50 WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION
Mr. FLeminG. The largest tracts that we have are approximately
600 acres in area. :
The Cuarrman. Is there much of the population from Mexico
coming into those lands?
Mr. Freming. Not recently, sir.
The CaairmaN. Is there much there now?
Mr. FreminGg. There is a very large native-born Spanish-speaking
population in the Rio Grande Valley.
The CrairmaN. They can make contracts to purchase this land?
Mr. Freming., Yes, sir.
The CuarrMAN. And they are American citizens?
Mr. FrEminG. Yes, sir.
The CratrmMaN. About what percentage are they?
Mr. FueminG. The proportion of the Spanish-speaking people who
are our water contractors is probably 40 per cent of the total.
The Cuatrman. Now, what is the trouble down there?
Mr. Freming. Our difficulty, sir, is this: Our principal and, you
might say, our only money-making crop is cotton, We grow a very
excellent grade of cotton. It seems that our soil and climatic conditions
 are particularly well adapted to the growing of cotton. We
also grow other crops, such as alfalfa, truck crops and some orchards.
Of our 88,000 acres, approximately 65,000 acres are planted to cotton.
The remainder is in other crops. We grow no citrus fruits because of
the low temperatures in the winter.
Mr. Box. That 88,000 acres is above the El Paso line?
Mr. Freming. It is entirely within the State of New Mexico.
The Cmairman. These buyers of the reclaimed land want some
help—Ilabor?
Mr. Freming. Mr. Chairman, we have a very narrow valley.
We are separated from the rest of the country by vast expanses of
desert. We have, in the valley of which I am speaking, probably
20,000 inhabitants, including Spanish speaking people and English
speaking Americans, and at the height of the cotton picking season,
rather careful estimates which I made last summer, indicate we need
probably 10,000 people for the picking of the cotton crop. It is
estimated of the 10,000, probably 5,000 can be supplied locally from
our own population. About 5,000 must, therefore, come in from
outside our own area. This last year, owing to a short crop in
Texas, there were a considerable number of people from West Texas
that came into our area, and owing to the short crop in our own
section, our difficulties were not very severe in picking the crop, but
if we had had a normal crop the probability is there would have
been a serious situation developed. }
I might say this, that the peculiarities of our climate are such that
delay in the picking of the cotton results in deterioration both in
grade and staple and it has been estimated that a delay in the picking
of only half the crop in our area, would result, through the deterioration
 in the grade and staple, in a loss to our farmers, of $300,000.
It is, therefore, essential when the crop matures it should be picked.
Consequently, we are very much concerned over the labor situation.
Now, I may say that previous to last year I am told—of course,
I was not there at that time—that the labor situation in our valley
was materially relieved by the considerable number of people who
came in from old Mexico. They came in mostly in families. They