869 C14 K4 opy 1 „, /alley Ibwate all f records for gearlwst picKini, Fa'Ad qinnmg of cottoa CALEXICO KING COTTOM'S CAPITAL By Alkim K®1 THERE are 1,400,000 acres of land that may be irrigated from the Colorado river, according to the latest report of Chief Engineer Rockwood of Imperial Irrigation District, in Imperial Valley and in Mexico. Of this great area, 700,000 acres are in Imperial Valley proper, 500,000 acres in the delta of the Colorado and 200,000 acres in Sonora, Mexico, below the Yuma Valley. The city of Calexico's location on the boundary line makes nearly a third of the American lands and all the Mexican lands com- mercially tributary to that city. The fact that only about 150,000 acres of this area of 900,000 acres have been de- veloped and put under canal indicates that there are great opportunities for investment and enterprise and that Calex- ico's prospects for future growth are more than encouraging. Her commanding position as the commercial center of a vast agricultural region is assured beyond dispute, rivalry or competition. Having the only cotton compress in operation west of Texas, Calexico handles all the Mexican production of that staple. Fifty thousand acres on the Mexican side are cultivated in large tracts, producing cotton, grain and alfalfa. All the products of the Mexican section of Imperial Valley are distributed to markets through Calexico, the only port Bales Raady ; for IKe Compress -.:■ , Capital- ' A Cotton Yard nt Ciilf.iicc ir^ In I- r C A LEX I C O Calexico Cotlon CimS Collon-Seecl Oil Mill Tlie Upper Ki^Iit I!aii«! I'ieture m1io>V8 the earliest llnle of Cotton ever Ginned (June 17, 1914>. The other bale was grown from the seed of the First Bale and Ginned Oct. 15th the same Year. of entry of considerable importance on the international boundary between Nogales and the Pacific. The commercial importance of Calexico is indicated by the volume of imports and exports, which, for the month ol January, 1915, was nearly double that of the port of Los An- geles and more than three times that of San Diego. The principal commodity imported through Calexico is cotton, and because of the large quantity of the staple grown be- low the line and upon American lands contiguous to the border city, Calexico is the cotton center of the Imperial Valley. In relation to means of transportation, Calexico occupies a position of peculiar advantage. It is the south- ern terminus of the Southern Pacific Imperial Valley branch, and the western terminus of the Inter-California, which runs through Mexico just below the border to Yuma and will be the route of Southern Pacific traffic because of the better grade than that of the old main line between Yuma and Imperial Junction. Rerouting of through trains has been postponed because of delay in ballasting and laying of standard rails caused by disturbances in Mexico. The San Diego & Arizona, now in course of construction, will con- nect Calexico with the Eastern through line. Eventually a railroad will be built through Lower California to the head of navigation on the Gulf of California, making the short- est and most direct route from the Panama Canal to Califor- nia and the inter-mountain region, and the junction of such a line with American railroad systems must be at Calexico. The determining factor in the original selection of the site of Calexico was its location in relation to the irriga- tion system, being at the head of the American canals, con- venient to the point of control on the main supply canal, and a convenient trade and supply center for the settlers on the first lands to receive water. The headquarters of the California Development Co., controlling the system, were established and remain at Calexico. The builders of Calexico seem to have understood from the first that the process of town-building in a region whose resources, attractions and possibilities of development are solely agricultural could not be forced beyond the natural ^: rate of growth without inviting reaction, disappointment and deflation of values. They promoted no artificial boom, made no effort to get so far ahead of the increase of farm popu- lation that the town would have to mark time and its busi- ness men take to swapping jack-knives while waiting for the country to catch up. Calexico has made no ventures in civic mushroom culture. Calexico has not been lacking in enterprise or confidence, but the enthusiasm of its citizens has been tempered by in- telligent conservatism, and they have not made the mistake, so common in the optimistic West, of plunging precipitate- ly into expensive projects of improvement or over-ambitious expansions of business enterprises. The city has been built substantially and its advancement has been steadily along the line of rational provision for the needs of the future. Doubtless this reasonable restraint of vaulting ambition, coupled with the peculiarly advantageous location of the city, explains in a measure the continuance of normal busi- ness conditions in Calexico during periods of general de- pression of trade and industry. It is a fact that the depres- sion following the outbreak of war in Europe, which was felt sharply on the Pacific coast, had but slight effect on mercan- tile business or building operations in Calexico. Large in- vestments of capital were made in cotton gins and oil mills after the trouble began and when the cotton market was at its lowest. The immunity of Calexico from "war scare" was noted and commented on quite generally by traveling com- mercial men and by bankers, who necessarily keep informed concerning condition in communities in which they have in- terests. Bank deposits and resources increased heavily dur- ing the year. All of which leads to and confirms the conclusion that Calexico is not a city of the mirage — an illusion created by heated air — but is a substantial reality, reared upon a founda- tion of agricultural prosperity and commercial opportunity, built with sound judgment and sure foresight, neither out- running nor lagging behind the development of tributary territory, and having not only possibilities but the certainty of great advancement. / 3. -i ■V_ , y o^ C AL EX I C O It is not to be disputed — and nowhere is there any disposi- tion to question — that Calexico is to be one of the largest and most important of the several cities that must come into being in Imperial Valley as a result of the inevitable and great increase of rural population. Calexico lies at sea level on the slope, imperceptible to the eye, that runs northward from the highest ground in the delta to the Salton sink. The mountain ranges that enclose Imperial Valley on three sides can be seen from Calexico, the nearest only twenty miles to the west and seeming to be much nearer. The city is 267 miles from Los Angeles by rail, about 140 miles from San Diego, and 61 miles from Yuma. The Colorado river is 40 miles east of Calexico in an air line, and its new course through the delta is about thirty miles to the south. Mexicali, the present seat of government of the northern district of Baja California, having a garrison and population of between 3,000 and 4,000, adjoins Calexico on the soutli, the dividing line being marked by a ditch and a wire fence. Mexicali was the scene of much turbulence during the early days of the revolution, but is now orderly if not ostenta- tiously respectable. Tourists find it interesting to go across the line into Mexico, which is a safe and simple way of mak- ing a foreign tour. Colorado River water for municipal and domestic use is taken from the main irrigation canal before it reaches the farming lands or any possible source of pollution. Settling basins remove the sand and heavy silt in suspension, and a sand filtration plant of a million gallons daily capacity takes off the hne silt and leaves the water clear and pure. Pump and tower give a pressure of 120 pounds at the fire hydrants on the street mains. The city is completely piped for domes- tic service. The rate of consumption is 15,000,000 gallons per month — about 125 gallons daily per capita — the minimum rate is one dollar a month, the supply is unlimited and the qual- ity is excellent. Electric light and power are supplied to Calexico, as to all the other valley towns, by a corporation, which also oper- ates an ice factory and supplies the local demands of the valley. Cement sidewalks and curbs have been laid at a cost of $92,000, and the paving of nearly two miles of streets in the business district, at a cost of $150,000, is in progress under the provisions of the Vrooman Act. Plans for grouping pub- lic buildings in a civic center have been made, and steps have been taken to acquire seven and a half acres for that purpose, the tract being in the heart of the city and adjoining the ten-acre high school site. Public Utilities and Improvements Calexico is a city of the sixth class, incorporated, having a board of five trustees and the usual administrative and ex- ecutive officers. It comprises 150 blocks, surveyed and im- proved, and its population in January, 1915, exceeded 3,000. Like many cities and towns of the irrigated regions in the Southwest, Calexico has public improvements and utilities far in advance of communities of the same size in the older states and of the frontier cities and great mining camps of the Wild West period. It has an efficient sewer system, with a total length of five and a half miles, built at a cost of ^37,- 000 and having capacity sufficient to meet requirements for many years to come. Schools and Churches The first school established in Imperial Valley was at Calexico, the school house being a "ramada," or arbor cov- ered with arrow weed. There are now two grammar schools and a union high school in the city. In January, 1915, the grammar schools had 450 pupils and 10 teachers, and the high school had 67 students and seven instructors. The Un- ion High School district was created in 1910 by consolida- tion of the Bonita and Mount Signal districts with Calexico, and in 1913 three students were graduated. Students living in the outlying districts are carried free to and from school. The school year is 36 weeks. The curriculum includes an- cient and modern languages, mathematics, the sciences, mu- Tempi*.' -City nail, (Calexico Calexico In Noted, Both an a BuHlncNH niid KeHidentlul City. C ALEXI CO BE. Dales HI a Calexico Garden CalexU'o in tlio CcmiUt sic, manual training, commercial law and various elective branches, and graduates are fitted for admission to colleges. A new high school building is in course of construction at a cost of $65,000, and later a wing will be added, bringing the total cost up to $80,000. The site is a ten acre tract in the heart of the city. Students have access to school, county and state libraries with a total of more than 200,000 volumes. There are three church buildings in Calexico; Methodist. Congregationalist and Catholic, and all have sites in the resi- dence district upon which larger buildings may be erected when needed. Civic and Social Two civic organizations are active in the conduct of public affairs in Calexico. The Woman's Improvement Club was organized in 1908 and has been an important factor in the progress of the city. The club maintains reading and rest rooms, library, and park, and has been diligent in promoting tree-planting and active in all civic and social work. It is making plans for the erection of a club house. The Farmers' & Merchants' Club, composed of farmers, merchants, bankers and all classes of business and profes- sional men. having a membership of 120. exercises the func- tions of a chamber of commerce or board of trade, maintains an office and a paid secretary, and is active and useful in public and business afifairs. Masons. Odd Fellows. Knights of Pytliias, Fraternal Brotherhood, Eastern Star and Reebccas have lodges, all of which are accommodated in a fine two-story Masonic Temple. The Cotton Capital Calexico, port of entry — duty free — for all cotton grown on the Mexican side, and commanding a large area of the best cotton land in the south part of the valley, has become head quarters of the cotton industry in Southern California. It is King Cotton's Imperial capital. Facilities for handling the crop consist of eight gins, a hydraulic compress (tlie only one operating in the Southwest) and two large oil mills. The gins and mills represent a capital investment of close to $500,000, half of which was made within the past year. The compress represents an investment of $50,000. The capacity of the mills is 175 tons of seed crushed per day, and the compress can handle 1,000 bales of cotton a day, with stor- age capacity and adequate fire protection for 25,000 bales. The gins, mills and compress employ 375 men during the busy season. During the season of 1914-15, the gins turned out 28,000 bales and the mills crushed approximately 14.000 tons of seed, producing 490.000 gallons of oil, 5,600 tons of meal, 5,600 tons of hulls and 700 tons of linters. The oil from seed grown in Imperial Valley is of the highest grade produced in the United States, commands a premium for its quality and is now selling (April, 1915 )at 43 cents a gallon. That there is a near market for all the oil that can be produced is indi- cated by the importation through the port of Los Angeles of 450,000 gallons of inferior grade oil in the year 1914. Cotton-seed meal and hulls have been found to be the best and most economical fattening food for cattle and other stock. A ration of 25 pounds of hulls and 5 pounds of meal daily adds 200 pounds to the weight of a steer in 90 days During the past season, 6,000 head of cattle were fed in the Calexico feed yards and on one of the large ranches, and shipped to market. Only a third of the product of the mills was consumed in tlie valley. An outside market for meal and hulls was developed in 1914 on the sheep ranges of Idaho, Washington and other states of the Northwest, and the larger part of the product was shipped to that market. It is claimed for cotton seed meal that it is the best winter feed for sheep, keeping them in good condition, saving the lambs and increasing the wool clip by a considcralile percentage. Meal is now delivered in the Northwest at $35 a ton; meal from Texas costing $38.70 delivered at the same points. Unrivalled alfalfa pasturage, great and increasing supply of the best fattening food and proximity to the rapidly expand- ing market of Southern California have commanded the at- tention of the big packing outfits, and it is certain that more large feed yards and packing houses will be added soon to Calexico's industrial establishment. CALEXIC O Foreign Commerce of Calexico That the little border city of Calexico has more commerce with foreign countries than any other port of California south of San Francisco seems an amazing, if not incredible state- ment, yet it is confirmed by the ofificial statistics for the first quarter of 1915. For the entire year 1914, Calexico was sec- ond only to Los Angeles in volume of foreign trade, leading San Diego in the proportion of three to one. Calexico's foreign commerce is with Mexico only. In 1914, nearly four-fifths of all the imports from Mexico into Southern California came through Calexico, and nearly half the exports to that country. The principal imports are cot- ton, cattle, hides, and grain. The exports are food stuffs, wines and liquors, farm machinery, wagons and harness, mules, hardware, wearing apparel, oils and gasoline. A dep- uty collector and four inspectors of customs, and five offi- cers of the Immigration Service are stationed at Calexico. The following tabulation, showing the relative importance of the three principal ports of entry in the Southern District, is from the official reports of the Collector. Calexico Year Imports Exports 1914 $1,239,865 $423,000 1915 January 224,309 40.307 February 177,101 48,368 March 143,812 151,572 Total Quar $545,222 $240,207 Los Angeles Year Imports Exports 1914 $3,247,000 $1,183,117 1915 January 1 19,803 20,372 February 115,995 44,718 March 166,375 87,149 Total Quar $402,173 $152,239 San Diego Year Imports 1914 $ 464,554 1915 January 70,790 February 23,739 March 61,009 Total Quar $155,538 Exports $ 88,850 11,399 306,257' 6,794 $424,450 *Railroad construction outfit to South America and $160,000 worth of ammunition to Mexico. In addition to the imports noted, 114,000 bushels of barley and 3,700 busliels of wheat were brought from the Mexican side and placed in bond in Calexico. The imports of 1914 in- cluded 16,382 cattle and $631,994 worth of cotton. During the first quarter of 1915, the imports of cotton amounted to 5,- 229,539 pounds. Proofs of Progress Assessed valuations and postoffice receipts are two sure in- dices of a town's rate of growth. The following statistics relating to the growth of Calexico indicate steady progress for several years and an acceleration of the rate during the "war" year. Postoffice Assessed Year Receipts Valuation 1906 $ 1,866.34 1907 2,564,43 1908 3,564.24 1909 4,702.00 1910 5,129.31 1911 5,924.72 1912 6,188.44 1913 8,114.97 1914 11,672.51 1915 (3 months) 3,206.64 493.000 715,400 799,500 856,485 1,072,820 1,959,072 SffiirN III nint A roil ml <'nI«'\"l«"o C A LEXI CO A slight increase in postal receipts is all that remains to entitle Calexico to free mail delivery, all other requirementb having been complied with, and there is no doubt that the city will have that service in 19IS. The bond debt of the city is $80,000 and the tax rate is $2 on the thousand. Financial Situation Bank figures show the same remarkable improvement in business and financial conditions during the period of sup- posed depression. The two national banks of Calexico, with a capital of $100,000, had on the first of April, 1915, deposits aggregating $800,000. resources of $1,000,000 and surplus and undivided profits of $50,000. Compared with the same period of the previous year, the deposits had increased $125,000 and the resources $300,000. Building permits issued in 1914, covering only rough con- struction and taking no account of finishing work, amounted to $442,493. Calexico has several large general merchandise stores, dry-goods, tailor and jewelers' shops, groceries, drug stores, meat, vegetable and fruit markets, si.x hotels and numerous restaurants. There are two theatres, and a combined roof garden and open-air motion picture show on the top of one of the tallest buildings, which will be the most comfortable place in town on summer nights. No liquor is served or sold in Calexico. Transportation facilities, in addition to the railroads men- tioned, consist of connections with the state highway be- tween the valley and San Diego, and the Southern National Highway that follows the border east of Calexico and passes through the sand hills to Yuma, daily auto stage service to San Diego and hourly stages to all points in the valley. Recreation Climatic conditions in Imperial Valley encourage the out- door life and therefore are conducive to health. The air is dry and there are very few daj's in the year without sunshine. During eight months the weather is as nearly perfect as any reasonable being could desire, and during ihe other four it is undeniably hot, but the heat is not so oppressive as in other Californian valleys, where the humidity is high and cool night breezes are infrequent. Sunstroke and heat prostration are unknown. The climate of the south end of the valley and the Delta, moreover, is not at all the climate of the Salton sink and the sandhills, which constituted all of the desert of the Colorado known to railroad travellers a few years ago. The hottest summer day in Calexico is less uncomfortable than the average summer day in the San Joaquin Valley and is not to be compared at all with the sizzling and stewing nights that afflict the big cities of the East. As a winter resort. Imperial Valley is unrivalled as to cli- mate and opportunities for outdoor recreation and amuse- ment. The vicinity of Calexico is peculiarly attractive to sportsmen. Millions of wildfowl, including geese and more than a dozen species of ducks congregate here in the win- ter, feeding on the barley fields and resting upon the water- ways and lagoons of the delta. Quail, doves and rabbits are plentiful. In the jungles of the delta, the hunter may find deer, cougars, lynx, raccoons, foxes and beaver, and in the mountains of Lower California are many deer and Big-horn sheep. Laguna Salada, a lake 12 by 60 miles formed by over- flow waters of the Colorado in a basin between the Cocopah and the main coast ranges, is only twenty miles from Calex- ico, and is a favorite resting place for canvasback, mallard and other large species of ducks. I . %fr^ St PROPOSED CIVIC CENTER OF CALEXICO, SHOWING GROUPING OF BUILDINGS FOR MUNICIPAL, EDUCATION C ALEXIC O Opportunities The most obvious opportunity for the safe and profitable investment of capital in Calexico is the building of houses for rent. There is not a vacant house or store in the city. The supply of good living quarters never has caught up with the deinand. If 200 houses of five to seven rooms were to be built in 1915, every one could be rented as soon as com- pleted. A company of "home builders" could operate profit- ably. Business and office buildings and an auditorium are needed, and a modern tourist hotel would not lack patronage. Gas works, furnishings fuel gas for domestic use, and an independent local ice factory are urgent needs. A cannery to take care of the great quantity of vegetables and fruit grown in the district would be profitable, and a meat packing house would increase the returns the district gets from the cattle, sheep and hogs raised and fattened here. Intensive Cultivation In Calexico and its suburbs, especial attention has been given experimental horticulture and intensive cultivation. Expert fruit growers have been very successful with several varieties and a large pear orchard of thrifty trees is one of the notable successes. It has been demonstrated that a plot of ground the size of a city lot can be made to produce a considerable income from small fruits. From a lot contain- ing less than an acre, more than $300 worth of strawberries have been marketed in one season. A ten-acre tract near the city, devoted to the growing of vegetables and requiring the labor of only two men. has produced a gross annual revenue of $4000. The grapefruit, or pomelo, grown in the valley is of better quality than that grown in the coast counties, and is ready for shipment at least a month earlier. The fruit is thin- skinned and there is so little of the "green persimmon" qual- ity in it that it may be picked from the tree before it has turned color, and eaten as oranges are eaten. No sugar is required in preparation of an Imperial pomelo for the table. There is but a small acreage of pomelo trees in bearing, but many orchards, aggregating some hundreds of acres, have been planted near Calexico during the past year, and in the near future Imperial Valley grape fruit will be pro- duced in shipping quantity, reaching market early and com- manding a special price. Land Values Building sites in the business district of Calexico are held at $150 to $200 per front foot. Residence lots, 50x140 feet, can be bought for $300 to $400, and in restricted sections for $500 to $600. Farm land on the American side can be obtained in tracts from 5 to 1000 acres at $100 to $200 an acre, the higher price being that of highly improved small tracts close to the town. Farms of 80 to 160 acres, with water stock and under culti- vation, may be bought at $100 to $150 an acre, according to location. On the Mexican side there is very little land for sale, but land may be rented in tracts of from 100 to 10,000 acres at $10 an acre per year. The soil in the Calexico region, on both sides of the line, is a sandy loam, free from alkali and other mineral salts, easily worked and very fertile. Ranches in this part of the valley have the important ad- vantage of being at the head of the distributing canal system, which insures first delivery of water from the mains. TWi •'■-Tf-—'— -:^r _*.V tX if 5-' V ■^'^ - " %. ■■'■ # ^ « « « or .*» * ^^^^^L^^Jl^: f IGIOUS, SOCIAL AND OTHER PUBLIC USES. HIGH SCHOOL. AT LEFT, IS IN PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION (PE IL^ Tk® D®lfta ©ff ak® C®E®iradl^ Am Eiffilaiffid Emmpnird ©f Enckimciii By E. F. H©w© E may believe that migratory families in a far age settled on the banks of the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile, built their irrigation canals, and in the course of some thousands of years formulated their concepts of civilization and consciously laid the foundation of empire. And you may say the same thing of Imperial Valley, ex- cept that here the same methods and the same purposes have been quickened by modern knowledge and civilization and American zeal and initiative, for here the progress of millenniums has l>een condensed into fourteen years. When this century opened there was not a fi.xed resident in what is now Imperial County. There were not fifty people in that area, and they but transient railroad employes. Now the county has fifty thousand persons, ten towns ranging from SOO to 6,000 inhabitants each, it has one high school costing $200,000, four others costing about $65,000 each, fifty grammar schools, thirteen banks, five daily and five weekly newspapers, its property values reach seventy- five million dollars and the value of its products runs close to twenty millions. Imperial is the leading county in the state in butter pro duction and the leading county in the nation in the produc- tion of cantaloupes, turkeys and honey. It ships sixty thousand head of fat cattle tn market in a year, two hundred thousand head of fat hogs and seventy- five thousand head of fat sheep. It produces fifty thousand bales of cotton worth from $50 to $75 per bale and three-quarters of a million sacks of barley. It produces asparagus and grapes for a month before other sections enter into competition, and half of the land in America adapted to date growing is in this valley. That the men and women who have brought about this change from the most complete of deserts in fourteen years are proud of their accomplishment is not strange. And yet much as has been done, they recognize, as all persons must, that Imperial Valley has not yet come into its own. So vast are the possibilities of achievement that what has been done is but a beginning. In this valley there are 400,000 acres under irrigation in the United States, while in that part of the valley lying in Mexico there is an additional 100.000 acres irrigated. Eventually there will be 650,000 acres in the United States and 600,000 acres in Mexico in one compact body of irrigated land, with ample water in the Colorado river for the irriga- tion of the entire area. Imperial County was created from the eastern half of San Diego County, and borders Arizona on the east and 1mmin:iimIs i»t' ll<-:iil of t'nttic :ir«' Fattfiu'd uii (^'otton Soofl Prnfliiots at Culexieo. C ALEXICO Wiiter IN Kiu}; iu tlie litipcriiil Vnlley. Mexico on the south. It is as a strictly agricultural region that it is winning fame, and its fame rests not more on the fact of its vast proportions than on the rare climatic condi- tions that make it a true Egypt, plus American institutions. The average land holding is 100 acres, with a constant tendering to subdivision, with corresponding drift toward those lines of production which stand for the highest acreage revenue. As already indicated, the institutions of civilization have been well established, there being, in order of population, the towns of El Centro (county seat), Brawley, Calexico, Imperial, Holtville, Calipatria, Seeley, Heber, Dixieland and Niland. The county is connected with the outside world by the Southern Pacific railroad, having a branch line through the valley, and it will have further connection by the San Diego and Arizona railroad, now under construction. It also has a paved state highway well advanced in construction, con- necting San Diego and El Centro, while special state appro- priations have been made for a liighway from Los Angeles to the valley and on to Yuma, Irrigation Water Supply The greatest river in all the Southwest is the Colorado, draining the territory west of the Rocky Mountains almost from Canada to Mexico, and carrying in the course of a year sixteen million acre feet, or enough water to irrigate five million acres if distributed according to needs through- out the year. And nature does do a good deal to adjust the river to the needs, for the heaviest flow is in the sum- mer months, when most needed. Like the Nile, the flood of summer runs almost as true as the calendar, the crest passing Yuma, Arizona, year after year within a week of June 20th. The water for Imperial Valley is diverted from the river just north of the international line, and to avoid a chain of hills it makes a long crescent sweep through Mexican ter- ritory and back into the United States. The main water channel was originally owned by the California Development Company, but the people on the American side of the line have organized the Imperial Irrigation District, under the laws of California and will acquire the main canal system in both countries. There were organized originally a number of mutual water companies, now increased to thirteen, the farmers holding one share for each acre. These companies each contracted perpetually to purchase water from the parent company to meet the needs of their respective stockholders, each com- pany covering a distinct area. In acquiring the irrigation system, the district does not disturb the relationship of the mutual companies to the main supply system, but will give to the farmers the benefit of co-operation in the diversion as well a« the distribution of the water, without profit. In Mexico, the water is taken from the same main canal, but by the individual owners of the large tracts. As the main canal sweeps through Mexico, it is tapped by a number of smaller canals, which lead to the districts of the respective companies, where it is further distributed to ditches known as laterals, and is thus led to the individual farms, delivery of water being made at the higliest corner of each farm. Approximately 380.000 acres are now under irrigation on the American side of the line, or a much larger area than is irrigated in all the other seven counties of Southern Cali- fornia combined. The average cost of irrigation water throughout the valley is about $3.50 an acre a year, this varying somewhat with the nature of the crop grown, the character of the soil and tlie care or negligence of the irrigator. Aside from the value of the water for irrigation, it carries great values in plant food, and the fertilizer qualities of the water, at commercial rates, is estimated at fully twice the cost of the water service. Since the people who use the water will hereafter have its management, it is certain that no pains will be spared to give amply from the abundance of water available and with the pronii)tness that the best results in irrigation de- mand. 10 C ALEXI CO Stage of Development How far has development gone in Imperial Valley? This is a question that is often asked, for many persoris wish to avoid too new a country, while others seek to be pioneers. As stated, there will eventually be 650,000 acres of culti- vated land on the American side of the line, of which prob- ably 500,000 acres is now in personal ownership, while the remainder is withdrawn from settlement by the government and an uncertain period will elapse before it is restored to filing privilege. It is therefore impossible to secure land otherwise than by purchase. The pioneer period has brought people from every state in the Union and from almost every foreign country, and of necessity there has grown up with the cosmopolitan popula- tion all degrees of success. The practical farmer who personally directs his farm is making big profits from the perpetual output of the soil, but the impractical man who invests in land for a speculation and leaves it to the first applicant who appears without re- gard to his knowledge of farming, sobriety or industry, often fails, just as the same methods would bring failure anywhere in any business. The valley can therefore be said to be in a state of evolu- tion, in which the indolent or impractical or intemperate are being eliminated, while in their places are coming other staid and industrious citizens, and the personnel of the valley is improving from year to year. I\'leanwhile there is a steady tendency to subdivide the larger holdings, and many farms of from twenty to eighty acres are being created out of larger holdings on the American side. This implies a steady transformation from barley and cotton fields to alfalfa, dairy cattle, hogs, gar- dening and fruit growing. On the Mexican side of the line the situation is entirely different. There are a few great holdings of land, and this is mainly farmed under lease, sometimes in fields each of thousands of acres. It is there not a question of home making, but of profits from big acreage, and consequently cotton has taken possession of practically the entire irrigated area. Further down the peninsula there are great valleys in which large droves of cattle are pastured. Climatic Conditions The day will come when the ideal climate of Imperial Valley will make this region one of the most famous of pleasure and health resorts. When the reader has caught his breath we will proceed. It is a common practice to speak of this valley as a natural hot house, but that e.xpression refers to June, July, August and September, just as one might speak of Chicago as having Arctic climate — during the winter. There is this difference. During the unpleasant cold period of the north, nature is dormant, but during the un- pleasant hot months here nature is as productive as during the other eight months. There is no stagnant period in the year, while for eight months no land on earth can excel this for delightful weather. As for health, any climate in which people instinctively live out of doors is a healthy climate, and they do that here. Even when indoors, the windows and doors are ever open, and almost all people sleep throughout the year on screen porches. And the summers are just as healthful as the winters, though even the natives do not recommend the summer months for pleasure. The weather then is hot. The worst days are not so bad as the worst days in New York or Chicago. There is no feeling of suffocation here — no gasp- ing for breath. The sense of heat is external, not internal. The average person drinks about three gallons of water a day. and that comes through the pores continuously. It flushes out the body and cures many a chronic ailment. The rapid evaporation of the moisture tends to cool the body, and prevents fever heat. During the summer the typical day begins with mercury at 70 at sunrise and it rises steadily to 105 in the after- noon, then steadily declines. There may be two or three days in the summer when it will reach 112. During the four months there probably will not be a day when mercury fails to reach 95. Imperial A'ulley liii.s Hundreds of Miles of Splendid lliiiidN. C ALEXIC O 11 ITnpe^^ial Valley Flooding Newly Planted Alfalfa Field Turning the nesert into the Giirdeu of I0< But tliese figures are deceiving, although correct. The sensible temperature, or the temperature under evaporation, is heat as one feels it. In humid air there is but five or ten degrees difiference between sensible and dry-bulb tem- perature, while here, in summer, there is a difference of from thirty to thirty-five degrees. That is why 105 degree tern perature here feels like 80 degree temperature in other places. The Dairy Industry Until Imperial Valley began its rapid advance in the dairy industry, Humboldt and Stanislaus counties led in California, each of those counties now having butter pro- duction somewhat over five million pounds a year. But Imperial Valley has taken the lead, having production of 7,400,000 pounds of butter a year, valued at $2,500,000. It is the only big butter producing county in the southern half of the State. The chief market for this product is Los Angeles and neighboring cities, and for the first time in history Southern California has become somewhat near self-supporting in but- ter consumption. Yet the butter production of this valley continues to in- crease at from 25 to 35 per cent a year, and the possibilities of the industry run far ahead of the present achievement. The fact is that the prospects are good for the valley shipping to the northward and eastward in time a great portion of its output, for the Chicago market is enough advanced over that of Los Angeles much of the time to cover the cost of transportation. No where else can butter be produced so cheaply as here. For twelve months in the year there is the finest of pastur- age. The open-air life is as healthful for cattle as for man, there being practically no losses, while the grains and by- products of the cotton oil mills provide cheaply the perfec- tion of balanced rations for butter production. The monthly "cream checks" falling into the hands of the dairymen from the many creameries of the valley furnish a steady flow of money that has added immeasurably to the great prosperity of the county, and this prosperity is shared by Cale.xico and all the other towns of the valley. There is a constant tendency to improve the standing of the milch cow herds, and many a thoroughbred, purchased at high cost, has been brought from distant states, and this upbreeding is adding to the profit of those interested in the industry. Fruit Possibilities It is probably better to speak of horticulture and vini- culture as of the future than of the present, for although there has been much demonstrated, the present production is so small relative to the possibilities, that the big develop- ment lies mainly ahead. California is already famous for its citrus, deciduous and adeciduous horticulture and for viniculture. Taking a place in all these lines, and a peculiar place. Imperial Valley has added palmacious fruit — the date — to the list. It seems probable, too, that this would be a fine lime pro- ducing section. In deciduous fruits the best monetary returns per tree are probably from jiears, the trees seemingly adapting them- selves well to this climate and soil, little influenced by the variations of irrigation, and producing well. The apricot tree more sensitive to irrigation, but when properly cared for produce generously, and the fruit ripens early in June, being the first in the markets, and consequently commanding a good price. Some varieties of early peaches do finely. The fig finds its natural home here, and like the thrifty voter, is to be found "early and often." Many varieties of both white and purple figs have been successfully grown. The olive is alone in the adeciduous class, and is makin.g a record for productiveness which is not surpassed in any other region, though the acreage is yet small. The grape is destined to be one of the great products of the valley, tliough under peculiar conditions that impose problems. Those problems are in part now solved. Early plantings were mainly of the varieties made familiar by other sections of California, but of those varieties the Malaga alone proved of value. This fine grape ripens about July 12 C ALEXIC O lOth, a month earlier than in other sections of the state. The Purple Damascus is another magnificent grape that ripens at about the same period. It is unfortunate, however, that about mid-July there is frequently a light rain, which is sufficient to ruin the crop. A solution of this difficulty is being found in the production of two or more varieties of Persian grapes, notably those known as No. 21 and No. 23. X'atives of a country with a climate similar to this valle}', these excellent grapes are finely adapted to this section, and they have the advantage of ripening about July 1, and yielding their main crop before the arrival of the mid-sum- mer rain. Being able to place excellent table grapes on the markets more than a month before they come from any other Ameri- can vineyards, it becomes an almost mathematical certainty that this eventually will be one of the great industries of the region. The date, in the belief of many persons, eventually will be to this valley what the orange is to Riverside, the raisin to Fresno and the prune to San Jose. And it will be as superior to the ordinary date of commerce as the navel orange is to the seedling. There are countless varieties of dates to be found in North Africa and Arabia, but they can be divided into two main groups, the thick and the thin skinned fruit. Only the thick skinned fruits can stand the crude packing and transportation methods followed in the countries where they are grown, and it is that class of fruit, embracing a good many varieties, which reaches this country under the commercial names of Fard and Golden dates. But the delicate, thin-skinned dates, almost worshipped in Africa and Arabia, are practically unknown in American mar- kets. It is fruit of this class which Imiperial and Coachella valleys is now making famous. In fact, this fruit is more like dainty confection than fruit, and the American has no difficulty in providing containers in which it can be marketed without sustaining injury. There is no disposition to spin fancy yarns from Imperial Valley cotton. It does that for itself. And one must deal gently with this subject, for if the straight truth were abruptly told persons familiar with the industry elsewhere might doubt its accuracy, while a partial statement might itself convey a meaning that would not do justice to the subject. As yet the greatest cotton production is of the short staple, but the medium long staple is an active competitor for public favor. On the Peter Barnes land lease in Mexico this year there was ginned a little more than lO.OOO bales of cotton from 6500 acres, or a trifle over a bale and a half per acre. There are individual growers on smaller tracts who have grown more than two bales of SCO pounds each to the acre. Taking 10 cents as the average price, two bales would give a gross return of $100 per acre, to which there would be added, in the average year, $15 for a ton of seed. Taking the same maximum production of Durango cotton, at 15 cents, the gross returns would be $150 an acre, plus $15 for seed. If this is to be taken as the best production by the man who is master of the industry, the reader will wish to know the result with the average man who knows how to grow cotton, and the Peter Barnes lease (referred to above), is probably a fair case, that being two-thirds of the maximum given. As the industry has been expanding rapidly, it has drawn in some men who did not know the business, and a few made complete failures. The 600,000 acres in Mexico which before many j-ears will all be under irrigation, can be said to have a productive capacity of about a million bales a year, worth fifty million dollars, with seven and a half millions added for seed. As Durango cotton may yet gain the mastery, its possible productive value can be estimated at seventy-five million dollars. It might be thought that the labor question in the cotton fields would be difficult to solve, but this is not the case. On the Mexican side of the line are many Chinese laborers, not allowed to come into the United States, and these, with Mexicans and negroes, meet all the requirements at very moderate wages. As cotton has become the leading factor in making the city of Calexico, it is well to begin a review of the agricultur- Imperial Vnllcv five-year -old Grape Fruit Orcliarcl Netted S75O per acr( C ALEXICO Three TraiiiNnicK "l' Fat Cattle are Shipped from IinpiTial ^ jilley o:iili « eek. al calendar with this staple. It is in March and April that the old plants are cut down to within six inches of the ground and the irrigation water turned on. This "volunteers" the next crop from the stumps of the old, and this "vouluteered" crop is ready for first picking in September. For the new acreage the planting season is in March, April and May, and picking begins in October. There is no rush to harvest the crop, as there are no rains to damage it, and picking of cotton is continuous from September 1st to March ISth, or throughout more than half of the year. This long picking season in great part solves the labor problem. The calendar year opens with barley fields being pastured, and after the fields have been eaten down two or three times, the grain is allowed to mature, and harvest continues through May and June. The first cutting of alfalfa is in March and eight or nine cuttings are made, the last in November, this crop growing but slightly during the winter months. The asparagus shipping season begins in March, when numerous carloads are sent to eastern cities. In May and June from 4000 to 5000 carloads of cantaloupes are shipped from valley points to eastern markets. Fat cattle, hogs and sheep are shipped heavily throughout the year. The valley produces more than seven million pounds of butter a year, and that is shipped daily. The big harvest of Egyptian corn is in September and October, this being in greatest part fed in the valley, as are the cotton seed husks and meal, by-products in the making of oil. The heaviest grape shipments are during the first half of July — a month earlier than from any other American dis- trict. Apricots and figs ripen in June, the former having a brief period, but the fig trees continuing to produce crops through the summer. Dates (and the finest on earth) ripen in October and November. Garden vegetables can be produced in any month in the year. The tendency here, as in most parts of California, is for the farmer to specialize on one product, diversity of produc- tion on the individual farm being the exception. COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY THE FARMERS AND MERCHANTS CLUB IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BOARD OF CITY TRUSTEES OF CALEXICO FARMERS AND MERCHANTS CLUB DIRECTORS S. T. TYLER WM. GUNTERMANN ROBERT G. GOREE CITY OF CALEXICO OFFICERS ROBERl G. GOREE. President ALLEN KELLY. Secrelary W. T. AITKEN, Treasurer A. M SHENK L. F. MARTIN CLARK POTTER CITY TRUSTEES A. r. BASKIN J. A. DONALDSON P. E. CARR E. G. BURDICK J. C. PACE OFFICERS EDWARD B, BROWNE. City Clerk CLARK POrrER. City Treasurer HARRY E. FOSTER. City Engineer For further information about CALEXICO or the IMPERIAL VALLEY addre.s the Secretary of the FARMERS & MERCHANTS CLUB 017 169 333 .V 5ALTON //fff/GABLF FMMPffOPOSfO > H/0HIIN£ CWAL \ \\v ,CALIPAr/?M\ i( V BRAWLEY '^^ A\v^ '7AMM0Tff IMPERIAL VALLEY and the DELTA oF the COLORADO JJiO^ING CULTIVATED LAND A/VD AREA ff? RIO ABLE FROM T/ZF COLORADO RIVER 3C/ILC or MILfS '~~y -1 — I 61AMI5\ ima^rfD A/^D miO/IBLL AI?£A 900 000 ACRfs rmum/fr ro c/iUMo — mmm All Oriffff miO/IBlEARfA 500 OOOA i \ PR£5ENrimr5 of iaud ONDE/? imiOfiTlON , — 1 — 1 — 1 — I — I PIfOJECrED milfOMJ CAN'-y) .f>>^ D/XIELAIVD, 5.D. & /J, RR ^EEILEY v^ Me5A '-'. -^ -- 200.000 ACfffS '''-. '>/MPf/?ML W ■' lli'i /ff/flG/iBLE EROM -, . •"-*«^«^^; ■ wr^Axx .^^^^^^^^ -y/tz/wz a/t: Pf>OPOSED PO/fr AND/ ■<, ^/ MEXI^CO ^ESBm^ . #.> "^NJ/ /AT^^ CAL >? . /lECH/am '''ijy//. of-^/'. •\ Sl/ICK Burre;' COLi I eAmoiJES. ARIZONA ■c G> ^:vi^;)^ -5^^^ /p//^ ;. v.^ l<\ £> .^>\ '^\ 1 o . to-r-y' %~^M!. ' 'i '^' V/'',- ./:.^ /^! 0^' A^ & O^rV*' :Ui ^^>-. - :-f'-^^. 'I'.. "■"^.o. v,:> -i'^ 200 000 ACRES /fRIGA&LS:^ :\ 'ENTRftNCE TO LAKE (TO B£ DREDGED) Aiie/v KetLr, /9/S. (g.