470 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



between caring for their lands as they should, and joining together, 

 draining certain sections of land and getting full value for it, and 

 letting it go with no care or drainage whatever. 



Mr. Adams. Yesterday I asked a banker here in Fresno, Avho had 

 refused to loan a cent on certain land lying near, how much will you 

 loan on that land if it is drained and planted in alfalfa ? His answer 

 was, he would consider it good security for ninety to one hundred 

 dollars per acre at least. 



Mr. Rixford. In regard to this universal condemnation of alkaline 

 land, I want to say something in favor of alkali. We have discovered 

 one plant that flourishes in alkaline land, and that is the date palm. I 

 have visited the date garden at Tempe, Arizona, where the whole sur- 

 face was white with alkali, . and those palms were growing there to 

 "beat the band." You can plant them when they are very young in 

 strong alkali, but after the plants are two or three years old they will 

 flourish in land that is so alkalined that none but salt brush will grow. 

 I am satisfied that a good deal of alkaline land in the San Joaquin 

 Valley will grow dates by planting the better varieties — the Rhars and 

 Deglet Nours. 



]\Ir. Stephens. There is a very important matter, one that the 

 fruit growers of this State are deeply interested in, and I would like to 

 take a few minutes' time right here. It is this Railroad Commission; 

 whether the growers are back of this proposition, whether they want it 

 and are willing to ask for it or not, and every fruit grower interested 

 should be willing to attach his signature to this petition, and if the 

 petition can be passed around and not interfere with the meeting and 

 signed by the growers who wish to sign it, it would be a good thing. 

 This is a very important matter, of more importance than any other 

 action we have taken up here in this convention. If you want anything, 

 ask for it ; show that you want it, and if you do that you will get what 

 you want. Show the Railroad Commission that you are in earnest over 

 this matter and you are bound to get your rights. I hope every grower 

 will attach his signature to this petition, and in so doing he will show 

 that he desires the Railroad Commission to take this matter up. 



IMember. I would suggest that everybody take a copy of this peti- 

 tion home, that every county commissioner be requested to take a copy 

 of this petition home and get signatures to it and then send it on to Mr. 

 Russ Stephens at Sacramento. 



Mr. Garden. I would suggest that the secretary ought to be in 

 charge of this railroad petition and furnish a sufficient number of this 

 resolution, so that the commissioner in each county can hand a resolu- 

 tion to each inspector on his rounds, and in that way I think he could 

 reach every grower in the State. 



