Las Vegas age. [volume] (Las Vegas, Nev.) 1905-1947, 1919-07-19
LAS VEGAS IDEAL
FOR RAISING COTTON
Capital and Enterprise Might
Develop Great Industry for
Clark County.

The development of the Las Vegas
Valley i'm an agricultural way has
seemed to us who are on the ground.
to be a slow process, perhaps. But
in view of the very few years since
the town was established and com
munication with the outside world
opened up. the results achieved have
been very satisfactory.
The development of water has, of
course, been the chief obstacle in the
way of the settler with little money
the necessary outlay for drilling an
artesian being deterrant to many
Yet in practically every case where
a man has seriously undertaken farm
ing and given his time and attention
to it he has made a success. We have
many fine little ranches in the valley
which have brought prosperity to the
owners, and which represent mostly
new wealth created out of effort.
Unlike the Imperial and the Blythe
sections. Las Vegas farmers have nev-
er specialized in any one thing with
perhaps the one exception of the
McGrif ranch which is growing heav-
Nv into peaches.
Cotton is a crop which is attracting
attention everywhere just now, but
it is not raised in this valley. The
reason is that to make cotton raising
successful. acreage must be planted
to warrant the building of a cotton
gin costing perhaps ten thousand dol
lars. You can't raise cotton without
a gin and you can't get gin until
you have cotton. and here we are,
There is a great acreage in the val
ly which would compete with the
Imperial or the Blythe countries or
any other portion of the United States
in cotton growing. Cotton is no new
thing in this section. 1t was grown
successfully 80 or 90 years ago when
it was necessary for people to make
their own cloth for their clothing
In more recent years, patches of cot
ton have been grown in and about
Las Vegas just as an experiment.
and all were successful. There is no
reason in soil, climate, length of
season or anything else to prevent
Las Vegas becoming one of the rich
est cotton raising centers in the coun-
try. True, water must be developed,
but many wells drilled. with practi-
cally but few failures, has taught us
that water is to be had when one goes
after it seriously. Close observers,
men who have studied the situation
carefully. believe that we have as
vet scarcely made a beginning in the
matter of developing the underground
water supplies.
We need to go into operations on
a larger scale-to raise sufficient of
some one product to permit shipping
in quantity To be sure there is
money in market gardening and in
fruit. But the local market alone
cannot make a rich farming commu-
nifty. There are tracts of land which
might be leased on favorable terms.
There are wells which would water
hundreds of acres which are not in
use at all. There is plenty of good
land where water may in all proba-
hility be obtained. which can be pur-
chased for few dollars an acre.
There are portions of ranches al
r,ady partly under cultivation which
,,ould be available for cotton.
Men flock in and pay $3.50 per acre
Cr more for land in the cotton rals-
ing sections Would it not be a good
Ulan for some of them to come here
where land is cheap, every condition
favorable and the experience or years
Cf success in raising cotton in small
y,ay available as a guide and try 1t
cut? We believe it would only re
ouire a leader to make the start ana
that others would quickly follow. 1t
Is entirely within the range OF pos
aibility to make the Las Vegas val
ley rich through cotton growing.
Somebody said labor conditions are
not good" Neither are they good in
Arizona. Imperial Valley or Blythe
II it come to hunting a cool place to
af. Good pay would bring plenty
cf cotton pickers just as it does in
those places. Clark county may be-
come lust as rich and famous as those
other cotton raising districts fithe
effort is made.
The fact that the establishment of
creat industries at Los Angeles is
creating an intimate market for cot
ton almost at our door is a strong
reason why steps should be taken
to induce farmers to raise cotton in
Clark county.