Pueblo chieftain., 1921-03-21
RICH VALLEY
LIKE HOTHOUSE
Inflow PLACE

First asparagus Of 1921 showed up
in local markets this week, retail price
being SO cents pound. So. 1t seems.
Imperial valley is to be a rival of Ar
kansas valley with asparagus as well
as with cantaloupes.
There is more prevalent feeling of
curiosity hereabout as to Imperial val
ley than in regard to any other por
tion of California, not only because
OF its unique novelties but because of
its spccialties parallel with those OF
Rocky Ford and Pueblo. In a. recent
sketch of that place published in Farm
Journal. Walter Il. Andrews writes
Anything will grow hero that will
grow in lower Egypt-cotton, dates,
| hCs, olives. pomegranates, citrus fruits,
apricots. Many crops mature here car
| lier than elsewhere. and Imperial VAL
| ley grapes, cantaloupcs, asparagus, etc.
| are becoming known all over the Uni
| ted States, and usually command a
premium price because of earliness and
quality. The first shipment of aspar-
| aGus in 1919, for instance, sold for SIS
| crate in the Los Angeles market
But this was exceptionally high, owing
| to war conditions.
| The ranchers. gardeners and fruit
growers in this favored valley are very
prosperous. Everybody is making
| money except the undertaken. AL
falfa can be cut fvo or six times a year
> and such cuttings! ngstaplc
Egyptian cotton of tho finest quality
yields more than 500 pounds to the
| acre.
Some one has called tho Imperial
| valley, potentially the richest agri-
| cultural district in the United States":
and yet. comparatively few people
| know much about II, and thousands
have never heard of 1t.
Until 1900 lhow recent that isD this
valley had not single civilized inhab-
liant. It was merely tho desolate
| sunkcn bed of an ancient sea basin.
| and not ono of it's desert acres had
ever been cultivated. There was no
| water. no vegetation.
Now. only nineteen years later the
valley has n population OF moro than
10000 thriving people. There are
| churches. banks, good schools. pros
| porous towns, and its 100000 acres OF
cultivated lands have produced in tho
last fcw years more than $4,000 900
worth Of crops. And yct tho greater
part of tho land lies far below the level
of the sea-
shortly before 1907 some r-sccInE
men financed an irrigation canal.
tapped the waters of the Colorado
river, and renamed tho Sink tho Inn
perial valley. Settlers were attracted
|
road was built and towns were laid out
so the Valley was soon booming
Thousands OF ranchers Everything is n
ranch out here in California. from
one aero up) were getting rich on the
salo OF their products, and land values
wcrc Jumping skyward.
Some OF the settlers didn't exactly
like the heat. but they were so busy
making money that mere ITO degrees
or l2o degrees in tho shade In summer
at times didn't seem worth hothcrinS
about. Besides. the nights were always
| cool.
United States Weather Bureau re-
| ports say: "on a few occasions a tenn
pcraturc OF 125 degrees has been
reached in tho valley, but the avcraS.
yearly maximum is between lis dc
| srccs and 10 degrees. Winters
are mild and fine. the minimum tom
pcraturc rarely falling below the frccz-
ing point. sand or dust storms arc Of
I ton disagrocabc In spring and early
summer. The rainfall II only two or
three inches "A year"
a truthful ranchcr told us that il
gets 40 hot at times that chickens fly
from one shady spot to another. bc-
cause tho soil often becomes so heat
ed that II would blister Biddic's feet
IL she stepped on IT. Also. tools on
tractors aud moving machines get 80
| hot, IL exposed tn the sun. that they
can not be handled. To offset these
| heat stories IL is claimed. with truth
| that "A dry temperature of iiO de-
srScs in the shade IL no more urcom-
! Portable than S5 degrees In the humid
| sections Of the Eastern states.
| King kcndlc, n woll-known and in
! flucntial alfalfa grower near Brawiey
IN tho Imperial Valley. Informed mo.
however. that as irrigation increases
climate changes becomes moro
humid and hoat more felt. II Ia his
/ hal t,f ha ..lt 10 L..
quite so dry as It used to be. But he
still lives thcro and says there's no
place on Garth he likes so well.
In 1905. like a bolt from the blue.
tho Colorado river awoko from a long
peaceful sleep. went on the rampage
again. and came mighty near wipins
out the whole works. Floods poured |
! into the prosperous. unsuspecting
Valley. many farms were inundated. !
two towns were partly destroyed and !
tho Southern Pacific Railway tracks
-llarriman's pct road-wcrc on |
danEcrcd. |
Then camc dramatic moment |
whom just ono man stood between |
1900 settlers and utter ruin. That |
man was the late II. II. Hartman. |
Even now his namc ia u rcvercd |
household word In tho Valley. Tho |
men apd women hero can never for |
get his fight with the river aud how 1
ho saved their homes aud crops.
While other folks wrunE their |
hands and did nothing, he put onEin-
GERS at work and spent millions. |
Thcn he enlisted the help OF Thco-
doro isooEcve elt, at that tlmc Presi-
dent of the United states, and thru |
him secured government aid in the /
fight. Dikes and lcvoes were built |
that finally, after a long and terrific |
struggle. saved tho Valley, Tho sullcn !
rivor was forced back to its old place.
and by 1907 tn. settlers were happy
again and moro secure then before.
To-day. in tho lowest spot. far below
sonlov"l. lios n body Of water called
tho Saltou Sea. " Is all that remains
Of tho 1906 inundation. and is slowly |
drying up Around II lies tho great
immortal NnllrN. far richcr than the |