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Show AGRICULTURE LEADS IN DELTA! DISTRICT HAS GROWN DESPITE DIFFICULTIES GOOD WATKK ASSURES FUTURE SUCCESS. By FRANK BECKWITH From Salt Lake City Tribune The success of Deseret, Oasis and Hinckley in raising alfalfa seed led to the settling Delta about 1908.. The town was first named Burtner, a derailed boxcar being its station and only house, containing Its only inhabitant the first year; then came the late Nelson S Bishop and his brother-in-law, "Uncle Jim" (Hon. James A.) Melville. Bishop built the first substantial frame house, which stood alone for some time. So great was the part done by "Uncle Jim Melville in the upbuilding of Delta that the local irrigation system bears his name, the Melvile Irrigation Irri-gation company, supplying 20,000 acre feet of water to the settlers. An effort was made to name the town Melville in his honor, but so close was It to Millvale that the postal post-al authorities refused to grant it. A series of mishaps held back the growth of the young town. One year a main canal burst, letting all the water needed for crops at a vital time go to waste. The succeeding year the diversion dam gave way and again the major portion of the crops were lost. The people were nearly ruined, and all closely touching touch-ing poverty, but with a fortitude that their faith was well founded, they stuck. Tjhe water supply was good, an abundance of it, and with the rebuilding re-building of the former errors, crops began coming in, and with them, in 1913, came the establishment of the Delta State Bank. A marked period in the history of struggling Delta, this little institution, which was then as poor as its surroundings dragged miserably along a year and half to pay a six per cent dividend. Both It and the Oasis State bank are now strong and thriving. Sugar Factory Built In 1916 the Great Basin Sugar company built a lnrge factory hero, much too large for the acreage and conditions then pertaining, and still a burden to maintain up to Its economical econ-omical running capu3iy in a country coun-try which tends t o much to a onesided, one-sided, one-crop system, nameiy al falf'il seed. Delta and its neighbors depend largely upon the yield of alfalfa seed, which in years, when "it hits," is a very profitable crop, yielding a clea r profit to the grower of as high as $200 an acre, with all expenses ex-penses paid out of the first crop of hay and chaff from the second crop. So large is the voulroe of busint-ts In that industry that two big resident resi-dent firms are on the ground to han-' idle it, as well as a number of independent inde-pendent buyers and one farmer owned ow-ned nnitution. The total volume of business done in this one industry indust-ry In 1924 exceeded c million and a quarter dollars, and in no year in its history has alfalfa seed :aising generally gen-erally failed. Millard County produces one-third of the alfalfa seed prcduced by the entire stale of Utah, and, as Utah produces one-fourth of the output of the United States, the relative importance im-portance of Millard county as a seed sec. ion is at om-e apparent, i Livestock fed here may be shipped i to a very handy market, either north ! or south, on the main line to Og-! Og-! den and Salt Lake no'-th. only 132 ' and 159 miles away, or to Los Angeles An-geles 6T.0 miles to the ?oulh. In i favorable years much livestock Is fed here. The Livingston yards are the biggest feeders, a business conducted con-ducted by D. H. Livingston of Salt 1 Lake. One year they fed 3,500 head of cattle and 2100 sheep. Bee Culture Bee culture promises to expand in enormous ratio, owing to the extensive exten-sive acreage of alfalfa blossoms, which make a decidedly fine flavored flavor-ed honey. California bee raisers are giving this region much attention, and it is expected that within another an-other year the total bee culture will be swelled to 10,000 stands. A large fire in 1920 practically wiped out the entire business section sec-tion of the town, destroying five prominent places of business. Many minor fires followed, mostly hay and dwellings, so that at one time it looked as if the dread demon of fire was an affliction to scourge the region; re-gion; but with each fire, a better and more substantial building arose, so that by now the town is practically practic-ally rebuilt of good brick and cement. ce-ment. Rebuilding is particularly ly active in 1925. Delta is the hub of a group of towns, of which it is the commercial commer-cial center; 88,000 acres' of land are tile drained, at a cost of over three million dollars; a $360,000 road bond issue takes care of the needs of the region in roads, a sewer system sys-tem is installed in Delta, and this! year, by a special tax levy, a much i needed large addition is being put; on the Delta high school to accomo.i date the fast growing attendance. ; Delta has the largest school enroll-1 mont in the county. Being on the Sevier desert, once ; the bed of ancient Lake Bonneville,! Delta and its surrounding towns! haave no scenic attract ions' but Leh-j man's caves at Baker, Nevada, is only seven hours distant; Clear1 creek and its Indian hieroglyphics eighty-five miles to the south; the cool retreat of Oak Creek canyon j only sixteen miles distant, and much patronized by scorched Deltans, and good roads to Bryce c myon, 175 miles away, and Zion park 214 miles distant. ' j Alfalfa Meal Mill j The latest addition to its indus- tries is the advent of an alfalfa meal mill, which makes a molases food product for dairy cattle, upon which no embargo is placed for shipment into the states; this will H;ibi!i.e the market for hay and build up the region faster towards a diversified j farming system than possibly another an-other factor. As to the future posiihlitics of . Delta, it has a very active chamber of commerce, which t:'kos a prominent promin-ent part in shaping the policies of the town and is always found ct the head of public measures. To this body is due a system of good road which will eventually lead to the Delta-Ely link being odoriorl mn'cr tho Utah state highway sy-tem; the successful putting over of the school Improvement; the main factor in socuring the right-of-way for the spur railroad to Fillmore; hot mo ment in street condi.i rs; the in-gii g oT build-ng restrictions, which resulted re-sulted In an ord:n";.' pi ohilni cis; frame building! In the business section, sec-tion, and a clearing house for all cjommercial activities. The Delta chamber of commerce al o takes a leading part in the settlement of the idle lands of the region by working with every factor whose aim it is to put a resident farmer on the lin-1. Delta's water cupply has never boon questioned; lb" Federal i.ind bank and the RC'Je of Utah place many thousands of dollars of loans in the territory, and its be t rf'- m-mendation m-mendation is that it srf fully stood the strain of the drought f 1 924. no crops being Ids', for la' k of water. The population rf Delia and the group rf town1-, cIokcIv pl;:ccd aroin.d it is 5500. with two healthy haul. . two big ser-d con. -n'ns and one f irm-er irm-er owned c'.talili r.nicn:, and liu- usual us-ual full quota of bil ilir.-s 'i.ri kept up by a pro.-p rous agricultural agricultu-ral region. |
