Newspaper Page Text
Imperial Valley Press.
VOL. VI
BRAWLEY AND
THE NORTH SIDE
The Firft Valley Community to Take Up Intensive
Farming
A Splendid District, Peopled by Progressive Farmers, and Possessing
Thrift and Prosperity Beyond Its Neighbors.
On last Monday we. had the good
fortune to visit Brawley and spend the
day In driving about the country and
seeing the splendid farms with which
that town Is surrounded. We were
accompanied by Mr. A. Latson, the
cantaloupe expert, who Is In the Valley
to represent the firm of L..M. Lyon &
Co., the great commission merchants
who handle the output of the various
Cantaloupe Growers' Associations of
this Valley. We arrived at * Brawley
about daylight, as the train is always
on time going toward Old Beach.
About the first thing we noticed was
the guests of the Bungalow Hotel, all
sleeping out in the yard. As they
seemed to be at peace with all the
world we decided not to disturb them
so we went over and examined the
new packing and shipping shed of the
Brawley Cantaloupe Growers' Associa
tion. Part of this building was put up
last year but it is being doubled in size
for the present year's needs. When
complete It will be 160 feet long and
76 feet wide, with a basement 30x80
feet under It. It will consist of a pack-
Ing floor 40x160 feet with a team shed
12 feet by 160 feet along one side and
a train shed 24 feet wide by 160 feet
along the other side. So the teams In
unloading can be in the shade and the
cars that are being cooled v and loaded
will be in the shade, too. The L. M,
Lyon Co. have a process for cooling
cars which will be used In all the pack-
Ing houses of the Valley and this will
be of great benefit to the Brawley
growers as well as the rest. The base
ment under the packing house will be
used for making crates in, therefore ex
pediting the work and saving work, as
the crates can be made right under
where they will be used and can be
carried up to the packers on elevators,
saving time, space and labor.
After looking over the packing house
and the facilities being prepared for
taking care of the coming cantaloupe
crop we then took a short walk around
the town and could see very distressing
evidences of the severity and destruc
tive character of the recent earthquake.
Nearly all the adobe and brick build-
Ings In the town were more or less
damaged; some of them . only very
slightly, while others were very nearly
wrecked, a few of them being rendered
unsafe. The two story brick next to
the Bungalow Hotel Is badly cracked
and the walls warped out of plumb.
Ropes are stretched around It at such
distance as would - render passers-by
safe In case It fell and "danger" signs
are' displayed. There was quite a bit
of damage done to the hotel but we
were Informed that an offer had been
made by a contractor to repair both the
hotel and the brick building for $1200.
The Brawley News office was Intact
* and we found Brother Witter sedately
balanced on the tripod.
After forking about the town awhile
and observing that the lesson of the
earthquake Is that Imperial Valley does
not want any adobe towns. We went
back. to the hotel and found that the
sleepers of an hour before .had each
"took up his bed and walked." After
breakfast we met Mr. Peter Hovely,
the real leader In the cantaloupe grow
ing industry of Brawley, and informed
him of our desire to see what there
was left at Brawley and in the sur
rounding country since the earthquake.
That started him off on his favorite
theme, cantaloupes. But before he
had said a dozen words, In came Judge
Holloway, Mr. Malan, Mr. Brown, Mr.
Walker and several other Number
Four farmers and the way they talked
cantaloupes was a caution. Everyone
insisted I must visit his ranch and see
what he "had left." In the argument
as to who had the most forward crop
of cantaloupes the discussion grew
quite warm. One man said the young
melons on his vines were large as quail
eggs, whereupon Mr. Hoveley said his
were large as walnuts. We found out
later this was a joke. The party that
went out to see the crops consisted of
Mr. Hoveley, Mr. Latson, Editor Wit
ter and ourself. We first drove out
west and southwest from the town.
The first ranch visited was the Oak
ley tract where several hundred acres
formerly thickly covered with large
mesqutte hummocks and sand dunes
has been leveled down and put into
crops. This tract is nicely laid off
with graded streets and sidewalks lined
with palms and eucalyptus. Messrs.
Oakley Bros, have an experimental
orange grove set out and a date orch
ard coming on and are to be com
mended for their foresight and public
splrltedness In doing their part to show
what Brawley lands are really most
valuable for growing. On this tract
there Is something over one hundred
acres of cantaloupes, some cf which
are quite forward.
From there we drove down past the
nursery of Erlckson and Helny. These
men are growing their own stock quite
extensively, having several acres of
peach and other seedlings now growing.
They are up-to-date nurserymen and
will soon be ready to supply the home
market with home grown trees.
The next ranch visited was Mr. W.
P. Mansfield's place. Mr. Mansfield
prldss himself on the fact that no farm
er In Imperial Valley Is more enter
prising than himself. He has built a
large house on a novel design, evident
ly with the Intention of catching enough
cool wind during the winter months to
keep It comfortable all summer. And
right here we want to remark that the
farmers around Brawley and In Num
ber Four have the best houses to live
In the best barns, the best fenced and
neatest kept ranches and withal, carry
AND THE IMPERIAL PRESS
EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 28, 1906
the most evident air of prosperity with
them of the farmers of any community
In the Imperial Valley. And among
all the prosperous farmers Mansfield
seems to lead. He has a large num
ber of hogs, a fine field of alfalfa, some
fine milk cows, a vineyard and orchard
and more than 100 acres In canta
loupes. His tenants, Messrs. Komura
and Yamamoto, thoroughly understand
cantaloupe growing, their entire field
being carefully tilled. Here we could
not felp noticing the thrift of the "lit
tle brown men" for they have planted
beans and other vegetables along in al
ternate rows through their cantaloupes
and while the irrigating water is being
served to the cantaloupes on one side
of the furrow it is also nourishing a
row of beans on the other side. If our
Valley farmers would take a leaf out of
Komura and Yamamoto's book on the
use of water there wouldn't be so much
of it get into the roads.
From Mr. Mansfield's place we re
turned to town, passing on the way the
onion field of the Brawley Farming
Co., of which Mr. Hoveley is manager.
The onions are just now ripening and
being shipped to market. Mr.. Hove
ley informed us that the experience
A glance at this map will show you that J ) \
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Will become the . ;.; '/\- H~ \ \
• METROPOLIS \
of the j^X V^V /'***
■ IMPERIAL . VALLEY [J'^A^J^;]
More money has been spent in buildings and permanent Improvements |
In El Centro In the last |
FIVB MONTHS J
Than In any other town In the Imperial Valley in FIVE YEARS f
Come and See For Your Self §
This is the town of A f |
P R O O R B S 'S&-jF^^- I
Next week we will show you whe'l^/i W
TWO HUNDRED ff
Dollars Is being spetf
TOWN LOTS IN EL CENT/ j
I Farm Lands for Sale /
§ Insurance * \ /
| Notary Public /
CT\JWuvuu\ruvvuy\nnjxruijxr\JvuxruuT^^
with onions this year Is comparable
with the experience with cantaloupes
last year. They would more than pay
expenses as a, whole, some of the land
planted would yield handsome profits
and the experience gained had taught
them just how to handle the crop to
success hereafter. He prophesies that
a large acreage will be planted to on
ions next season and that by following
the cultural methods demonstrated as
most successful by this season's ex
perience great profits will be realized
by all the growers.
From Brawley we drove north to
Judge Holloway's place and on the
road passed several cantaloupe fields
and also Mr. Applegate's place. Mr.
Applegate is the pioneer asparagus
grower of the Brawley community and
his experience has proven that It Is one
of the most profitable, surest and easi
est handled products that can be grown
In this Valley. The gentleman wasn't
at home so we did not learn just what
his receipts had been from his crop to
the present time this year, but was in
formed that it was such as to put the
owner of a4O acre asparagus field In
the Standard Oil class. ■
Continuing on our way to Judge
Holloway's we passed along the bank
of New river and drove down to the
site of the former bridge over that
stream lately built by the people of
Brawley and Number Eight in 1 connec
tion with the county. Here Is a most
distressing sight, and a more disas
trous mishap to the town of Brawley,
than all the damage done by the earth
quake. * This bridge was just complet
ed and a thresher and cook house ta-'
ken across it. That very night the
big rush of water from the first great
rise last March, struck It, and the next
morning it was unsafe. . It Is all gone
now but a few pilings standing out in
the stream, and the only -means of
crossing the river Is on a wire cable
stretched from bank to bank. Pas
sage across it Is accomplished by get
ting into a box running on pulleys sus
pended under the cable. A mule fur
nishes the motive power, and the pas
senger dangles along over the seething
flood. Swaying back and forth In the
whistling wind he Is a being suspended
In mld-alr, whose sole depcndance Is a
sorrel mule. From Judge Holloway's
we drove over to the hundred acre can
taloupe field of Mr. Hovely. Here we
got out and took a walk around the
place so as to get a clear Idea of how
cantaloupe growing on so large a scale
Is conducted. Mr. Hoveley has his
land all nicely laid out. with roads for
hauling at proper distances, irrigating
ditches with water gates and boxes so
adjusted as to supply just enough at d
not too much water, places for his
packing sheds and camps for his pick
ers, and every present and future need
apparently provided for. The railroad
track crosses one corner of his canta
loupe field and he will have a side
track put In here, so he can pick, pack
and load his cantaloupes on his own
premises, from which they will be ta
ken to the packing house at Brawley,
where all that need be done is to cool
the car and fill the refrigerators with
ice. Just north of Mr. Hoveley 's can
taloupe ' field the river has cut away
the bank to such an extent that the
railroad track has had to be moved.
Work Is still in progress here putting
in culverts over the irrigating ditches
and ballasting up the track. A new
track Is laid for one and three- fourths
miles, and the track is set back from
the river bank 600 feet. It Is believed
this will be enough, but the river Is
still cutting. We walked over to the
river at this point and while theresev
eral pieces of dirt fell lip, and we could
observe the cutting of the banks was
still going on. Adjoining Hoveley's
ranch Is the cantaloupe field of Judge
Holloway. The Judge was the most
successful cantaloupe grower in the
Valley last year, and Is naturally jeal
ous of his laurels. He Is therefore
doing his best to hold his champion
ship belt. And his field looks like he
NO. 3
