Citrus History Excerpts
Provided by Norman Rozeff
In early December 1904 Harvey C. Stiles, a California fruit expert, visited the Valley to assess its potential for citrus and other fruit tree crops. His visit enticed J. B. Armstrong and three other ranchers to agree to spend $20,000 to plant orange groves the following year. (Brownsville Herald, 12/10/04 12/24/04)
Regardless of the civil disturbances at the time, semblances of normalcy existed. In November 1915 the USDA announced plans to establish an experiment station in Mercedes. It would be staffed by six experts. Moreover, the citrus industry had started to expand. In February 1916, 200 acres were planted by William Lingerbrink, Pomelo Gardens Company of Mercedes and others. The Piper Plantation was soon to follow with 500 grapefruit trees on a five acre block. Embedded in any new agricultural endeavors was always the expectation that this one would be that to provide a constant, reliable and profitable income.
Brownsville Herald 11/17/15 and 2/14/16 and 3/9/16
The rising star was citrus. It had problems though. In early March 1920 some 7,000 trees were destroyed by federal horticultural agents at Donna in order to control the spread of canker disease. Realizing the seriousness of the disease, growers joined in support of continued federal inspections. In the east side of the Valley L. E. Snavely of Harlingen was one of the prime promoters of citrus. He had done so well on his own grove that he took on the job of managing groves for absentee landowners who planted citrus. By the spring of 1922 an estimated million trees were being grown on 10,000 acres. Sixty percent of these were grapefruit, 35% orange, and 5% lemon. Their production was sufficient for citrus growers to establish the Valley Citrus Exchange. It was chartered on 4/22/22 with J. A. Hickman as its first president.
Brownsville Herald, 4/2/22,4/11/22,4/22/22
1914 W.T. Hodge moves to Harlingen and in 1916 establishes himself as a shipper of fruit and vegetables. In this first year he ships only 58 carloads of produce. He was born in Sparta TN, 6/6/86 to Jeff and Martha Shockley Hodge. After being educated there he joined his father in the produce business, eventually moving to Fort Worth in 1903 and continuing in the produce business. He engaged in this same trade in Oklahoma City for six years before coming to the Valley. In 1921 he ships the first carload of grapefruit out of the Valley. This citrus fruit industry pioneer becomes, in 1924 the head of the Valley Fruit Exchange, a large corporation. By 1926 he ships 1,070 carloads of various produce from the Harlingen area. In 1927 it ships 1,400 carloads all over the country as well as to Canada. In 1929 he completes the erection of two packing sheds. The Harlingen one has a capacity of five carloads and a floor space of 52,000 square feet in its tile and brick structure while the Rogerville one handle three carloads in its 4,500 square feet in a sheet metal building. Hodge married Estella Hilburn of Fort Worth in that city on May 27, 1906. By 1929 they have daughters Mildred and Eunice. As well as being an Elks member, he is vice president of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Shippers Association.
1916 Otis Edmond Stuart comes to the Valley. He and his cousin, R.T. Stuart [he acquainted himself with the Valley as early as 1912], later develop and promote Stuart Place with its 10,000 acres, probably the largest individually owned agricultural and citrus fruit property in South Texas. Brand names are Stuart's Premium and Stuart's Tree Ripened. Its two packing sheds handling products have a total of 10,000 square feet. R.T. is a resident of Oklahoma City and president of the Mid-Continental Life Insurance Co. (of Oklahoma). In 1918 O.E. is selling land via the American Land Corp. By 1930 it is the American Land Co. with I.W. Wine, manager.
1917 Here this year John Thomas Hester takes up farming and the management of orchards. He dies at age 81 on 8/13/60 leaving his wife Elnora, Mrs. C.H. (Mildred) Carden, Mrs. Loretta Young, and William R. Hester, all of Harlingen and others elsewhere.
Prior to 1917 Thomas F. Lee purchases a sizeable parcel of land just west of Harlingen with the intention of subdividing it. To attract buyers he builds an impressive two-story community clubhouse at "Leeland." When the Stuarts later purchase Lee's holdings, the building becomes the Stuart Place Community Club and the site of many social activities. It is still there at 7901 West Business 83. By 1917 Thomas F. Lee is heavily promoting sales of his farmland west of Harlingen. His Lee Land Company has offices in what he calls Leeland (now the Stuart Place area south of West Business 83), Dallas, Oklahoma City, and St. Louis. He is utilizing excursions to generate sales. One brochure exclaims "Our luxurious private steel Pullman car leaves the Union Station, St. Louis, the first and third Tuesdays of each month for the Home of the Golden Fruit--Leeland--the heart of the Rio Grande Valley." His brochure titles are "The Magic Valley", "Telephone for Rain", "Golden Fruit", Harvest at Christmas Time", and "My Southern Home."
1918 is the year Samuel James came to Harlingen and set up a citrus grove, now the Woodlawn Addition. He had come to the Valley in 1908. This resident later of 421 E. Washington Street also operated a nursery for a time. A member of St. Anthony's Catholic Church, he was to die at age 90 on 5/6/52.
This same year Wiley Edgar and Adella Carey arrive in Harlingen with their 20 year old son James Edmond (Ed) Carey. The following year Ed returns to Throckmorton, TX to marry and bring his bride, Monterey McCay, to Harlingen. He then builds and furnishes for her a two story California style house where Ed Carey Drive now meets Expressway 77/83. He plants 200 acres of citrus in the area and later also grows cotton and vegetables. His first attempt to operate a service station located at North Commerce near the old jail ends in failure. Later however he will successfully own and operate two or three service stations around Harlingen. This First Baptist Church member will support the Boy Scouts and be very active with the Kiwanis Club. His strong faith will encourage his young brother-in-law, L.B. McCay to take up the ministry. He and Monterey have two children, Isla Lou (later Mrs. Wallace C. Athey) and son James Edmond Carey, Jr. After recovery miraculously from a cerebral hemorrhage and semi-paralysis in 1950, Ed, a native of Caddo, TX, will die in late November 1951 at age 52. As the city expands and begins to name streets after states, Pennsylvania is proposed for what people call Ed Carey Road. Public opinion prevails, however, and the city retains the name Ed Carey. When the expressway is constructed in the 1950s, the Carey homestead is demolished. Mrs. Carey then builds a smaller residence on her property to the south. She will die in 1978.
1919 This same year Sam J. Baker comes to town. He later co-founds Baker-Potts Nursery on the road west of town so named for this entity. This native of Howard City, KS (b.3/12/72) dies at age 87 (11/2/59) in Baytown, TX at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Louis (Amy Mae) Himes. A second daughter, Mrs. Frances Davis, resides in Harlingen. His wife, Virginia T. Dyer Baker, preceded him in death. Baker was a community activist being a Mason, Odd Fellow, Woodmen of the World, and member of the Christian Church. In WWI he assisted in Liberty Bond drives.
Arthur J. Potts is a nursery man as well as secretary-treasurer of the company. He was born in Weatherford, TX 3/16/83. He attended Texas A&M College and the U. of California. He married Frances Opal Poland of Muncie, IN on 6/2/10. During the war he was an instructor to the A.T.C. At 802 Harrison they have a daughter Litha Marie.
This same year Stanley B. Crockett assisted his father with the same first name in setting out 1000 acres of citrus west of Harlingen. In 1970 the Crocketts would operate the largest citrus nursery in the state.
1921 (spring) In what is termed an "offseason" Harlingen area farmers still ship 583 solid carloads from the city. Shipped are tomatoes, beans, beets, carrots, onions, green corn, squash, spinach, peppers, cucumbers, and cantaloupes. Freight and passenger revenues for Harlingen Station during 1920 were $568,000.
O'Hea Brothers, the heaviest buyers of cotton in the U.S. for export to England, have their office in Harlingen.
Advertising orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit trees for sale is Dorton's Southwest Nurseries.
1921 Citrus shipments this year are above 20,000,000 boxes and remain in this vicinity until the freeze year of 1949 after which they dip to 14,000,000.
Coming in 1921 from Bishop, TX were Joseph Willie and Gertrude Grant Williams. Mr. Williams, a blacksmith by trade, had bought 25 acres in the Lon C. Hill subdivision south of Harlingen in 1920 and wanted to change his line of work. He farmed the land and grew citrus to be sold on the streets of Harlingen. He is to die at age 92 on 10/17/61 leaving his wife Gertrude and daughter Mildred.
1921 Guy Melvin Snavely, Sr. a businessman here since that date dies at age 78 on 8/5/60. He was a partner with L.E. Snavely in the Snavely Packing Company. He is survived by his wife Charlotte and daughter Mrs. Charlotte Griffen.
1922 H. Raymond Mills organizes the Valley Packing Co. in Harlingen. It is the first citrus packing shed outside of the California-Florida-Arizona districts. C.B. Wood is secretary. A Houston Chronicle spread on Sunday 1/25/23 shows six photos of the plant including its exterior, two of grading tables, sizer and packing bins, the applicator and elevator, and where the fruit is packed. The wooden crates are labeled Valley Sweet. The plant is at N. Commerce and Washington. It packs 40 carloads in 1922 and 23 by the spring of 1923. In this year the John Shary interests purchase the machinery and move it to Sharyland, an area which will become the Valley's center for citrus culture.
5/23/22 The LRGV Citrus Growers Exchange is organized by O.E. Stuart, vice president of the Stuart Place Marketing Organization. 900 growers are to participate in it. A supplement to Monty's Monthly in 1922 is titled "The Citrus Tree, Facts and Potentials of the Lower Rio Grande Valley's Great Industry." An ad on its back cover is for the Lower Rio Grande Citrus Exchange, obviously shortened from the above. Its notes as its officers: J.A. Hickman, president; O.E. Stuart, vice president; H.H. Banker, Secretary; and directors R.J. Thomas, A.H. Kalbfleisch, W.A. Comp, D.A. Cleveland W.G. Rice, and Charles Volz.
In this year the Harlingen district has 1000 acres of citrus averaging 60-70 trees/acre and at age 5-6 years should produce 10 boxes of fruit per tree.
1923 Otha Alton Wyrick, around 18 years old, arrives here. This native of Emerson, AK is to become a citrus grower and cotton farmer. Over the years he is deeply involved in civic endeavors including boy scouting, serving on boards, and with the Church of Christ. When he dies in April 1986 at age 81 he leaves his wife Anna Mote, son Michael of Harlingen, and two daughters. On 12/28/05 Mrs. Wyrick, 95 years old, is to die after having lived at 822 Taylor for 60 years. Born in the Oklahoma Indian Territory she had moved to Harlingen in 1924. A member of the First Christian Church for over 75 years, she was known for her flower and gardening prowess.
2/14/23 The Harlingen Radio Vol.1 No.32 reports an estimate that the Valley will ship 70 carloads of citrus fruit this season and together with local express shipments the total will run to 100 or more. Twenty-five straight cars of grapefruit have been moved by the Valley Harlingen Packing plant.
1/25 An assessment of the December freeze reveals a 15% loss of the Valley grapefruit crop and 25% for oranges.
2/27/25 Charles Edward Rickard, an Illinois native, locates in Corpus Christi but by this date comes from Cape Girardeau, MO to become a Harlingen resident. Before 1930 he becomes an area citrus grower owning five acres and managing 90 acres more for non-resident owners. His home is Rural Route No. 2 out of Harlingen.
After checking out both California and Florida, Wimberly McLeod comes to Harlingen where he and financial partner, Walton D. Hood, a San Antonio banker, buy in 1928 a large but undeveloped tract of 1,870 acres with the intention of subdividing it into small acreages for citrus production. They create the McLeod-Hood Land Co. The site is located just south of the Ojo de Agua Tract, bounded on the east by the Arroyo Colorado and the west by the Briggs-Coleman Tract. It even has a 69 acre reservoir. The 165 lots range in size from around 2.8 acres to 20 acres. A large u-shaped two-story residence/clubhouse is erected on the property nest to the arroyo to entertain prospective buyers. Wimberley McLeod is president of McLeod and Hood Co. with Paul H. Brown as vice-president, and Walton D. Hood, secretary-treasurer. The company's office is in the Politis Building at 108 ½ North 1st Street. McLeod will also sell parcels in the Rice Tract east of San Benito. This land is then cleared by the Bingley brothers of Los Fresnos. McLeod is a native of Abbeville, GA, having been born there 11/6/92. By 1931 he and his wife have a small daughter.
6/12/25 Prof. Arthur T. Potts resigns his Texas A&M position as head of the horticultural division to join Sam Baker in the formation of a nursery company called Baker-
Potts. In addition to an A&M degree Potts possesses one in citrus from the University of California. Potts had help to set up Texas A & M College experiment stations around the state, including the Weslaco one in 1923. It was originally Substation Number 15. In 1951 the Rio Grande Horticultural Society recognized his efforts and ever since the prestigious annual Arthur T. Potts Award is awarded to a deserving individual. Baker came to the Valley to be an ag inspector and in 1916 entered business in Los Fresnos. Baker-Potts Road west of Harlingen is named after the nursery site.
6/26 The C.C. Howell Company is dealing in fresh fruit and vegetables.
1927 Stanley Crockett begins work in citrus culture and propagation. By 1958 he would own 1,200 acres, half of which were in citrus production.
It is 1927 that Van Snell's father, who is in real estate in Hammond, LA, is attracted by Valley opportunities, buys land near Donna, and then moves there where he takes up citrus culture. Van will go on to Edinburg Junior College where he meets his future wife Kitty. He then works at the USDA Laboratory in Weslaco before entering a lengthy eventful career as cannery manager with H.E.B. He works 32 years building and managing the Harlingen Canning Company. He was one of those instrumental in the development of the Port of Harlingen, served the Chamber of Commerce, helped to found Tropical Savings and Loan Co., was a Rotary and First Methodist Church member, and was president of the Harlingen Housing Authority Board as well as one which disposed of the former Harvey Richards Field area. Preceded by his wife of 60 years, Kathryn Vaughn Snell, Van Snell is to die in Harlingen at age 94 on July 16, 2005. He leaves a daughter, Ada Kay St. John of Mercedes, and a son Kenneth of Austin along with grandchildren and great grandchildren.
1928 L.E. Snavely is doing so well with his citrus business that in mid-1928 he constructs his $11,250 showplace on Wilson Road. He was educated in Wellington High School in that city in Kansas and at Kansas Normal School. In 1899 he wed Lenna M. Edmondson of Wellington. In 1931 this First Presbyterian, Woodman of the World and Kiwanis member and his wife had two children. He is found dead in Haymarket Plaza, San Antonio. His death at age 68 in 1939 is likely due to a heart attack. Mrs. Snavely is to precede him in death in 1938. Their daughter is to become Mrs. Paul Phipps.
10/4/28 The United Growers Exchange of Harlingen completes a fruit packing shed at Stuart Place. It will be operated by Wallace, Shannon & Co.
11/28 Harper and Fitzgerald, packers and shippers of fruit along the rail line at Stuart Place, advertise gift fruit boxes for $1.50 and up.
By November 1928 the Lower Rio Grande Valley Magazine, a monthly, is up to Vol. 5 No.5. Selling for 10 cents a copy or $1 a year its editor is Kenneth W. Calvin and it is published by E. C. Watson with offices in the Baxter building. Watson will later become business manager for Texas Citriculture Magazine.
11/29 Texas Citriculture notes that Lon Hill has been experimenting and propagating avocado and papayas for six years. In the 1/27/31 News-Herald of Franklin, Pennsylvania Jim Borland who visited here reported in his column that Hill had 2,500 avocado trees of about 5' height planted next to the auditorium. Elsewhere, he had another 2,500 trees about 20' in height. The Texas Citriculture Magazine was first offered for sale 7/28/29 at $1 per year subscription.
Cecil Carruth arrives this year. His older brother Paul will follow about four years later. Carruth in 1930 was the bookkeeper for the Grant Lumber Co. in Harlingen and a year later had worked up to manager. By 1937 Carruth's business was general insurance and loans. By 1939 he was into the partnership of Carruth and Johnson Insurance, then with his brother Paul, and still later with Grant Klopenstein as Carruth-Klopenstein, real estate and insurance. Cecil, called Happy by his friends, is somewhat of a genius or, at minimum, his mile-a-minute mind is open to new ideas. He conceives the idea of commencing a frozen juice concentrate plant in Harlingen. This will be in the cold storage plant which he purchased from CPL in 1946 and renamed Harlingen Cold Storage. He went to Florida and learned what would be required, including over $1 million of stainless steel piping. He and partners, including Paul, then convert the large plant at 804 North Commerce in the late 1940s. Misfortune befell them when a severe freeze decimated the Valley's 1949 citrus crop. His Texas Frozen Food Corp., for which he was president and J.E. Barr executive vice president, then sought alternatives in watermelon and pineapple concentrates and even looked into freeze-dried foods. When Paul went on with others to found Tropical Savings and Loan, Cecil sought to utilize the plant by leasing it to shrimp and other packers. Squirt brand soda pop with its grapefruit-citrus flavor was even bottled there for a time. When he died at age 82 10/4/85 the property was willed to the Rio Grande Children's Home in Mission.
1930 The Harlingen Canning Company, which is owned by Howard E. Butt, commences its operations to produce "Texas-grown, Texas-packed" goods at its Harlingen plant. R. L. Hill, the ice-making entrepreneur, goes into partnership with H.E. Butt, to operate the cannery. Hill may have commenced building the two-story canning plant at F Street between Jackson and Monroe on site of a junk yard in 1928 the year he moved here. He would have ice plants not only in Harlingen but also McAllen, Raymondville, and Brownsville. Here he was president of both the C of C and the Kiwanis Club, as well as being first v-p of the First National Bank. With several hundred thousand square feet of floor space, the cannery operates until July 1968. It processes 55 items as varied as tomatoes, green beans, three types of greens, grapefruit and orange juices, potato and corn chips, pineapples, preserves, bottles soda water, and salad dressing among others. 150 are employed year-round and up to 1,500 at peak periods. Hill is president, Butt vice-president, Milton Capp, secretary, and M.M. Clark manager of the cannery for the first two years until relieved by Van C. Snell, who stayed on for 33 years.
19439/27-29/43 The Texas Citrus and Vegetable Growers and Shippers Association holds its first annual meeting. Harlingen member are Adams Gardens Nurseries, Collier-Mitchell Produce Company, Cullen and Thompson, and John Morris, Jr. Company. Associate members from Harlingen are Crown-Williamette Paper Co., Food Machinery Co., and Tri-Pak Machinery Service.
9/2/33 Sixty citrus shippers agree not to sell culls, namely fruit not meeting U.S. No. 2 inspection requirements.
9/5/33 Hurricane No. 11, 1933 comes ashore north of Brownsville. It subsequently drops or damages 90% of the citrus crop in the Valley. A less severe hurricane here a month earlier had negatively impacted the cotton crop which was enjoying a 9 cent a pound return versus 5 cents for last season. While 55,000 bales were eventually harvested, growers estimated that they had lost 20,000 bales due to rainy weather late in the growing season.
1934 This year the Snider Packing Co. is established. By 1936 it is handling 3,000 acres of peas, beans, broccoli, spinach, beets, carrots, and grapefruit.
1935 The Stuart Place Citrus Association shed burns down with a loss of $22,330 for the property and $23,134 for its contents. This year J.R. Fitzgerald, who has been in the produce business in the area since at least 1930, establishes Tri-Pak Machinery Service on N. Commerce Street. It manufactures equipment for agricultural product packing, lidding, and waxing among other things.
9/27-29/43 The Texas Citrus and Vegetable Growers and Shippers Association holds its first annual meeting. Harlingen member are Adams Gardens Nurseries, Collier-Mitchell Produce Company, Cullen and Thompson, and John Morris, Jr. Company. Associate members from Harlingen are Crown-Williamette Paper Co., Food Machinery Co., and Tri-Pak Machinery Service.
1950-74 The Alberti Seafoods Processing Co. selling "King-O-Shrimp" and "Sea Breeze" Brands will pack products in Harlingen. Its owner Lawrence Alberti of Chicago is to die at age 67 on 10/16/60. When, in 1974, Alberti shutters its doors and a year later Western Shellfish at 708 N. Commerce does also, Cecil Carruth is left with his largely useless Harlingen Cold Storage Building at 804 North Commerce. For a time his Texas Frozen Foods Corp. processed frozen shrimp and citrus juice. The large building contained cold storage vaults, a shrimp processing plant, a citrus juice extraction plant, and a citrus peel dehydration plant along with Rio Freezer, Inc., cold storage.
1951 Year of the Big Freeze hurts the agricultural economy of the area, especially citrus. By July 1952 following three bad freezes in two seasons the citrus tree population in the Valley is reduced from 14 million to 3.6 million. By 1960 it will rise to 5.75 million on 70,000 acres. The freeze did allow grapefruit growers to switch from yellow grapefruit varieties into the more desirable and attractive Ruby Red variety.
1953 It is this year that the Atchison Citrus Center opens for business. In November 1967, owners Mr. & Mrs. John Atchison will open a new facility on Business 83 near FM 800. He manages 500 acres in citrus and sells under the Key Brand label.
1958 The Texas Citrus Mutual is established to assist Valley citrus growers in numerous ways, one important one being the establishment of crop insurance. J. L. Boggus of Harlingen is its first president.
1/30/59 a severe freeze destroys 3 million of the Valley's 12 million trees.
9/14/61 Hurricane Carla causes $1,183,000 in losses to Valley citrus and vegetables. While it hit closer to Corpus Christi, Harlingen had strong winds and a September rainfall total of 8.3". The storm occurred six weeks after heavy rains caused a 25 to 35% loss in the cotton crop being harvested. Harlingen's August rainfall totaled 4.52".
1/11/62 Eleven hours of temperatures below 28 degrees wipe out the vegetable crop in the Valley and five hours below 26 causes widespread citrus icing. Later 5 to 35% of the trees were deemed killed but up to 50% of the citrus production lost. Homes sustained frozen and busted pipes. The blue norther blasts its away toVeracruz and hurts its orange crop. The 1962-63 winter is another bad one. Temperatures in the mid-20s occur several times in January 1963. 4,000 acres of lettuce are affected and 15,800 acres of early-planted tomatoes are wiped out.
1970 By this year the Texas Citrus Exchange Processing division is using the Harlingen Cannery facilities on F Street. It will be consolidated into the Mission Citrus Association, and when the latter builds a new plant south of Mission, the cannery will be vacated by 1987-88.
1976 This is the last year here for the American Refrigerator Transit Co. at 825 N. Commerce. The shipment of cooled vegetables and fruit in railroad freight cars from Harlingen had declined to the point that operations here were no longer economical. Refrigerated trucks had taken most of the business from the railroads.
12/24-26/83 An arctic norther (frigid high pressure frontal system) decimates citrus, sugarcane, and other winter crops in the Harlingen area and Valley when temperatures dip into the teens. It is termed "The Freeze of the Century." Trees on 47,000 out of 69,000 acres are decimated. The upside is that growers may now move into the newer variety Rio or Star Red.
12/22-24/89 An Alberta Clipper arctic freeze sweeps the Valley. This time temperatures are in the low teens, even colder and of a longer duration than the blast six years previous. This cold front penetrates as far south as Veracruz, Mexico. Along with the winter crops, decades-old tall palm trees are destroyed as well as many Norfolk pine trees and semi-tropical ornamental vegetation. Losses to the economy are in the millions. For citrus 24,000 out of 35, 700 acres are wiped out.
1992 Mexico first goes into deficit in providing the annual 350,000 acre feet of Rio Grande River water to the United States but has a five year period to comply. By 1992-97 the deficit rises to over one million and then by 2002 to 1.5 million acre-feet. Valley farmers are stressed for available water as the physical drought continues and proves worse than the early 1950's one. It will not be before 9/05 that Mexico drops its deficit to 100,000 acre-feet.
2002 River reservoir level drop to record lows since the dams were constructed as the year proves to be the driest ever noted.
8/25/04 A lawsuit against the government of Mexico is brought by 17 irrigation districts, 29 water rights owners, and the North Alamo Water Supply Corp. They claim $500 million in economic damages since 1992 when Mexico failed to live up to its part of the water treaty. In 1992 the two river reservoirs were 100% full, but a drought ensued and in the years 1994 through 2003 the levels ranged from 31.425 to 66% and averaged 42.17%. On October 9, 2004 the levels had risen to 81.26% of capacity but the law suit was going forth as Mexico still owed the U.S. 800,000 acre-feet. The year would prove to be the third wettest on record. Eventually the two dams reach over 94 % of capacity.
11/04 The four hurricanes which hit Florida this season reduce its crop by one half. As a result Valley citrus prices rise. Pittman & Davis, who send out up to 800,000 gift boxes in the holiday season, have sent out their sales flyers months earlier and therefore find themselves in a cost squeeze.
3/11/05 With its northern reservoirs overflowing, Mexico now agrees to pay back its water debts to the U.S. The 13 year wait is about over. On 9/27/05 Mexico completes the transfer of the remaining balance by 9/30. The U.S. totals behind the two reservoirs will now stand at 97.1% of capacity.
2008 The Valley is now down to a little over 28,000 acres in citrus. Over them hang the potential treats of invasive insects and diseases now in Florida, Brazil, and Mexico.