Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1936-01-02
Descriptive Letter From
CarlsonS Tells of Inter-
esting Things Seen and
Warm Climate EncOun-
tered.
House Trailer Mode of
Travel Hsndi1y M a k e S
Them A Part of Each
Community Visited ON
Trip.

On November Z it was an
nOunced in the columns of the
ASkOv American that Mr. and
Mrs. AXel w. Carlson of Sturgeon
Lake, were about to leave on
motor trip throughout the south
land during the winter months.
An especially constructed house
trailer was to be their home and
according to the following letter
from Mr.. Carlson, their trip has
been highly satisfactory. The
Carlsons are at the present time
in Ell Centre, Calf, and the letter
is dated the day before Christ
mas, it follows:
A leisurely trip along the country's
highways has its value from many
angles. 1t gives one the opportunity
to observe the modes of living of var
ious communities and the manner in
which a living is made. AS we pro-
coed south and west we can note the
major. activities in their respective
order as being diversified farming,
oil production, cotton raising, ranch
ing, mining, irrigation fruit and vege-
table farming, etc.
Here at Ell Centre, Calf, the cap
itol of the Imperial Valley, a migra-
tory population invades this time of
the year to work in the fields, to
buy, sort and market the lettuce
crop, for this is what is known as
tot
cabin camps, apartment houses and
other available living abodes in this
and other cities in the Imperial VAL
ley are fully occupied by this tran
silent population who will remain here
until April and then move on to some
other crop harvest.
1t rained about "A of an inch the
last two days. the second rain this
year in the valley. but the farmers
did not herald this moisture with
glee but instead they became peeved
about it as it pretty near spoiled the
lettuce crop and the lettuce crop rep
resents their bread and butter for
the next few months. AS it turned
out the temperature remained cool
which proved the income salvation
of the natives.
Earth Tremor Felt.
A seismograph station at San Diego.
and one at Pasadena recorded an
earth tremor in the Imperial Valley
at 11:45 Thursday. The tremor lasted
from one to two minutes and was felt
noticeably in Ell Centre. My sleep was
not disturbed by it but the people no
town commented about the pranks
that it played such as stopping cleo
trio clocks, splitting over water pals
and rolling people around in their
beds. No damage was reported
This valley enjoys a very pleasant
winter climate, the temperature vari-
alton is slight and sunshine is pre-
valent nearly every day of the year
1t is also noted for being one of the
hottest places in the country during
the summer months, the average day
time temperature being about 10 de-
grees. the night time about 90 de-
grees and heat range of 100 to 40
degrees is not uncommon. The ma
tives. here, however, do not seem
much perturbed about such terrific
heat but assure us that residents get
used to it and enjoy it as the native
Minnesotan enjoys his moderate sum-
mer climate.
Irrigated Lands.
The desert of Southern California
and Arizona is fast diminishing in
area. Through the aid and effort of
the federal government, far-reaching
irrigation canals are being dug and
the precious water is being conducted
up into the desert and then spread out
to transform the desert wastes into
fertile lands for fruit and vegetable
cultivation. The Grand American
canal is now under construction and
when completed will conduct water
from the Colorado river north past
the Saltan sea into the Mohave desert
and open millions of acres of land for
farming purposes. The land in these
newly irrigated areas is divided I'D
into parcels of 160 acres each and
sold to farmers. l have seen enor-
nous herds of cattle grazing on irri-
gated fields nearby. 1t seems that
because of the fertility of the soil
here and the humidity of the CHM
ate in these irrigated valleys the
grass grows so rapidly that it requires
less acreage to forage comparative
number of cattle than in the non
irrigated countries.
Ell Centre is located about IA miles
from the Mexican border, Calexico
being the border city. This is a COM
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