
..Do is particularly competent 10 eN
press an opinion. He has made d
borough personal study Of irrigation
conditions in the Valley, and by viz
tue eli his years Of study.of irrigation
IN other sections. must know of what
he speaks. Therefore The Herald feels
more than gratifed at being able TO
reproduce the expression from sit.
Rockwell which was published in the
.ollcwing special to the Galveston
News from San Antonio:
san Antonio, Tex, Dec Vii
aam l.. Rockwell. United States gov
eminent irrigation expert, has re-
turned from a three months trip Of
inspection in the Brownsville ana
. Nueces districts. He says that Inc
progress OF irrigation in that section
is nothing short of phenomenal He
sees for 'the future great things in
store for that rich seton. He said:
Progress in irrigation throughout
Southwest Texas, ana particularly the
Rio Granue and Nuecss districts is
little short of phenomenal never
aw greater strides than have been
made there in the past year and a
half
Throughout all this section irri-
cation still is employed Near Harlin-
gen a company has bought tract OF
nearly $4,000 acres and is planning
the erection of large mill on the
grounds, as they intend to lay out
II. 900 acres in cane during the com
ing spring. The company is COM
POSED mostly of Louisiana sugar men
and they have begun constructing the
canal system Planting 1000 acres
of cane near Sen BenitO and Browns
vile is now under way, and large
mill for local farmers will be erected.
vt Mercedes, also, new company has
secured an S,OOO-acre tract and will
begin constructing a mill of about
1000 tons early next year, The Nc
Ahen district acreage has been plant
ed principally in alfalfa.
In districts wnere irrigation still
is a novel problem, the expert finds
the chief trouble to be improper con-
dition of the soil for planting both of
cane and alfalfa Farmers generally
do not appear to realize the need OF
a more thorough and careful prepare
ton of ground, nor that the first
crop of these products should be tried
on smaller scale than they have
been planned. as a rule. Particularly
in the case of alfalfa. attempts are
made TO plant in new soil under new
" contrived irrigation systems, when
the all-impOrtant prerequisite for a
successful crop is that the soil be
first prepared by planting some hardy
crop so that the proper injection Of
humus in growth and cultivation Of
crops prepares the soil for the next
lantfng of alfalfa In addition 10
Tie condition Of soil, it is very neces-
sarv that planters expend more care
in proper preparation of field sur
lace. In this connection, the princT-
pal fault is that low places or nat
uraI burrows are not carefully hlleG
in. a surface absolutely level is es-
sential to best results from Skihful
irrigation. and if an old crop IS FIRST
planted. before alfalfa is sCvn, the
felds should be again irriea'e, and
~eleveled. In low places water set
ties and scalds i'll the sun. and water
grass inevitably springs up iu such Z
way as to choke alfalfa.
In developing ditching, tendency
is noted to make burrows too long.
rather than to lay out more bitches al
shorter intervals Proper construc-
ton of three bitches to every quarter
mile. or. as in case of flooding inter
. section of more cross-furrows to dis
tribute more equally over the whole
field. will do much to solve dTficultie.
attending. the danger Of Oversatura
ton. Where insufficient number O
conduits are dug, water from mail
or border bitches drenches the near
est rows TO the detriment of the res
of the crop, as drenching causes evap
Grafton and consequent deposit of al
kali in surface soil.
The most gratifying aspect Of thu
situation is that farmers are gener
ally trying every prescribed methoC
for perfecting their systems, and TAX
ing advantage of every issue of thu
Department of Agriculture bulletins