The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-12-08
One Time Arid Wastes Now
Grow Great Crops of Cot
ton, Cantaloupe, Dates,
Lettuce and Other Garden
Stuff - DiversificatiOn Is
the Slogan.
(By George ID. Mann)

the Salton Sink into beautiful and
fertile oasis is one of the great tri-
butes to the skill Of the irrigation
engineers. This city with colorful
and "wet" Mexicali form the south
ern termini of most interesting and
absorbing experiment in desert rec
lamation. In company with George
Logan Price, now secretary of the
Mayer Co., an advertising corpora
tion of Los Angeles. formerly man
aging editor Of The Tribune. the
writer made two days auto trip
over the Imperial Valley. Il country
about which much has been written
and the various phases have been
Bell Wright in his "Winning of Bar
bara WORTH The genius of man
has transformed this portion Of the
Colorado Desert into one of the most
fertile valleys of the world. Its
productiveness rivals that Of the low
er Nile, all made possible through
the impOunding Of a runaway river
on the one hand and the barring Of
the floods from the Colorado river
on the other. The Colorado river
through miles Of canals drenches
large areas of the desert land, pro-
ducing remarkable variety Of pro-
ducts, but this same tickle river also
menaces the lives of the courageous
fifty or sixty thousand souls who
reside in this unique and interest
ing portion Of Southern California.
Choice of two Routes
One can enter the valley from either
Los Angeles or San Diego. The
writer entered by the former route
, and returned over the mountain high
| way via San Diego, making more than
500 miles without much effort and
travelling practically all the way on
| a hard surface road. Across the
desert, a few hours ride out of
Riverside, there is fine concrete
pike practically all the way to Calex-
leo. 1t is hard to picture the thrill
an autoist gets in night ride over
, the desert. especially when the moon
is up as it was the night the writer
sped over the ribbon Of concrete that
| seemed to stretch on the sands in
a never ending highway. The colors
are vivid. Grey, purple and pink
I shadings predominate, and even the
: song of the lark is heard as dawn
approaches. Gorgeous flowers Of
| the desert add to the glamour Of it
all
1t is interesting to observe the con-
trast between the desert yet un-
+, claimed with that which is now grow
:. ing an especially high grade cotton,
large variety Of other garden stuff.
More than $4,000 acres are given
| over to the growing of cantaloupes
and in 1924 more than $4,000 car
loads Of these melons were shipped
! out of the valley. More than 1000
carloads Of lettuce went to the vari-
! Gus centers of the United States.
No Boil Weevil
0he boil weevil has not made its APP
pcarance in the Imperial Valley as
yet, but some Of the business men
were complaining that the farmers
| were planting too much cotton. Di-
versification is the slogan here as
in North Dakota. Merchants are
preaching the same doctrine as in
the Middle West states. They are
urging more dairy cattle, hogs and
general stock raising.
When one sees the great variety
| Of crops raised in this reclaimed
desert one realizes the force Of those
lines Of the poet:
"Give fools their gold, and knaves
their power;
Let Fortunes bubbles rise and fall;
Who sows field or trains a
flower,
Or plants tree, is more than ALL"
But the farmers here have far
more to contend with than those Of
the middle west. Farming 100 feet
below the sea level, in heat that
reaches during some months as high
| as 12O in the shade, is not pleasant
= Int rO
is an exodus, of those who are fl
nancially able to seaport cities.
Not q White Mans Land
Despite its beautiful winter clim-
ate, balmy as late spring in the Da-
kotas, the Imperial Valley is no
place for the white laborer. Negroes
and Mexicans are utilized mostly for
cotton picking and milo maize cut
ting. There are many Swiss mixers
| while Japanese seem most expert in
the cantaloupe patches. There are
also a scattering of Hindus, Flip
mos and Portuguese. Some Ameri-
cans are engaged in general ranch
work.
Great Salton Sea
The Salton Sink of Imperial Val
ley contains the Salton Sea, a de-
tached body of ocean water which in
past ages had been the upper part
of the Gulf of California. It is
equal in extent to the Greet Salt
Lake in Utah. Sparkling in the
moonlight with desert sands for
miles along its shores, the Salton
Sea is picturesque. Game abounds
in many sections of the Imperial Vail
ley, especially ducks, and there are
many fine hunting lodges through
this section.
When it is realized that twenty
one years ago this valley was the
dried up bottom of an ancient sea,
the Transformation seems all the
more miraculous. 1t is now verita-
BILE hothouse, producing continuous
crops which find ready market be-.
cause they come to maturity long
before other sections of the country
start seeding. Thousands of car
loads of Imperial Valley produce
find their way into market when
there is little competition.
As recently as 1900, this section
did not have single civilized in
habitant. Not an acre was under
cultivation. Today more than fifty
thousand live in the valley, at least
500, 900 acres are under cultivation
and the section is dotted with pro-
gressive towns, excellent schools and
fine homes. And all this has been
(Cnhtinued an mage three