Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-11-20
BALTIMORE PAPER
TELLS OF VALLEY
CITRUS INDUSTRY
MANUFACTURERS RECORD COM
MENTS EDiT0RIALLY OF SHIP
MENT FROM MALLEN.
SAYS SHIPMENT is SIGNIFICANT
STEP IN DEVELOPMENT OF THE
MAGIC VALLEY"

The Manufacturers Record. publish
cd IL Baltimore. Tie most important in
duStrial publication in the South. car
rcs in late issue the following cdito-
rial commenting on the shipment of the
first carload of grapefruit from McAllen.
in the Magic valley Editor)
The recent shipment of the first car
load OF grapefruit from McAllen, Texas,
In the Lower Rio Grandc Valley, marks
4 significant step III the development Of
what has come To bc known Ia ally -
the Magic Valley.
~ citrus fruit growing section some
remarkable claims are made in behalf
Of the VALLEY. III j. stated that the
grapefruit raised there il Of exceptional
flavor. some people regarding ii a> su-
perior even To that of the Isle of Pines.
The fruit ripcnS early. and thus com
mand> good price in the market.
II il declared that lines. lemons, and
oranges also thrive there and some of
the lime trees have borne lines "a large
as the average lemon. The oranges
grown are not of SatSuma variety,
which i the tree almost exclusively
planted in the Gulf Coast SeytinnS of
Texas generally. but are standard com
mcrcial oranges of the hest varieties
Pineapple. Par>on Brown, Jalra and
Washington Navel.
The climate and FERTILITY -of thr soil
are conducive ~ early development.
~ indicated by an instance in which il i
claimed that Il grapefruit tree set out in
Nav bore sixty fruits the following year.
L.. a. b.. A..l i'm,
which irrigation systems have been de
vclupcd there seems to be- general inter
est ia citrus fruit growing on a small a.
well as q large scale Some orchards are
on II commercial basis. and in other ca
ScS farmers are setting out small orch
ards around the home for home use. IL
j. stated that this years shipments Of
citrus fruits from the Valley will aggre-
gate several carloads aud the prospect j.
for continuous increase in the output.
This section thus promises To become an
important addition 10 the citrus fruit
growing territory Of this country.
Interesting and important ~ the cit
rus fruit industry may he. il is merely
one of the forms of development whicl
are under way in the Brownsville see
tion Until II. Il Noakum built the It.
Louis Brownsville. 4 Mexico railroad.
from point near Corpus Christi, with
i branch up the Valley to SamfordNcc
The entire section was an immense graz
ing pasture. with the Valley lands large
Iv given over to mesquite and cactus.
Within less than i dozen wears an en-
tire Transformation has occurred
throughout thc whole territory ira
vcrsed bv the railroads. Hundreds ot
thousands of acres have been cleared of
the cactus and mesquite. and present =
most allurinc vision of fertile plain to
tho eve of the traveller Vast irrigation
projects have been established and the
whole region has been tranSformd into
garden spot.
The great Succc>S in growing Bcrmuda
onions in the Laredo district in>nircd
the settlers in the oliver VALLEY 10 cN
tcnSivclv engage In onion "rowi"" -
enormous were the cropS raised that the
market was broken down and the neceS-
Sitv for divcr>ifi"ation demonstrated
through the disasters following the one
crop idea Since then the settlers have
ENGAGED in every kind Of activity. even
Including hog aud cattlc raising of the
l fnt'>l nffft>- III F1FtN tffl'bH lU.
RrovnSvillc country heats The rest ~
thc United Sirtr~. y first bale having
been ShipncI from San Hcriro few
vearS ago to Houston on the tenth oi
June
This territory il at present bearing the
hrnnt Of Mexican outlawrv in the United
states and there i naturally much re-
sentiment there against the peril to life
aud property which the present condi
tionS impose However. the McXiran
question j. certain of settlement ulti
rntclv and the fertility Of the "Magi,
VALLEY" wiz endure forever.
If the opcnine Of this country were his
only achievement Mr. Noakum would
have still gained right To the gratitnd,
of the Republic