SANTA ROSA 263 



who followed the plow and pitched the fertilizer 

 into furrows as the plowing proceeded. 



Further details as to the method of tillage and 

 the preparation of the soil have been given in an 

 earlier chapter and need not be repeated here. 

 But the subject is mentioned because I wish to 

 emphasize the possibility of transforming very 

 poor land into land of exceptional fertihty. 



To what extent intelligent manipulation of 

 land may be rewarded is illustrated in the imme- 

 diate sequel. For in the spring following the 

 season in which the new land was tiled and fer- 

 tilized, it was planted to fruit tree seedlings, and 

 the year following enough nursery stock was 

 sold from half the land to pay for the entire 

 place and all the improvements that had been 

 made. 



So I now had a four-acre plot of the finest land, 

 located near the business center of Santa Rosa, 

 that had been paid for with ingenuity and knowl- 

 edge vidthout making any serious drain on the 

 purse. 



This same plot of land, modified in places by 

 treating with sand to make it suitable for raising 

 bulbs, has perhaps grown a greater number of 

 varieties of plants from regions near and remote 

 than were ever elsewhere grown on any four 

 acres of the earth's surface. 



