THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



205 



per pound. Same authority also states that a date 

 orchard can be brought into bearing in six years' time, 

 and at the end of that time will yield fruit that will 

 pay interest on the investment of $2,000 per acre. 



CUTTING SORGHUM CROP AT IMPERIAL. 



Sugar beet has been thoroughly tried. I had in my 

 office sugar beets grown in the Imperial Settlements 

 that weighed as high as 13 pounds each, and never 

 have I known sugar beets to thrive and mature as 



BAILING HAY IN IMPERIAL. 



they mature under the Imperial canal, and it is my 

 opinion that it will become one of the best sugar beet 

 sections in the United States. It has been estimated 

 by experts that this country can support ten or more 



f 



MILLET CROP HARVESTED. WITH SORGHUM IN 

 DISTANCE, IMPERIAL 



sugar beet factories equal to the one at Oxnard, Cal., 

 and the seasons are much longer for the production of 

 sugar beets in this territory than in any other part 

 of our country. Settlers are coming into this country 



rapidly and the Imperial people have sold, water for 

 over 200,000 acres of this land up to the present writing. 



The towns established along the new lines of rail- 

 way and in various parts of the territory are already 

 becoming business centers. Banks, stores, telephone 

 systems, telegraph systems, newspapers, ice and refrig- 

 erating plants and power plants of various kinds, schools 

 and churches, all have been established within the short 

 space of two years. The Southern Pacific Railroad has 

 completed a branch line from the town of Imperial to its 

 main line, leaving the same at Old Beach Station, 70 

 miles west of Yuma. 



To give the reader an idea of the business-like 

 methods that the company has pursued that constructed 

 this great canal. Recognizing the fact that it was de- 



CUTTING B \RLEY IN IMPERIAL SETTLEMENTS. 



sirable that the owners of the land should own and con- 

 trol the irrigated systems and water rights, a system of 

 mutual water companies was incorporated, under the 

 laws of California, the stock of which company should 



HOGS AT IMPERIAL. 



be owned by the owners of the land to be irrigated on 

 the basis of one share to every acre of land. These com- 

 panies to obtain their supply of water from the Imperial 

 canal at a fixed price, which price enabled the irri- 

 gators to get the best water in arid America, consid- 

 ering the fact that an abundance of water could be 

 had every day in the year. These mutual water com- 

 panies were incorporated to furnish water to their stock- 

 holders only, so that those who locate on these lands 

 fully understand that to become a stockholder in these 

 mutual companies, it is absolutely necessary that they 

 become absolute owners of the water. These mutual 

 water companies were incorporated to furnish water to 



