Imperial Valley press., December 21, 1907, Image 1

About Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
Imperial Valley Press.
VOL. VII
OPENING THE GATEWAYS
OF THE IMPERIAL VALLEY
Orders to Go Ahead With Track Indicate
Early Direct Connection With the East.
Greater Imperial County May Follow
Negotiations With Mexico. Possible
Waterway and Gulf Port.
Last Saturday a party of Los
Angeles men having interests on
the Mexican side of the line, in
cluding Harry Chandler and oth
er stockholders of the C. M. com
pany, were piloted by Superin
tendent Bowker on a trip to the
front of construction work on the
Inter-CalifQrnia railroad, which
is an extension of the Imperial
Valley line, headed for Yuma by
way of the C. D. Co's dam and
the lower heading.
From Mexicali the road runs
through the C. M. ranch, and
there are to be four stations on
the ranch lands, a part of which
may soon be cut up and colonized
and so converted from a cattle
range into small, highly produc
tive farms. During the overflow
of the Colorado a great area of
this land was under water. Pre
vious to the overflow it was a
bare plain, a wide stretch of dus
ty desert. The water brought
seed and now thousands of acres
are covered with a heavy growth
of willow, and there are large
patches of tules, weeds and
grasses. The soil is light, con
taining very little clay and very
fertile. Within a year
the willows will die .for want of
moisture, when the growth may
be burned off and the land •will
be ready for the plow. Tules
and other lighter growth are be
ing burned now and some of the
land will be plowed and seeded
this season.
Lycurgus Lindsay and associ
ates have bought a tract of 10,
000 acres adjoining the- C. M.
lands on the west through which
ttye new main canal for the West
Side runs, and intends to sow
barley and "oats on several hun
dred acres this winter.
BORDER ZONE SETTLEMENT
Some of the best land in the
valley lies on the Mexican side,
but as it may not be sold with
out the Mexican government's
. approval, and the policy of Mex
ico is to prevent the occupation
of land near the border by Amer
ican settlers, it is held chiefly by,
corporations and used for grazing!
and has not acquired the market
value of land on the American
side.
Unless Lower California be
comes American territory by
treaty and purchase, colonization
must be conducted by companies
having Mexic:tn charters and the
settlers must be either stockhold
ers of the corporations or lease
hold tenants. Mexico will not
consent to individual ownership
of border lands by Americans,
because of the possibility of in
ternational troubles arising from
the presence within her lines of
a large number of settlers who
"might not be disposed to adapt
Official Paper of Imperial County
EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1907.
themselves to Mexican laws and
customs.
POSSIBLE ANNEXATION
It is not impossible that Lower
California may be . acquired by
the United States. Negotiations
to that end have been going on
and a bill authorizing the pur
chase will be introduced during
the present session of Congress
by one of the California senators.
In event of the passage of such a
bill and completion of the pur
chase, several hundred thousand
acres of irrigable land will be
added to v Imperial Valley and
much of it doubtless will be sold
in small tracts to settlers. Nat
urally the region lying between
the Colorado river and the Coco
pah Mountains, from the present
boundary to the head of the Gulf
of California, would be made a
part of Imperial county. It is
not contiguous to any other coun
ty, and it has not sufficient popu
lation to constitute a new county.
A GREATER COUNTY
Annexation to Imperial county
of the triangle bounded by the
Colorado, the Cocopah range and
the present international line,
comprising approximately 1,800
square miles or 1,150,000 acres,
opens up vistas of magnificent
possibilities. Roughly estimated^
a third of the area may be irri
gated, more than a third is wat
ered by the annual overflow of
the Colorado and is capable of
supporting vast herds of cattle,
and only a small area of land
near the foothills seems to be
worthless. Because of the un
equalled fertility of soil and the
climatic conditions which make
one acre of silt land the equiva
lent in productivity of ten acres
of the best farm land elsewhere,
the Imperial Valley, from the
north end of Salton .Sea to the
junction of the Hardy and the
Colorado, is capable of support
ing on small farms a population
or more than a million.
OUTLET TO TIDEWATER ,
When the San Diego and East
ern railroad is built there will be
three outlets from the valley to
market by rail: to the East via
El Paso; to Los Angeles on the
north, and to San Diego and tide
water directly west. But there
is another possible outlet to the
south which may mean more to
Imperial Valley than any other
when the Panama canal shall be
opened. Beltran Slough, from a
point five miles south of the
boundary line and about fifteen
miles by rail from Calexico, can
be converted into a navigable
channel connecting with the
Hardy Colorado, at a cost of about
$25,000. Such a channel would
give water transportation from
almost the centre of the Imperial
country to a port at the head of
the gulf, whence the products of
the valley could be shipped to
the east by way of the Panama
canal.
A LOOK AHEAD
By the time of the opening of
the Panama canal, Imperial Val
ley will be producing the earliest
and best citrus fruit in the world,
more and better cotton to the
acre than Texas, figs, dates, hay,
grain x and innumerable other
crops in great quantities, and the
South and the East will be ready
to takethe bulk of the valley's
products. Refrigerating cargo
ships are as practicable as re
frigerating cars, and no tranship
ment being necessary, perishable
freight may be sent east by wat
er as safely and more cheaply
than by rail. Where rail and
barge canal meet, a busy inland
port will be brought into exist
ence, and at the head of the gulf
there will be a port for deep
water vessels. Branch railroads
and electric railways will gridiron
the valley and serve as feeders
to the main east and west roads
and to the canal, and Imperial
county will be ik fact as well as
in name an agricultural and in
dustrial empire, having a deep
water port of her own and inde
pendent of all other Pacific coast
shipping points.
That is a look aheadt but con
sidering the rapidity of the march
of progress in the Southwest, it
may not be a very long look ahead.
ON THE MAIN LINE
In the mean time, the valley
will have direct rail connection
with eastern markets, for it will
soon be on the line of through
traffic between El Paso and the
Southern California ports. The
track of the Inter-California was
laid last Saturday to a point 38
kilometers, or 23 1-2 miles, from
Calexico toward Yuma and the
grade was ready about ten miles
in advance of the rails. The
work completed fulfilled the con
ditions of the Mexican conc3ssf o l,
and the superintendent of con
struction was ready to quit or go
ahead.
ORDERS TO GO AHEAD
On Monday morning the su
perintendent received telegraphic
orders to go ahead with track
laying to the 52-kilometer point,
an advance of more than eight
and a half miles, which will leave
a gap of less than ten miles be
tween the "front" and the j end
of the track on the levee. A
v part o^ the gap is already graded,
but the line probably will strike
the levee at the end of the Clarke
dam instead of connecting with
the end of the levee track, mak
ing a few more miles of grade
and rail necessary. If further
go-ahead orders are given, the.
line can be completed this winter.
One hundred men and 300
mules are at work on the grading,
140 men are in the track gang
and GO men are on trestle and
bridge work. Heavy steel is be
ing laid upon a substantial, well
finished road bed, the right of
way is being cleared and fenced,
and depot sites are being* graded..
The station building at Mexicali
is nearly completed and four
others will be put up at once
along the line.
GREAT GRAPES,
HOW THEY GROW!
Three Crops a Year the Regular
Stunt of Young Vines in the
Imperial Valley.
RAISINS FINER THAN FRESNO'S
Asparagus on the Corwin Ranch Has
Jack's Beanstalk Beaten to a Fraz
zle-Successful Experiments with
Fruits by an Expert Grower.
Remarkable results have been
obtained in fruit-growing on the
W. S. Corwin ranch, three and a
half miles north of El Centro,
particularly in growing certain
varieties of grapes. Mr. Corwin
has fifty acres in grapes, and
some of the vines are three years
old. Several varieties produce
two and three crops a year, and
red emperors bear continuously.
This week, In the middle of De
cember, Mr. Corwin brought into
town a quantity of ripe red em
perors in*^ large clusters. The
grapes were firm, well colored
and in every way fit for the table.
Among the varieties so far
found adaptable to soil and cli
matic conditions here are mala
gas, muscats and purple Damas
cus. Only a few vines of the
latter variety have been set out,
but it has been found that the
grapes grown here are superior
to those of other districts. The
muscat of Alexandria grows to
perfection and makes a finer rais
in here than it does in the famous
raisin district of Fresno, besides
being a month earlier in readi
ness for market. The dry heat
of Imperial Valley and entire im
munity from fog and rain during
the curing season, make this an
ideal raisin district. Mr. Cor
win' has made raisins of his mus
cats and has satisfied himself
that raisins will give returns of
better than $300 an acre.
"Mildew does not come v upon
grapes here," says Mr. Corwin,
"and it is necessary only to keep
out phylloxera to make this the
best and most profitable grape
producing region in -the world.
There is no danger of the Ana
heim disease getting in, for the
dry heat will prevent it, but that
same dry heat, is just what phyl
loxera thrives in, and the most
rigid measures must be taken to
prevent its introduction. Cut
tings from infected districts will
be smuggled in unless every con
signment purporting to be some
thing other than vines is inspect
ed. You cannot exaggerate the
importance of extreme vigilance
in this matter."
Apricots, peaches, plums, pom
egranates and figs are some of
the fruits grown successfully on
the Corwin ranch. Figs do par
ticularly well, and Mr. Corwin
says they are better than the
same varieties grown in other
parts of the state.
There are forty acres of aspar
agus on the ranch, and the things
that asnaragus does are almost
beyond belief. Apparently the
most serious objection to aspara
gus culture here is the back-ache
incurred in cutting the sprouts.
Asparagus is ready to cut on
February 1, and the season lasts
100 days. The growth is nine or
ten inches in twenty-four hours.
Rust does not attack asparagus
In this climate. Mr. Corwin de
clines to make an estimate of the
returns from an acre of aspara
gus, because the figures might
seem to be the product of an ov
erheated imagination, but he
says the business of raising the
vegetable for market is a good
one for a man who has no rusty
hinges in his back.
Mr. Corwin has been a fruit
grower, nurseryman and irriga
tion farmer for many years, and
his experience and knowledge
are of inestimable value to the
horticultural interests of the val
ley. '__
WATER COMPANY AFFAIRS
Calexico Objects to Stock Increase
and Delays Nomination
Calexico stockholders of Water
Co. No. 1 met last Saturday night
to discuss the proposed increase
of capital stock and to consider
the selection of a candidate for
director*. J. B. Hoffman presided
and J. A. Morrison acted as sec
retary. The stock proposition
was debated pretty thoroughly,
and a motion by Edward Carr in
favor of the increase was defeat
ed by a decisive vote.
Opposition to the Silsbee plan
of naming three candidates rep
resenting Silsbee, El Centro and
Calexico districts and combining
in support of them developed,
and on motion of Mr. Rockwood
a committee of five was appoint
ed to meet to-day and choose a
candidate by ballot. The nomin
ating committee consists of Ed
ward Carr, E. S. McCollum, xJ.
B. Hoffman, Peter Barnes and
F. Kloke. -•'
An adjourned meeting of the
stockholders will be held to-night.
Water for West Side.
Engineer Hermann, of the Cal
ifornia Development Company
was in El Centra yesterday. He
said the contractors who had a
strike on "their hands last week
have secured anew force of men
and are going ahead with work
on the canals. Work on the
Mexican side will be finished in
about two weeks or less. If all
goes well, says the engineer, the
canals will be completed and wa
ter will be supplied to No. 8 by
the first of March.
Trains Below The Line
Local train service on the In
ter-California railroad will begin
very -soon, and when the line is
finished at least one through pas
senger train between El Paso
and Los Angeles and one or more
freight trains will use the new
track. Calexico, Heber, El Cen
tro, Imperial and Brawley then
will be on a main line of trans
continental traffic, and the pres
ent inconveniences of travel be
tween valley points and Los An
geles will be abolished.
Bar Association.
The Bar Association of Imper
ial County has adopted a consti
tution and by-laws, and officers
will be elected in the first week
in January. There are twelve
resident'attorneys in the county.
NO. 37