Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1926-01-06
IN OUR
VALLEY

ECEMBER, 1925, was the coldest
~ December in this section since
1871. Weather records prove it, says
W. j. Schnurbusch, meteorologist in
charge of the Brownsville Z. s Weather
Bureau.
There was one exception, in 1914.
December, 1925, averaged rs degrees
colder than any December in "a years.
Let's remember that, before dwelling
too much on the recent spell of wealth
er."
Let's remember that up in the north
ern part of Hidalgo county there is an
orange tree the history of which dates
back at least go years.
Sspell''
Our citrus fruit groves are still
among US after weathering two spells ;"
In two Defenders.
The mature trees already have paid
for themselves, many growers declare.
j. w. Davis, city engineer of Browns
( ville sold a citrs grove in the central
part of Florida some years ago when the
mercury went down to degrees.
So far, weather history favors the
Rio Grande Delta for crops and citrus
fruits.
The San Benito Light records that a
visiting tourist, a lady, was carried on
a trip through the Lower Rio Grained
Valley She was shown vegetable fields,
orange and grapefruit orchards and the
other wonders of the Delta.
After the trip, she still evidenced Gu
riosity concerning the country.
Where are your citrus groves that
] hear so much about?" The Light says
she asked.
Others have declared they never
heard of citrus fruits until they came
here. Perhaps they just never hap
pened into the word. 1t had just e
capped them. 1t is constantly used IN
federal agricultural department reports
in the newspapers of Florida, Texas.
California and Arizona.
Webster's defines citrus as follows:
"A small genus of rutaceous. often
thorny trees and shrubs, natives ori:e-
inally of tropical Asia but now widely
cultivated for their fruits, known
citrous fruits, constituting one of the
most important horticultural products.
The genus is characterized by TIM ;l
ternate unifoliolate or trifolioi1te
leaves with a winged petiole; tetIa-
merous flowers with many stamens;
and large baccate fruit with pulpy en-
docarp and hard exOcarp. Each of the
species includes several distinct sub
species. c. medica yields the citron,
lemon and lime, G. aurantium the sweet,
bitter, and BergamOt oranges, etc.
The Brownsville. Harlingen and San
Benito chambers of commerce directors
have approved the suggestion of the
secretaries of the various chambers Of
the Valley that the Legislature be ask
ed to pass a law permitting county or
counties to form themselves into dis
tricts for publicity purposes, and to levy
a maximum two-mill tax for the pur-
pose.
Assessable values in the four coun-
ties of the Delta are nearing the $780,
100000 mark. By the time the law
would become operative, if passed, i
will have increased to $100,OOO,OOO. A
tax of mill or half mill then would
MT hurt anyone, and yet supply large
fund with which great amount Of pub
lcity could be bought and paid for
If we were asked to outline platform
for greater Brownsville, we would
suggest:
More storm sewers.
More sanitary sewers.
More sidewalks.
More sanitary sewers.
More paved streets.
More sanitary sewers.
More tree planting.
More sanitary sewers.
More and better homes.
More sanitary sewers.
More paved cross streets.
More sanitary sewers.
Better drainage.
More sanitary sewers.
Brownsville needs all these and more.
Proper and adequate drainage, eXten-
sion of the storm and sanitary sewer
systems are prime necessities in the
building Of a great city here.
People will not live in city where
the ordinary conveniences are not avail
able
Storm and sanitary sewerage should
precede development, not follow it.