Newspaper Page Text
The Imperial Press.
VOL. IV.
Published at the center of the greatest Irrigated territory In America, In the heart of the Colorado desert, San Diego county, Southern California, 67 feet below the level of thesca. Under pres
ent canals, 2so,ooo acres: under Irrigation system when completed, 400,000 acres. Adjacent to irrigated land in Arizona and land to be Irrigated by the National Government from the same
grand Colorado river which will make a combined body of more than a million irrigated acres.
A VISIT TO YUMA
Impression, of a Press Representatives Con
cerning That Thriving Community
Yuma's Bright Outlook Compared To Our Own— Plenty Of
Water In Imperial Valley Today— Reliable Water
Supply Assured Yuma In Three Years
Editor Tress: The action of the gov
ernment in advertising for bids for the
construction of the dam and sluiceways
for the Yuma project has only put at
rest all doubt and uncertainty regarding
the governments intentions on the Colo
rado river, but it has also attracted a
great deal of interest to the town of
Yuma and the country adjoining, for
which this project is ostensibly designed.
With the object of learning what
might bo by a personal visit, the writer
made a trip to Yuma last week.
There are a good niaiiy.^things about
Yuma that we >?il"are ltd above i criti
cism. It is *iar from ourjjffeal of what a
town B»' Jl Vd be. It is,.: ot nicely located,
nnr mit my — -Ugr'its beauty. But there
arc sicnP^- awakening, and there is
iiope lhaYthe Yuma of the future will
be built along modern ideas, on higher
groundj and the present town come to be
known as Yuma-under-the-hill, pinole
ville, catfishtown, or some equally elo
quent and descriptive designation.
We found the officers of the Water
Users' Association to be gentlemanly
and obliging, and busily engaged in
closing up the work of getting the land
owners properly organized and all legal
matters put in shape for the forthcom
ing government construction work. We
learned that it was required that the
owners of 95 r/er cent of all tli i lands
had to sign for stock in the Water Users'
Association and agree to pay their pro
portion of the total expense, before the
Secretary of the Interior would enter
into thb contract with the Water Users'
Association, or the work of construction
c ii'd be begun. .But so thoroughly har
ln ..ions are the Yuma people, that only
about 2 per cent are out, and most of
this is in small tracts, or tracts to which
title is not clear.
It is accepted as a matter of course
among the Yuma people, that Imperial
will be included in the lower Colorado
government irrigation project, and that
by the time the Yuma dam is completed
and water is ready to turn into their
ditches, and government irrigation act
ually begun in the Yuma valley, we will
have our affairs straightened out and
that water will be turned to this valley
under the reclamation act at the same
tiiiiH it is to Yuma. It is pointed
out that the contractor on the Yuma
da,., will be allowed two years in which
to complete the work of construction,
ami also, that the canal work necessary
for the Imperial project, ho far as tho
main canal is concerned, could be built
in a few mouths. This manner of cal
culating from the Yuma standpoint,
would give us more than a year in which
to properly organize our people, and
"Water Is King— Here is its Kingdom."
IMPERIAL, CAL., SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1905.
secure their tubscriptions to ptockin the
Water Users' Association, and agree
ment to pay their proportionate part of
the cost. A consideration of these facts
brings us back to the proposition, that
the owners of 95 per cent of all the lands
to be irrigated must sign up to this
agreement. This fact guarantees that
no inconsiderable number of peoplo can
shape the future of our Valley. Tco high
a price for the property to be bought
will cause such an apathy in signing the
agreement as to defeat the move. On
the other hand, events will have to
prove, not only the superior attractions
of government ownership, to the resi
dent land owners, but also its absolute
necessity to the non-residen*, specula
tive owners, in order that the required
percent can be brought to the point of
signing up the agreement. From what
we could learn we have not the slightest
doubt but that the property owiers of
this Valley, both resident and non-resi
dent, will be ready to sign the required
agreements to secure government irri
gation in plenty of time to allow the
necessary canals to be dug before the
Yuma dam is finished* and the govern
ment ready to furnish us with water.
I therefore agree with the Yuma senti
ment as above set forth, and for that
reason I insist that from every point of
view, except possibly the one of tempo
rary present boom, tlu,t the Imperial
Valley is the best proposition of the two.
We have a much larger and far more
compact body of first class land. Our
lands are generally freer from salt and
alkili than the Y'uma lands, and our
present arrangements for water supply
are certainly superior to theirs. At
present their reliance is pumps, and
when the river rises so pumps are not
needed, a great deal of their lands will
be overflowed. This latter fact will
compel the construction of 75 miles of
levees to protect their land from over
flows. These levees in turn render it
necessary to pump the waste and drain
age waters back over tho levees into the
river. The total expense is estimated
$:!5.00 por acre. This sum seems exhor
bitant to an Imperialite, but is reall)
an economy alter all to those people,
for under present arrangements it costs
from $5 to $'J per acre per annum for ir
rigating waters.
Under the government their annual
payments will bo $i{.so per acre, and
cost ot maintenance ami operation,
perhaps $2.00 per aero pur annum, and
then in ten years they will own tho
system and only have the $L\oo per
acre to pay.
Government irrigation will certainly
be a great boon for the Yuniii people.
It is made absolutely necessary by the
inability of private enterprise to irrigate
that valley. These private enterprises
fail to do the work on account of the in-
Hurperable obstacles with which they
are compelled to contend;
We believe that events will transpire
that will briny our Valley in lino for
government irrigation, just as soon as it
could bo brought t<> pass, if we already
had a contract with the Secretary of tho
Interior for the construction of the
necessary works. F, O. Havens.
RANCH DEVELOPMENTS
A Now Fertile, Level, Productive Farm That
Was Once a Mass of Hummocks
An Idea of What Imperial Valley Farming is Like, Showing
What Has Been Accomplished In Twelve Months
On D. A. Wheeler & Cos. Place
In order that tho many readers of
The JPress may become better ac
quai n t c d with the unprecedented
volume of improvements now being ac
complished in Imperial Valley, a repre
sentative of this paper made a trip over
the Eastside during the past week.
When D. A. Wheeler & Co'a. ranch
was visited, it seemed to present a good
illustration of agricultural progression
and a tour of inspection of the 1300
acres under the Wheeler management
was proposed. In the absence of Mr.
Wheeler, his son-in-law and partner,
W. B. Richards, acted as guide and
host.
The story of the various successes ac
complished on the Wheeler ranch v
best told in the language oi Mr. Rich
ards, who has spent all his time, since
arriving here, developing the extensive
land holdings which the firm lias
secured.
"Mr. Wheeler and I landed here
about the middle of November, 1903,
and selected our fnture home on the
Eastside. The land we thought we
wanted, or should have, was all taken
up, so wo had to buy the assignments of
those who had filed on the hind orignal
ly under the desert act. The first piece
we secured was just one mile away from
the townsite of Iloltvillo, to the north,
contained 3*20 acres; the next piece, 100
acres, adjoined the first purchase, and
the third purchase of 40 acres also ad
joined. This gave us 520 acres in a
solid piece.
"But such a mess of hummocks we
had. Hardly enough smooth, level
laud to pitch our tents on. However,
we had about 30 head of horses which
we put to work at once levelling, and
another 4-horse team was kept busy
all the time hauling water, for over
seven weeks, a distance of from 3 to 5
miles. By the time the Company was
able to furnish us water through the
ditches early in February, 1004, we had
nearly 400 acres ready for seed. Of this
ground about 320 acres were seeded to
barley and 80 acres to wheat. This
only received one wetting in February,
still, with tho dilliculty of getting water,
we harvested UK sacks of wheat and
17) a sacks of barley to the acre. If we
had used a header and thresher, instead
of a harvester, the yield would have
shown nearly one-third more.
"All this grain land was seeded to
corn late in June. The seed cost less
than 4 cents per acre and it was disced
once after planting, so the labor ex
pended on planting thin crop was com
paratively small. The yield, however,
wan all that could bo desired, and the
question was as to the best methods of
disposing of this enormous crop. It
was decided to try cattle and hogs, so I
went to Arizona and brought in a train
load about November first. A patch of
the poorest corn whs fenced off and tho
cattle and hogs turned in there until
the balance of the crop vvua headed.
The cattle were then turned in on the
corn stubble foa- several Aveeks and
showed a decided improvement. From
the corn fields the cattle, about 385 head
of two and three-year old steers, were
driven to a tiuht corral and put on full
grain fed for finishing purposes. This
was nearly five weeks ago and it will re
quire from two to three weeks more to
finish them.
"Our method of feeding differs from
that of most Imperial farmers, in that
we feed the headed corn in a tight
trough instead of turning the cattle in
the Held to head it themselves. An
enormous amount of grain is wasted by
the latter process, while by our method
nothing is wasted. We have about 350
head of hogs following the cattle in the
corral. .Besides finishing all these cat
tle and hogs we will have 80 acres of
coin to thresh and sell. This will yield
considerably over \x/»\ x /» tons to the acre,
and corn is now quoted at $1 ( J.OO a ton
on board the cars."
Mr. Richards was reluctant about es
timating his profits on the cattle and
hogs as he expects the very highest price
for his beef. Tho cattle averaged him
about $25 a head at lloltville and, from
their present appearance and prospect,
should realize from $40 to $45 a head.
About the hogs, he said there wouiu
be some "velvet" when they were
marketed.
In addition to the first tracts of land
owned by them, Messrs. Wheeler and
Richards have purchased l(>0 ucres more
and leased enough to make 11500 acres.
As this land now stands there are 700
acres in barley, 40 acres in alfalfa and
400 acres of wheat. The balance, 1(50
acres, now in corn stubble, will be
seeded to bailey in a few days
Some of this crop is not idle while it
is growing, because tho first 100 acres
seeded to barley is now rented to past
ure 150 head of cattle, bringing in an
income of nearly $200 per month.
When Hulliciently pastured tho cattle
will be taken off and tho crop allowed
to mature for gram, I'y that time sev
eral hundred acres more will bo ready
to rent for pasture.
In summing up whathuH been accom
plished on the Wheeler ranch thuro
Continued on |>a|f« 0.
NO. 42
