had taken fortunes to erect and many that were not built right and 

 were doomed to failure. The poultry industry was still in its infancy 

 and there was a world of room to work out and put it on a systematic 

 basis. To my maturer judgment today I can see the mistakes of those 

 earlier attempts in the Eastern States. Their houses were built too 

 close and fowls were crowded. The modern open front house has 

 changed all this, but it took years to convince farmers that hens must 

 have fresh air. 



It would make too long a story to go into detail telling how I 

 searched for that favored location and finally headed toward the West. 

 Horace Greeley's advice, "Young man, go West," haunted me from 

 a boy. 



I stopped in Spokane, Seattle, Portland, and many smaller towns 

 on the way to the coast, studying the few poultry ranches that could 

 be found and comparing advantages. 



I had read of the wonderful poultry section around Petaluma and 

 headed this way. I finally arrived in San Francisco, which city imme- 

 diately impressed me, as it does everyone, that this was the coming 

 city on the Pacific Coast, and that here within reach of this growing 

 seaport center would be the place to build that dream ranch. 



POULTRY 



First California ranch fifteen years ago 



