The Salton Sink 



2 I 



Photo by F. .11. Bigelow 



the; salton sea and the salt creek trestle 



Of the Southern Pacific Railroad, about 800 feet long. The water is too rough on calm days 

 to float pans; the waves are from 8 to 12 feet high in heavy weather 



accompanied by a series of rapids, in con- 

 sequence of which the soluble soil of the 

 delta is peculiarly subjected to rapid cut- 

 ting and erosion and the soil is trans- 

 ported northward in great masses. This 

 alternate flowing of the river to the north 

 and south has occurred many times in 

 geological history, the Salton Sea form- 

 ing suddenly and drying out more gradu- 

 ally by the slower process of evaporation, 

 though this is unusually rapid in that hot 

 and arid climate. 



The desert regions east of the Coast 

 Range of southern California are caused 

 by the fact that the mountains cut off the 

 moist west winds from the Pacific Ocean, 

 while the entire region is too far west of 

 the Gulf of Mexico to receive any moist- 

 ure from its southerly winds. 



TEN CROPS OF ALEALEA A YEAR 



The latest overflow of the Colorado 

 River into the Salton Sink occurred in 

 1905-1906, as the result of certain irriga- 

 tion projects. The soil of the delta, being 



the product of the mountains of Utah, 

 New Mexico, and Arizona, is particularly 

 fertile, when supplied with irrigated 

 water, on account of the continuous high 

 temperature, which ranges from 120 in 

 July and August down to about 20 to 

 30 ° in January and February. This is 

 shown by the fact that about ten crops 

 of alfalfa can be cut annually from the 

 same ground without fertilization, and 

 that crops of canteloupes are ready for 

 market as much as 30 days earlier than 

 any other region of the United States, all 

 other vegetable crops flourishing in the 

 same abundant ratio. 



The Department of Agriculture finds 

 that its new date farms at Indio and 

 Mecca, just north of the Salton Sea, are 

 producing dates and figs of a very supe- 

 rior quality, and it is supposed that in 

 less than 20 years that region will pro- 

 vide all the dates consumed in the United 

 States, as much as 20,000,000 pounds an- 

 nually. 



