Imperial Valley press., 1920-04-17
A D { s { R 7
RE ECL AIM Ed
Continued from page one)
one of the several thriving and grow
! ing towns of the valley.
The Climate

AhSS tpNitS VI viz
: The Climate
| One drawback to interesting capi
tai and other prospective settlers Il
) Imperial Valley was the intense hea
of the summer months. In its deser
| days it was not uncommon for th'
mercury to rise to from 130 to 14'
degrees Fahrenheit, in the shade, bu
the spreading of so much water
through irrigation and the growth o.
vegetation have had their effect anC
have wrought a decided change, Sc
settlers tell us who have lived in the
valley and know its conditions from
the beginning. One of the warmes,
days the thermometer reaches 115
but even that temperature gives 8
wrong impression to those who are
not familiar with the conditions. The
low humidity of the atmosphere ac-
counts for the fact that 115 here is
not as trying as 90 degrees in the
Mississippi Valley or farther east,
and prostrations from heat are very
rare More than 10000 people are now
happy to make their home in the val
ley the year through, and they seem
to manage to KEEP comfortable and
we'll
The winter climate is of course de-
lightful-bright, pleasant days with
very few exceptions. Not enough rain
falls on the average throughout the
year, which comes only in the winter
season, to make respectable shower
in the rain belt of the eastern section
of the country. The record gives a
yearly average of something over one
inch of rain. For few weeks in
the middle of the winter light frost
may occur, but none but the most
sensitive plants are affected, and the
growing season extends through prac
tically all of the twelve months.
Some amusing stories are told of
the heat in the early days. One of the
first hotels was set up by an enter
prising Chinaman in a canvas tent.
AS everyone knows, such a structure
only serves to make the heat still
more intolerable while the sun is shin
ing. The guests in this particular
before using the cutlery
had to blow on the handles to prevent
tn metal from blistering their fingers.
Ice was not known in those days and
the butter presented problem: The
ingenius Chinaman, however, Solved
the difficulty by putting the butter
in a beer bottle with a goose quill
through the cork, so that his guests
could help themselves to butter as they
would ketchup.
Agricultural Wealth
With a soil of almost ineXhaustible
richness and great depth, an abundant
supply of water and growing temper
ature practically the year through,
the remarkable productivity of Impe-
rial Valley is easily understood. The
gross value of its products in 1919 is
placed at S65,000,0O0. The annual
output grows rapidly as more land is
being reclaimed and placed under cul-
tivation. A study of the map will
show that large acreage of reclaim
able land still awaits the settler.
The crops that are grown repre-
sent a large variety. Alfalfa is the
backbone of the farming industry, and
the acreage planted last year yielded
a crop worth s7,000,000. The average
yield is six tons to the acre with from
five to seven cuttings, but twelve tons
from nine cuttings in the year is not
uncommon. Much of the alfalfa acre
age is used for pasture for sheep, cat
tie and hogs. Stock raising and dairy
ing are both large and highly profit
able industries.
Imperial Valley has been well call
ed Mother Natures Winter Hot
House" Large quantities of garden
truck are shipped out to more or less
distant markets every month Of the
year. The shipments of head lettuce
begin an January and last year totaled
fifteen hundred carloads. Nearly fif-
teen thousand acres were planted to
cantaloupes, and beginning in May
steady stream of $780,
| 600 of them-rolled away to market
in almost every corner of the United
States. 1t required 1888 cars to move
the crop, and the return was $780,
I 900. The growers are planting more
than 10000 acres to cantaloupes this
year.
But the most valuable crop in the
valley is cotton. The 1919-1920 crop
is estimated to be worth $25,000,00O
and the acreage for the present sea-
son is placed at 100000. Long and
short staple varieties are both grown
with great success. Climatic condi-
tions enable the grower to handle the
crop with a minimum of labor anc
expense. Absence of rain remove!
1.-THE necessity for housing facilities ant
always means a clean crop. Pest
that prey on cotton in the south arr
mot known here.
Other crops of Importance ar
wheat, barley, milo maize, several va
rieties of forage plants, early tabl
grapes, grapefruit and hoNey. Othe
citrus fruits, apricots and pears ar
also grown commercially. Dates are
profitable crop.
Farming in Imperial valley is con
Quoted on a scale different from tina
which prevails generally in the wes'
The holdings are not large as a rule
as the great fertility of the soil mean
wealth for the rancher who cultivate
only an eighty, or even forty, acr
unit. Farming here is also highl
specialized, and just one Of very fe'
crops is the order. The man VIII
grows asparagus, or alfalfa, or cottoi
or melons only, or any one OF almos
the entire list of staplcs. can look for