San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1926-04-18
LARGE field
OPEN T0DRY
FARMERS
Irrigated Spinach Lands
Will Make Large
Summer Crops.

In ground from which huge crops
OF winter vegetables have been hsr-
vested, Winter Garden farmers now
plan to plant vast cotton fields. Very
little dry farming has been done
in the Winter Garden District, lust
south of San Antonio, because the
winter vegetables have been much
better revenue producers.
There is already sufficient moisture
in this land, which has been irrigated
all winter, to produce a good cotton
crop, farmers believe. and this can
be done without additional irrigation.
1t is expected that cotton grown I'M
der these conditions will become a
big factor in the future growth and
further development of San Antonio's
world-famous Winter Garden Dis
trict. tk
IT'S ADVANTAGES.
The Winter Garden District and
especially the Crystal City country
enjoys a peculiar advantage over other
portions of the country due to the
many favorable conditions. The best
conditions being land values. splendid
irrigation advantages, ideal climate
and an abundance of cheap labor.
Crystal City is one of the most prog
ressiye little towns in Texas and
both the town and community sur
rounding it are growing by leaps and
bounds.
The chief reason why Crystal City
is forging ahead so rapidly is due TO
the rapid strides in agricultural de
velopment that is taking place. To
day Crystal City has a population of
about 5000 people. surrounded by in
rigated farms, operated by successful
farmers. These farms produce as,
tonishingly large yields Of winter veg
etables, spinach and onions being the
predominating crops, with eggplants,
tomatoes, peppers, beans, cauliflower,
carrots and beets being grown sue
cessfully. These crops can be planted
with practically an assurance of har-
vest, due to the rich soil and abund-
ance of water for irrigation. There
is an average yield of about 375 bush
els of spinach per acre during most
years and many cases can be cited
where as high as 500 to 1000 bush
els have been made per acre.
WINTER CROPS.
JULIUS PIOuuCt dDuuI @Ao 10 DOO
bushels per acre. These crops often
bring very high prices, especially dur
ing seasons when winter crops in 9TH
er sections of the United States are
frozen out. There has never been a
complete loss of either onion or spin
ach crops in this section due TO win
ter conditions. The other winter vege-
tables have been grown and marketed
very successfully.
The irrigation waters for these
crops is obtained from splendid arte-
sian wells where big supply of water
| is to be had at a depth ranging from
| $50 to 1000 feet in depth, also liU.n
| the Neuces river. where two dams in
the vicinity of Crystal City, conserve
the water so that it is stored and used
as needed. There are two LAKES near
Crystal City which furnish water for
irrigating many acres Of land. Water
for irrigation is obtained very cheaply
in comparison to other irrigated dis
tricts, and this, of course, is a very
important factor in choosing lands.
The dry land crops such as cotton.
corn and small grain crops, can Of
course, be produced very quickly and
cheaply.
During the past few months thou
sands of acres of brush lands have
been converted into beautiful farms.
Many of these farms have beautiful
date palm driveways, which give thef
| tropical appearance so desirable in
| this country. The average price for
land in the brush is from $40 to
SIS per acre. When the land is
cleared, fenced and improved and
water for irrigation provided I the
value runs from $50 per acre and
up, with very few irrigated farms Of
fered for sale.
MUCH UNDEVELOPED.
There are still thousands OF acres
to be put to a useful purpose, and
a great deal of this land has been
purchased by investors during the past
few months and many additional
acres are awaiting the coming Of new
people and capital. II is estimated,
| that about 1900 acres of new lands
have been put into cultivation since
the big development campaign start
ed in the vicinity of Crystal City.
About 1000 acres are in process Of
being cleared at the present time and
at least 5000 acres are under con-
tract TO be cleared just as soon as
the necessary labor can be secured.
These estimates do not include several
thousands of acres that have been
purchased with development in view,
but concerning which no definite plans
have been announced.
The agricultural development has,
Of course caused a rapid development
Of the town, and as a result a vacant
house cannot be found in town and