Brownsville herald. [volume], June 16, 1929, Page SEVEN, Image 7

About Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current

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Benefits of Proper
lDrainage Are Told
By Valley Engineer
By RALPH T. AGAR
7 Drainage Engineer
Aa In every irrigated section,
drainage is as essential as irriga
tion.
The Texas portion of the lower
Rio Grande Valley comprises ap
proximately 946,000 acres of irri
gable land, 460,000 acres now being
irrigated. There are 12 large irri
gation systems, comoris*ng approx
imately 2,400 miles of canals which
are practically all kept filled with
water at ail times.
The first irrigation system was in
I stalled in the Valley in 1902 by the
Brownsville Land and Irrigation
company, Brownsville. At that time
an attempt was made to raise rice.
In 1905 the land became so salty
j in places that rice refused to grow
Mr. Elliott of the U. S. department
of agricultural was sent for. who,
after making investigation found
that the land was salted to a depth
of eight feet in places and advised
j against trying to raise rice. The rice
project was abandoned about, 1906.
* The water table over the entire
} irrigated section of the valley has
been constantly rising since the be
ginning of irrigation due to the mil
lions of gallons of water applied to
the soil by irrigation, and approxi
mately 28 inches of rainfall a year
on top of this, with very poor sur
| face drainage. I have gone as deep
as 30 feet in places and found dry
5 sand where now the water table
is within a few feet of the surface.
You can imagine the amount of wa
ter that is required to bring about
this condition, and we are continu
ing to pour the water into the soil
without affording means of taking
It out.
Places Waterlogged
There are places where the soil
refuses to absorb anv more water,
these places are waterlogged now,
and will eventually salt if not prop
erly drained.
There are other places which have
not become waterlogged but have
salted. In these places we find the
water table within five feet or less
from the surface.
Very few of the farms have ade
!quate surface drainage. We find
most of the land owners are at
tempting to carry water too far In
the furrow’s. One end of the furrow
getting the correct amount of wa
ter and the other end entirely too
■ much as the furrows are not inter
cepted by a drain to carry off the
waste water. In fact in most cases,
U< ’there is no place to carry the waste
Li water to.
The canals are delivering thou
’ sands of gallons of water each dav
to be applied to the soil, very little
of which ftnds its wav into drains.
It is flowing very slowly through
the soil, where there is no obstruct
r ing strata of impervious clay, seek
L lng an outlet into some ditch or ar
royo which cuts the water bearing
Isand strata through which the wa
ter is flowing. Naturally the farther
the water must flow through the
sand the flatter the grade of the
water table becomes and the slower
•the flow'.
a The need for sub-drainage be
e apparent first in Cameron
I-1
caunty, the lower end of the Valley,
where the elevation ol the land is
lower and necesitales only one liit
to the water. The lands are cut
up by resacas or cld river channels,
the land sloping away from the
banks and the soil, lor a consider
able distance back, being a very
rich silt. The land lying between
the resacas is lower, and forms de
pressions. In a great many cases
we find these depressions very near
ly the same elevation as the water
in the resacas. The soil in these
depressions is generally a heaveir
clay and extends down to a consid
erable depth. We have found the
contours of the substrata in the low
er valiey to be very irregular, form
ing pockets in places which fill with
water; in some places within a few
feet of the surface. These condi
tions. by making cracful surveys,
makes subdrainage very easy and
inexpensive.
Four Cameron Districts
There are now four drainage dis
tricts in Carneron county compris
ing 320 miles of drains. These dis
tricts in Cameron county compris
ing 320 miles of drains. These dis
tricts function apart from the ir
rigation districts, they are managed
by a board of drainage commission
ers appointed by the commissioners
court.
As there was not sufficient pro
vision made In the organization of
thees districts for maintenance,
there are many miles of drainage
ditches which are not functioning
owing to the sediment and tulle
growth.
Open drains are essential for out
lets for tile drains and should be
excavated as deep as the outlet
will permit. They should be located
so as to tap the water bearing
strata, without cutting into it to
such a depth that the banks will
cave, as It is very hard to main
tain a ditch In quicksand. A very
good method and one that is used in
a great many places in the west,
is to lay a large tile line in the bot
i tom of the drain, with open joints.
placing an observation well or flush
! pipe at advantageous places along
the line. This pipe will afford an
outlet for subdrainage, if parallel
to a canal which seeps, will Inter
cept the seepage and will keep the
drain dry in normal periods between
rains, so that tulle and other wa
ter plant3 requiring lots of water
will not grow. This plan leaves
the open drain to take care cf ex
cessive rainfall and irrigation wa
ter, eliminates stagnant water and
mosquitoes and best of all requires
no maintenance except an occasion
al flushing out.
The average cast of the drainage
work is $33.00 per acre. The cost
of a tile drainage system depends
to a great extent on the number of
acres to be drained. The larger
the area to be drained the cheaper
the cost tier acre.
Small Owner Hurt
The small land owner who Is un
fortunate In having his land sit- \
uated in a vlcinty with salty or v;a
terlogged land all around him is i
very much handicapped for sub- 1
drainage unless his neighbors will
co-operate in reclaiming the entire
community. We find in a great
many cases that his neighbors are
out of town owners and not inter
ested In reclaiming their land
As nil irrigated land will need
subdraining eventually unless locat
ed so as to have natural drainage,
the drainage should be done be
fore the water table rises, as It
makes it more expensive to fight
the water.
One should not become discour
aged and frightened when salt
shows up on your land as it costs
very little more to subdrain end
' make the land more productive than
ever, than it did to clear it of brush,
and if the neighbors will co-operate
it will cost considerably less.
Tile drainage in the valley is dif
ferent from that in Indiana and
Iowa, as the formation of the
country is very different.
Tile lines have lowered the water
table 300 to 400 feet on either side
of the line to a safe distance be
low the surface. But do not make
the mistake to think you can drain
any piece of land with drains spaced
400 feet apart. The location of the
tile lines depend altogether upon
the substrata. This strata Is sur
veyed by making numerous bor
ings, and contour maps, and pro
files are plotted from the data ob
tained. It is also necessary to an
alyze the different stratas for the
amount and class of salts.
One would not think of locating
a field lateral from which you ex
pected to irrigate, on the lowest
part of your land, nor a drainage
ditch for surface drainage on top
of a hill. Tile improperly located,
is as much a waste of time and
money as the canal in the low land
and the drain on top of the hill,
would be.
The deeper the tile can be placed
in the depressions in the sand
strata, the greater the area that
will be drained and the fewer tile
lines to be required.
It is important to keep the water
table at least five feet from the
surface. Capilllary attraction draws 1
the water to the surface, the water j
passing up through the soil dis- ,
solves the salt and holds them in so- •
lution so that when the water evap-1
orates at the surface, the salts re
main. This action continues on the !
lands where the water table is less
than five feet from the surface, so
that the salt content of the soil
at the surface becomes greater con- !
tinuously.
Plant roots do not take in the so
lution of water as it exists, as does
man or animal, but only such of the
dissolved salts as are needed for
the purpose of growth. This leaves
the salts not desired by the plants,
in the soil. As the salt solution in
the soU beccones too great for the
plant to take the water it needs
the plant dies from lack of nourish
ment.
The cnly method of relieving the
soil of the harmful salts, is to lower
the water table and apply sufficient
fresh water to the surface to wash
the salts down through the soil and
out through the tile lines.
In making analysis, we find the
salts most common in the valley
soils to be sodium chloride (com
mon salt); sodium sulphate (Glau
bers salt); magnesium sulphate <ep
som salt) and calcium chloride. The
sulphates are the least injurious
of these salts, chlorides next, and
carbonates the most injurious. The
approximate percentage of salts that
plants can resist is.
0.01 per cent sodium carbonate
(sal soda).
025 per cent sodium chloride
common salt).
0. 50.per cent sodium sulphate
(Glaubers salt).
Land having a water table near
the surface, bearing a percentage
of salts greater than the amount
stated, is not likely to prove profit
able and should be drained before
cultivarion is attempted.
Pipe Lines Aid
Pipe lines for irrigation and con
crete lined canals help considerable
in preventing land from salting as !
there £.re quite a few places where
the sand strata is near the surface
and subject to direct seepage. But
even with these, unless great care
is taken in applying the water to
jour soil, subdrainage will be need
ed. The drainage, if properly in
stalled:
1. Removes excess water.
2. Permits leaching out of salts.
3. Aerates the soil.
4. Assures even temperature In
soil.
5. Increases moisture in dry
times.
6. Permits plant roots to pene
trate deeper.
7. Lengthens the growing sea
son.
8. Makes soil mellow and easy
to work
9 Makes plant food available.
10. Increases crop yields.
A tile drainage system, correctly
installed, is a permanent invest
ment.
County Officials
To Speak at Road
Opening Ceremony
(Special to The Herald)
SAN BENITO. June 15—County
Judge Oscar C. Dancv and County
Commissioner A. V. Loran of the
San Benito precinct will be prin
cipal sneakers at a celebration to
be held some time next week at Lo
zano, point on the Southern Pacific
lines near here, in observance cf
the opening of another 29-mile
paved highway loop in Cameron
county.
This is the road through the
Browne Tract, going to Rio Honodo
from the Los Presnos section.
Arrangements for the celebration
are being handled by Charles H
Heiple. well known farmer of that
section.
Walton Hood Will
Build Large Home
Near Rio Hondo
'Special to The Herald)
HARLINGEN. June 15.—Walton
D. Hood, formerly state legion com
mander of Texas, is to build an
$18,000 home on property purchased
on the Arroyo Colorado, between
here and Rio Hondo.
Plans for the home are being
drawn by W. A. Varner, local archi
tect, and bids will be called for in
the near future.
fr* " V.
. -I'
Safety Valve
• • •
• • •
American Traction Expert Tells of Sunday
in Hyde Park, London
Above, a Communist fathering in Hyde Park; below, a bjrdseye view
of Lo ndon
By PETER WITT
LONDON. June 13.—Hyde park,
London, known the world over as
England's safety valve. Is a well
worth place to visit. There hold
forth spell binders of every kind,
condition and description. All giv
ing vent to what they believe is
wrong with men, England and the
world.
The rostrums from which they
speak are a sort of combination
step-ladder and platform. They arc
spaced about 50 feet apart. From
a pole along side of the speaker
is suspended a sign telling you who's
who and what’s what.
The first one oT these speakers to
attract my attention is a man in
his early thirties. He has an Intel
lectual countenance, is pleasing in
manner and his voice is soft. His
clothes are shabby; he is much run
down at the heel. In speech, how
ever. he Is exceedingly rich.
A New Idea
He prefaces his remarks ty tell
ing his listeners on this particular
Sunday tliat all public speakerr
should be paid for their speaking;
to not pay them means that the
Job Is not done, or slovenly don"
at best, if done at all. And, he
added, it is unlawful either to sell
l'terature or take up a collection
in the park, but that he would im
mediately at the conclusion of his
discourse station himself outside of
the gate, where ho will be happy
to receive anything anyone migh*
feel like giving.
Then he begins his discourse. It
is a criticism of the theater, the
drama, and its players. Ho discuss
es what is on the London boards.
from Forgy to White Cargo, to
Snanghai to others that I never
heard of. He tells the story of
the play, its purpose and its lesson. |
Why one had a run of over one
year and the other was pulled off
after two weeks of trial. He convey?
his thoughts, interpreting the plays
and describing the characters, with
beautiful shading of words so as to !
give his correct meaning. He is, in !
my opinion, “down, but not out.’
A 103 Percenter
A little further on is a British
100 per center. He is denouncing
and calling by name everybody he
regards as an enemy of the empire
Next to him and appropriately so
It seems to me. Is a communist, go
ing it only as a communist can.
He uses nothing but the brightest
huc3 in painting his indictment of
the things that are. Between the
two. it makes it a s.vt of fifty-fifty.
Then comes the church workers,
from a woman who champions the
Catholic church to a Seventh Day
Adventist and with all the rest
ranged in between. In the very
m'ddle of it all is an atheist who
looking first to the right and then
to the left, smilingly facing his au
dience and putting his hands to his
oars and saying: “From all of this
let us be saved."
Politics Draws ’Em
The largest crowd around any
speaker Is one listening to an at
tack on Churchill for not including
in his budget a proposal for the abo
lition of the tax on theater tickets
All In all it is an afternon well
spent. The most interesting par:
is the good nature displaved by boll*
speakers and listeners. The banter
In* back and forth between pulpit
and pew, so to speak, is a delight.
Every heckler squelched, every
speaker discomfited, draws a hearty
round of applause.
A Sunday afternoon at Hyde park
will quickly and effectively relieve
any American of our foolish notion
that the English people are a peo
ple without sense of humor.
Law Freeing Church,
Other Property of
Tax Fail# To Pas#
rspeclal to The Herald)
AUSTIN. June 15.—Legislation
putting into effect last year s con
stitutional amendment voted by the
people to exempt property of
churches, religious, charitable, edu
cational and welfare organizations
from taxes, where used for non
profit-making purposes, appeared
certain of failure this year, when
both senate and house committees
rejected enabling acts.
The house committee on revenue
and taxation approved a substitute
which would exempt church parson
ages and church property only, but
refusing to exempt from taxation
such institutions as the Y. M. C. A..
Y. W. C. A., Boy Scouts, educational
institutions, community center build
ings and similar property.
Fear that the measure would be
taken advantage of by psuedo-edu
cational organizations such as non
profit "reading rooms.” was given
as the reason for senate state af
fairs committee's rejection of the
enabling act.
3rd Extra Session
Of Legislature I s
Expected By Solons
(Bpecial to The Herald)
AUSTIN. June 15.—A third special
session of the legislature to com
plete the imneachment proceedings
against Land Commissioner J. T.
Robinson is considered definitely In
prosoect bv members and officers of
the legislature who are known to be
making plans to remain in Austin
another month after the expiration
of this session July 3.
If the house should adopt any of
the charges against Commissioner
Robinson, it is known another ses
sion would be reouired: and legis
lative workers this week exnressed
doubt the house itself would be able
to finish testimonv of annroxtmate
I ly 200 witnesses before July 3.
* "T- —— 111 " - —
JURY CASES IN COURT
AT LAW SET MONDAY
The fir«t jury week of the June
j term of the Cameron countv cr»»rt
at law will begin Monday with trial
of civil cases .
The criminal docket wilt be dis
posed of beginning with the fi?^h
week of tbe term. July I.
STOP THAT ITCHING
Use Blue Star Soap, then apply
Blue Star Remedy for Eczema, Itch,
tetter, ringworm, poison oak, dan
druff, childrer.’s sores, cracked
hands, sore feet and most forms of
itching skin diseases. It kills germs
stops itching, usually restoring the
skin to health. Soap 25c: Blue Star
Remedy, $1.00. Ask your druggist
—Adv.
FOUR HURT IN CRASH
HEREFORD. Tex.. June 15.——
Judge C. F. Kerr. Ills son, Will S.
Kerr, and the latter's wife, all of
Hereford, were injured, none seri
ously. yesterday when their auto
mobile overturned near Canyon
while the party was en route to
Amarillo. Faulty brakes were
blamed.
OLD RESIDENT OF
MATAMOROS BURIED
Funeral services were held this
week for Eugenio Perea Segovia,
76. long time resident of Matamo
ros. He was a member of the Ma
sonic lodge In that city.
I
« #
“I’ll not be
there-but
you will save
money if you
99
I go.
- - -
j MR. SMOKER - - - I
I The cigar made just
for you
For 5c
If your dealer does not sell it,
ask him to stock them
[A real mild, sweet cigar ....
Sold by h
Harry’s Cigar Stores.
And
Valiev Leading Dealers
mr W
11 .-II
!
Tn 18-karat
White Gold
Set with 3 to 20
diamonds . . .
Priced
$19.50 to $150
In Platinum
! Set with 5 to 40
diamonds . .
$62.50 to $500
THE
POPULAR DUPLEX LOAF
BUTTER NUT BREAD
j will
delight you as it has others. Its delicious
freshness combined with its rich quality and
delectable wholesomeness makes it particu- .
larly desirable for your home requirements.
Just say Duplex Loaf to your grocer. He
has it. \
w LPrJ£ir" SfiTTEI^-yilT
' BREAD -r
m
BAKED BY VALLEY BAKING CO.
SUMMER
HARDWARE
NEEDS I
l
I Hose I
I Garden hose for I
I watering lawns E
I or gardens. *
I Garden Tools |
SPADES — HOES
I RAKES
I Lawn Mowers
I If your old mower is worn out
| • or broken, or you need a new
g mower, let us show you our
i line.
■ Lawn and Flower
Sprinklers
Sprinklers for the flower garden
.. . Spirnklers for the law n.
Garbage Cans
A new clean garbage can will help keep flies from
swarming around your kitchen door. We have all
sizes.
ELECTRIC FANS
The hottest part of the sum- . vl AA
mer has just started. If you *(n»vv
haven’t a fan now, look at To
our stock. We have a size AA
for every room. *Wu«UU
CLOETTA
HARDWARE CO.
“Everything in Hardware”
1226 Elizabeth Street
____^_________
The Reliability of a Firm Sheii1 *’ r'~ First Consideration
SOUND BONDS
FOR
WISE INVESTORS |
I HE intelligent investor demand* I
SAFETY and a fair rate of interest.
| Here you are offered investment oppor
| tunities that meet the desires of the most
exacting—Bonds and Securities hand
picked from a selected list.
Years of experience behind the men who
head our bond department assure you of
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ment best suited to your needs.
I You are cordially invited to call and dis
cuss investments (or any other form of
Trust Service) with us at any time.
Our Installment Purchase
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| BROWNSVILLE » - TEXAS 1
I The Only Firm in the Valley Offering Full Trust Service* ^
♦ *