474 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



lived from 1751 to 1767 in the southern 

 part of the peninsula, tells of great 

 plagues of grasshoppers, which swept 

 from the south toward the north, obscur- 

 ing the sun by their numbers and making 

 a noise like a strong wind. He says they 

 devoured all green things as they passed 

 over the country. 



MANY PARTS OF LOWER CALIFORNIA ARE 

 CAPABLE OF RICH DEVELOPMENT 



Although the foregoing account of 

 conditions prevailing in Lower Califor- 

 nia appears to indicate a hopeless desert, 

 yet almost without exception where agri- 

 culture has been tried intelligently, with 

 a sufficient water supply developed for 

 irrigation, the soil has responded bounti- 

 fully. The possibilities of agriculture 

 were proved centuries ago by the mis- 

 sionaries located in valleys, where water 

 from large springs enabled them to grow 

 wheat and many other crops. At present 

 peas, beans, corn, cotton, tobacco, sugar- 

 cane, grapes, bananas, figs, oranges, 



lemons, limes, pomegranates, dates, olives, 

 and other fruits and vegetables are 

 grown. 



The hot, dry climate and other condi- 

 tions of the middle and southern parts 

 of the peninsula lend themselves espe- 

 cially to the cultivation of the choicest 

 varieties of date palms and to numerous 

 tropical fruits. 



The largest and most important single 

 area of agricultural development will no 

 doubt be about the delta of the Colorado. 

 The storage of surface water and de- 

 velopment of the underground supply 

 should render considerable areas produc- 

 tive on the plains of San Quintin and 

 Magdalena. Wherever land is now irri- 

 gated in the older settlements, proper 

 control of the available water would 

 greatly enlarge the productive area. The 

 greatest drawbacks at present to both 

 mining and agricultural development of 

 the peninsula are the unenterprising 

 character of the native population and 

 lack of transportation facilities. 



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v. . 



OUTLINE MAP OF UNITED STATES, SHOWING TERRITORY ACQUIRED BY TEXAS 



ANNEXATION AND MEXICAN CESSION 



