Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

of Magic." The magic is in the ground. Oil, agriculture, minerals, in that order. But man has had to work to get it. He had to build dams and canals to haul water from as far away as 150 miles. He had to dig wells 2,000 ft. into the earth to suck up more of the same life-giving water. Planting the flat reaches by means of great machinery, cultivating and harvesting with the same mass-production techniques, man has made a factory of the soil. With a variety of farm products each year that value $225 million or better, Kern County is among the top four of the nation. On the farm cotton is king, a $67 million crop, according to most recent official figures, with another $9 million in cotton seed. California now ranks second among all states in cotton production. Despite recent acreage limitations, income has fallen only a little in proportion because more intensive cultivation has increased the yield per acre. Local historians will tell you cotton has been a long time coming of age in California. It arrived in Kern County in 1865 when 130 acres were planted with a ton of seed from Tennessee and a ton from Mexico. It was a flop, though, until 1917 when the U. S. Grapes are a big item. They account for $17 million in table variety and another $3 million in wine variety. The chief grape area is at Delano, where U. S. 99 makes a straight run north through Tulare County. Another principal grape region is southeast of Bakersfield near Arvin. Following U. S. 99 into Bakersfield you can't escape the most potent magic of the soil as oil derricks loom. A quarter-billion dollars a year from the earth. Even better than agriculture. "One-third of the oil in California comes from Kern County," drillers will volunteer. But man had to dig for it. Richfield Oil Corp. went down almost 18,000 ft. for it in 1953. Ohio Oil Co. went over 21,000 ft. a year ago. Some 13,500 wells are pumping today in Kern County. "Many of the nation's leading oil companies made their start right here in Kern County," businessmen tell you. "More than a hundred maintain offices in Bakersfield and we've got eight big refineries going here now. More millions for the local market basket." At Boron, near the southeastern county line in the Mojave Desert on U. S. Route 466 is the world's largest deposit of borax and the principal plant of the Pacific Coast POTATOES AND PETROLEUM: Two of the big three in Kern County economy develop side by side in this field. The third: mineral production. Agriculture Dept. set up an experiment station. The government experts selected Acala cotton, originally from Mexico and later Oklahoma, and after years of breeding they wound up with a strain called Acala 4-42. Beginning in 1949 the whole state was planted in Acala 4-42 and at the request of all segments of the cotton industry, a state law was passed forbidding any other kind. All cotton grown in the San Joaquin Valley now comes from "certified" seed provided by the California Planting Cotton Seed Distributors at Bakersfield. The valley is free of pink bollworm, leaf worm and other blights which have plagued some cotton districts. Minor pests are controlled by aerial dusting, typical of the big scale, big business technique employed. Local farmers dig a lot of money out of the soil in another principal product, potatoes, the long white, thin skinned variety, a $28 million source of income all by themselves last year. Kern County produces three fourths of the potatoes in California. Other farm items which help swell Kern County and Bakersfield pocketbooks are livestock ($44 million worth), alfalfa and grain ($14 million each). The mountain slopes are important cattle and sheep grazing areas. Borax Co. Not quite as far east along Route 466, at the small towns of Tehachapi and Monolith in the mountains, are two major cement works. Verdi Development Co., said to be the West Coast's first uranium mill, opened here in September south of Mojave. Bakersfield, the county seat, is bursting out of the middle of the county at the intersection of north-south U. S. 99 and east-west U. S. 466. It is the economic hub without dispute. Don't ask how many people live and buy there. They have sprawled out into the surrounding countryside so thickly that the city limits mean only a political boundary. A political issue, too, since more folks live just outside than in. "The metropolitan estimate is 140,000 to 1 50,000 people. Depends on who you ask." That's a familiar answer. The estimate for all of Kern County is 270,000 people today, according to the Kern County Board of Trade. At the crossroads of all vital highway traffic in the county, Bakersfield is served by the main lines of the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railways as well as by United and Southwest Airlines. A half-dozen major trucking firms also serve local industrial and agricultural needs. At last official tabulation, retail sales in the county topped $298 million, while consumer income is an estimated $460 million, according to local businessmen. Bank debits exceed $2 billion. With 3,000 new homes being constructed each year, construction since 1950 has exceeded $1.5 billion. Some 350 manufacturing and mining firms employ over 10,500 people with payrolls at an estimated $50 million yearly. Bank deposits exceed $215 million. Kern County spends like many a state. With auto registrations estimated at nearly 100,000, plus trucks and other vehicles, gas station sales ran an estimated $25 million last year (1955) while automotive store sales exceeded $55 million. Businessmen estimated food store sales topped $70 million; building materials and hardware, $25 million; home furnishings, $15.5 million. The "big six" of Bakersfield industry are Lockheed Aircraft (assembly plant), Standard Oil Refinery, Kern Valley Packing Co. (meat products). Hopper Machine Works (steel fabrication), Phillips Foundry and San Joaquin Cotton Oil Co. Between 1950 and 1953 alone, local industry spent $24 million in expansion. "The weather and climate are big factors in our favor when it comes to luring tourists and new business here. We call it a billion dollars worth of sunshine," a local businessman said. "It rains only about 12 days a year and during the winter it may be as warm as 70 degrees here in town. Of course, it hits 100 in the summer, but the air is very dry and air conditioners are found just about everywhere. It's always cool at night." Sweeping around the county from Bakersfield are another half-dozen markets vital to local economy. On the northern border with Tulare County is Delano in a rich grape region. Population is 11,000. Among the four big wineries here is Cresta Blanca. Although it is a $75 million agricultural market, there is growing manufacture of items like pipe fittings and valves, irrigation pumps, concrete pipe and farm machinery. Southeast of Bakersfield in the Mojave Desert is mammoth Edward Air Force Base. It has its own million-dollar shopping center completed last year, but also is near Mojave. Also in the desert, northeast of Bakersfield, are Ridgecrest, Inyokern and China Lake, gateway to the extensive Naval Ordnance Test Center. Area population is about 16,000. TULARE -VIS ALI AHANFORD Take a giant stride north on U. S. 99 from Bakersfield toward Fresno and your first step will put you in between Tulare and Kings Counties, two agriculture-rich counties whose chief cities of Tulare, Visalia and Hanford are prosperous market places for equally prosperous farmers. Here food processing industries and light manufacture also thrive. Two other smaller but important trade centers include Portersville and Dinuba. Hanford is the seat of Kings County (49,000 pop.) to the west of U. S. 99. All the other markets named are in larger Tulare County (148,600 pop.). Tulare County in turn is only three-fifths as big as Kern County, but its gross farm income is almost as high. While Tulare County lacks the great oil reserves which double the total income of Page 114 • January 30, 1956 Broadcasting • Telecasting