Portable houses, without yards, which were moved from place to place 

 on alfalfa field. Gave good results, but too much detail. Not practical. 



I visited many places lying near San Francisco, for I realized that 

 here was the best market on the Coast and I did not want to go 

 far from it. 



One beautiful September day I stepped off the train at Palo Alto. 

 Through the kindness of the real estate men I was shown the sur- 

 rounding country. There had been an early Fall rain and the foothills 

 were green and the picture was entrancing. From their tops I looked 

 out over the far-famed Santa Clara Valley, with San Francisco Bay 

 in the distance. At my feet were the red tile roofs of one of the coming 

 universities of the world. From the foothills to the bay were broad, 

 level fields whose fertility was capable of feeding many happy families. 



I then and there decided that somewhere in this beautiful Santa 

 Clara Valley I would make my home. When a barefoot boy away 

 back in Indiana on the old farm, I dreamed, as I plowed corn up and 

 down the long rows, of that home I should sometime make, and always 

 I pictured it under the shadow of a great seat of learning. Here was 

 Stanford University and rich soil and the most delightful climate in 

 the world and glorious sunshine spread over all. No need to look 

 farther. I had arrived at a place that was far beyond my wildest 

 dreams. As I looked out over the orchards and grand oak trees spread 

 out beneath me on the floor of the valley, and surveyed the mountains 

 that enclosed all this little world of wealth and beauty, I thanked 

 Providence that my longing, restless nature had led me to this 

 delightful spot. 



If I had only known just how to choose a location for a poultry 

 ranch in the start, I could have saved more than five years experi- 

 menting. I chose ten acres near the foothills six miles out of Palo Alto. 

 It was a beautiful residence section and fine orchard land for prunes 

 and apricots; but what a mistake I made in this selection as a poultry 

 ranch! In the first place, I could not get water for irrigation without 



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