THE SOUTHWEST 



653 



a day, or ten times as much as is now 

 needed, and the surplus will be used for 

 irrigation until it is required by the city. 



The orange and other citrus fruits of 

 southern California have an output of 

 about 30,000 carloads a year, with a net 

 value of more than $15,000,000. Of this, 

 Riverside ships 4,000 to 5,000 cars of 

 oranges, worth $2,000,000 net. Red- 

 lands' shipments in 1909 were 4^551 cars 

 of nearly 2,000,000 boxes, valued at 

 $2,764,000. Olives are also a prominent 

 crop, yielding a large aggregate return. 

 Besides her fruits, California raises a 

 great variety of nuts and vegetables. 

 The single item of walnuts sums up 

 $1,500,000 a year. Lima beans, $2,000,- 

 000; celery, $600,000; potatoes, $225,000, 

 and hay, $3,600,000, are very profitable 

 crops. Dairy products, including butter, 

 at $1,500,000; cheese, $320,000, and 

 eggs, $750,000, are important sources of 

 revenue to the farmers. 



IMPERIAL, VAIvIvKY 



East of the mountains in southern Cali- 

 fornia is an extensive desert country, 

 much of it without water, but large areas 

 can be reached by ditches from the Colo- 

 rado River. The most notable district 

 of the sort is in the Salton Desert, near 

 the Mexican boundary. A few years 

 ago this was a lonely and forbidding 

 region,, but now, by aid of irrigation from 

 the Colorado River, it has several thriv- 

 ing settlements, with 100,000 people and 

 200,000 acres of cultivated land. That 

 portion oi it known as Imperial Valley 

 has the greatest development, and with 

 rich soil and semi-tropical climate phe- 

 nomenal results have been obtained when 

 water was applied. The overflow of the 

 Colorado River in 1906 delayed progress 

 somewhat, but there is no prospect of a 

 recurrence of a disaster of this sort. 



One of the best known products of this 

 region is the canteloupe, of which the 

 annual shipments are over 1,800 cars, 

 bringing nearly a million dollars. This 

 valley contains over 400,000 acres of 

 land, and just across the Mexican line 

 are 200,000 more. 



SAIvT RIVER VAIvt^EY 



Salt River Valley is the "promised 

 land" of Arizona. It is a very broad, 

 level valley, extending east and west near 

 Phoenix, and lying along both sides of 

 Salt River, a stream which has a large 

 watershed in the mountains of eastern 

 Arizona. The valley is 50 miles long by 

 15 miles wide, and contains about one- 

 half million acres of very fertile land, of 

 which some 50,000 acres are now under 

 cultivation by canals and pumping. 



Normally the valley is a desert, for the 

 rainfall is only from 6 to 7 inches a year, 

 but the river water has been used for 

 irrigation to some fejctent, and many wells 

 afford supplies for irrigation of small 

 areas. When the great Tonto reservoir 

 is filled there will be sufficient water for 

 200,000 acres, and. cheap power to run 

 pumps to utilize the underground waters 

 more fully for irrigation of an additional 

 area of about 50,000 acres. 



The dam across Salt River, erected by 

 the Reclamation Service at Roosevelt for 

 the Tonto reservoir, is 280 feet high, 

 1,080 feet long on top, with a total con- 

 tents of 300,000 square yards. It re- 

 quired over 240,000 barrels of Portland 

 cement, which was manufactured by the 

 Government on the dam site. The reser- 

 voir, with an area of 25 square miles and 

 a capacity of 284,000 acre feet, is the 

 largest artificial lake in the world. Forty 

 miles below is a diversion dam by which 

 the water is taken out into great canals 

 on both sides of the river that convey it 

 to the valley lands, 15 to 30 miles below. 

 These works will afford a large flow at 

 times, when the water is needed for irri- 

 gation. The reclaimed land will cost the 

 settler only about $30 an acre. 



The principal product of Salt River 

 Valley is alfalfa, but considerable grain, 

 fruits, and vegetables are also raised. 

 Alfalfa is cut from four to five times a 

 year, with yield of four to six tons an 

 acre, and it sells, baled, for from $8 to 

 $12 a ton. Wheat yields 30 to 40 bush- 

 els to the acre. 



Sugar beets have been tried in recent 

 years with most satisfactory results, and 



