Imperial Valley press., 1922-04-04

Inc 0aIe industry Ill lHt CoitcHtiid
Valley was investigated last Saturday
by committee representing the FL
Centre chamber of commerce and
group of date growers in the Imperial
Valley. The visit was made primarily
to study the present conditions of the
date industry that are so closely allied
to those of the Imperial Valley and to
make report to the local chamber
which is sponsoring a movement to in
terest men in date growing here.
Those making the trip included E.
w. Judy, chairman of the committee;
C. K Cooper, president of the local
chamber; f. w. Waite, horticultural
commissioner; Roland Reed; George A.
Swami and son; and representative
of the Press.
The party left FL Centro bright and
early Saturday morning for lndio. The
trip was negotiated without a mishap
and arrived at the government expert
ment station by 10 o'clock. Bruce
Drummond, in charge of the station,
welcomed the members and showed
them over the farm and pointed out the
many interesting phases of his work.
The government date farm comprises
thirty-two acres of fertile land with
twenty-five acres under cultivation. 1t
was established some sixteen years ago
and has showed remarkable strides in
growth. The work and cooperation of
the department of agriculture has ma
terially helped the orchard men i'll OBJ
tanning quantity production and to inn
prove the quality of the date, accord
ing to date men.
Going back into history it is learned
that the United States department of
agriculture plant exploration work in
the Nile Valley, Libyan Desert, and
Mesopotamia countries resulted in
bringing to this country few thous-
and offshoots of choicest varieties of
dates They were delivered to lndio
where the government had established
a date garden. Men of vision consider
ed the idea of date culture and in a.
short time a number of them set out off
shoots. The light sandy soil and tenn
porate climate proved ideally adapted
for the cultivation of dates. The small
successes at first were only stepping
stones to q larger and more substan
tial business.
The scale problem is the greatest
handicap in the successful raising of
dates. The government has spent
many years in experimenting on a suit
able remedy for the eliminating of the
deadly scale. The first importations
from across the water possessed much
scale The foreigners take no precau-
ton against it, it is said, and the clean
stock in this country is very small. Mr..
Drummond states that the offshoots are
treated by vacuum of sulphuric gas
and burning treatments.
They are placed in hot houses until
the scale has been entirely eradicated
and placed in the field. The depart
ment of agriculture has placed a bar
rier on foreign offshoots to private in
dividuals because of the scale that is
likely to nave infested them. All off
shoots are controlled through the gov
ernment and released at the proper
time.
One of the first electric pump equip
ments in the valley was installed at
the station in 1915. At that time the
natives considered it impractical and
an unnecessary waste of public money.
The original pump is still performing
its twentyfour hour task in good order.
The athel or tamarisk tree interested
the members of the party. This pop
ular tree is grown in large numbers in
the Coachella Valley.
Mr.. Drummond showed the FL Centre
men his system of tabulating the ac
tions of every date offshoot on the
farm. Mr.. Drummond explained the
grea. possibilities in the by products of
the date. Fibre baskets and various
kinds of rope were exhibited. These
specimens are the work of crafty Egyp-
tians who have been engaging in the
art of basket making for centuries. 1t
is believed that when the date indus
try has more fully developed that
basket and rope making from the fibre
of the palm will become a great COM
mercial industry.
Cook s Date Gardens, few miles
west of Indio, were visited by the
party. Mr. Cook has ten acres of date
trees mostly of the Deglet Moor varie-
ty. He is one of the most successful
date growers in the valley and has
aided the valley in date propagation.
Mr. Cook estimates his land to be
worth $40 900 per acre.