The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-10-06
COTTON LOOMS AS
 WESTERN CROP
San Joaquin Valley in California Produces the
 Long Staple Variety
By JOHN DUNLAP United Press Staff CorreSuOndent)

United Press Staff Correspondent
 Fresno. Cal.-(UP)-Just as rich Imperial Valley was discovered" with the development of irrigation, so is the extensive San Joaquin Valley of California becoming the garden spot of the west with an abundance of new crops and lots of water.
 Three crops - cotton, flax and sugar beets are currently being boomed in the valley, already known for its rich harvest of grapes, peaches. figs, plums and citrus fruits.
 Cotton planting has increased so rapidly in recent years that there are hardly enough ginning facili- ties to take care of the bumper crops. Four years ago, the total acreage devoted to this crop in the valley was 195,600 acres. This fig- ure jumped to 2o3, ,750 in 1885, 34S,- 500 last year and an all-time high of 600,000 acres this fall.
 Labor Problem
 With picking already beginning and expected to reach its peak in late September, thousands of cot- ton pickers have flocked to the val ley from the cotton states of the south and midwest, where drought, debt and sterile land have decreased chances for profitable work. State and local relief officials have been unable to care for everyone and an acute rcisis will exist this winter after the cotton harvest is over.
 The chief value of California cot- ton 1t its extraordinary whiteness and long staple. The national aver age elngth of the staple is seven- eights of an inch, while cotton grown here averages one and three thirty-seconds of an inch. Only 8 limited amount of Mississippi delta cotton exceeds 1t in length.
 Virgin soil that has been turned over to cotton is producing heavy yields. Western cotton produces an average of 591 pounds to the acre while the national average is only 200 pounds. This tremendous yield will bring more than $40,000,000 to cotton growers of the valley this year, most of which will be ex- pended in wages, taxes, and new planting.
 Deserts Flowed
 Vast plains that formerly were barren deserts are being plowed up with giant tractors. Deep water wells provide abundant irrigation for the fertile soil. This has produced not only the big increase in cotton but new development in flax in two short years.
 Only a few experimental patches of flax were here in 1885, chiefly on the west side of the valley. More than 5000 acres were planted in Fresno County alone this year and growers find it more profitable than grain or wheat. Flax yields between 20 and 2l bushels to the acre, which gives large amount of linseed oil for paints, ink and linoleum. Planting will be doubled or tripled next year.
 Sugar Beets Thrive
 Between 30,000 and 4O000 migra- tory laborers will be needed to pick the cotton crop during September, October and November. Daily pick ing wages will average $3 to $4, con- siderably more than is received in any other cotton area. Most of the big ranches provide living quarters for the workers, although the tre- mendous influx of transients this year has more than filled all avail able housing quarters.
 A goo dexample of what agricul- ture is doing to the valley centers around Coalinga, one of the early oil towns of the state. Agriculture was unheard of on the barren plains and hills far to the west of Fresno. Yet with the finding of water, large- scale farming has brought a revenue of more than a million dollars in 18 months and expectation of far more in the next year. There has been 500 per cent increase in farming in the past year, principally in cot- ton, flax, sugar beets. grains and alfalfa. z
 The, San Joaquin Valley is the new agricultural frontier of the west 1f
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