898 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



SANTA FE OFFICIALS BECOMING REAL 

 FARMERS. 



A number of officers, heads of -departments and sub- 

 ordinate employes of the Santa Fe Railway, during the 

 past year, have acquired a tract of land in the foothill 

 district of Fresno County, California, all to be planted 

 to oranges. The location is ideal, with the Sierra Nevada 

 range as a background, facing a beautiful valley covered 

 with vineyards and orchards. 



About three thousand trees were set out last spring, 

 and the coming season from seven to eight thousand more 

 will be planted. Orange trees come into bearing in four 

 and five years, and with reasonable care are prolific bear- 

 ers and yield big returns. 



The foothill districts of Tulare and Fresno counties 

 are becoming famous for their choice oranges, due to 

 favorable soil and climatic conditions. The fruit comes 

 to the market very early and commands good prices. Fair 

 average returns are more than $300 per acre. In many in- 



GEO. T. NICHOLSON, 

 Vice-President the Santa Fe Railway. 



stances profits are greater. In the immediate vicinity of 

 the Santa Fe colony returns the past season have been as 

 much as $560 per acre net, and $2,000 per acre refused 

 for the fee simple title to groves seven and eight years old. 



The purpose of the colony is not speculative, but to 

 establish homes. In a few years each place will be far 

 enough advanced to yield a good income and prove very 

 desirable insurance. The colony consists of 530 acres, 

 divided into twenty-acre tracts; the owners installing their 

 own pumping plant, using electric power, and have put 

 in eight miles of concrete pipe to distribute the water for 

 irrigation. Electric power is very cheap and will be avail- 

 able for other purposes. 



Among the members of the colony are Mr. George T. 

 Nicholson, Vice-President; Mr. C. L. Seagraves, General 

 Colonization Agent; Mr. George T. Gunnip, General 

 Agent all of the Santa Fe, Chicago, and a number of 

 their friends. The plan was conceived and worked out by 

 Mr. Seagraves, and the successful launching of this colon}' 

 will induce others who are occupying salaried positions to 

 do likewise. 



The slogan of "back to the soil" is attracting people 

 in all walks of life, and when far-sighted, hustling western 

 railroad officials see the wisdom of making land invest- 

 ments, it is a good lead to follow. For men officially con- 

 nected with large transportation lines probably see farther 

 into the future than the average layman. They are in 

 close touch with development all over the west, study the 

 economic situation and investigate the supply and demand, 

 and through such analysis determine the exact situation. 



There is a very manifest interest among salaried men 

 in the higher occupations to acquire small holdings in 

 sections which have natural advantages of climate, the 



variety of crops which may be grown, social, religious 

 and educational advantages, and what competence may be 

 reasonably expected, and whether it will provide enough 

 to maintain the same standard of living they have been 

 accustomed to. After a few years a better standard may 

 be maintained and in more delightful surroundings. 



The attendant advantages of these movements mean 

 the extension of trolley and steam lines, with all the com- 

 forts and conveniences of urban life. The average twenty- 

 acre man, with only half of his land in oranges, enjoy 

 more comforts and advantages than the average salaried 

 man of four thousand dollars or more. 



The mountains with their thousands of acres of beau- 

 tiful timber, lakes, streams and rugged scenery, make ar 

 ideal country for a summer outing, while they who prefer 

 the seashore may reach it conveniently in five or six 

 hours. 



UNIQUE IRRIGATION EXPERIMENT. 



George P. Brill, who has a ranch near Deer Park. Wash., 

 is experimenting with a new system of irrigation. His plan is 

 to run lines of porous tiling between the rows of trees in his 

 orchard, and thus to irrigate from beneath the surface. The 

 idea of the new system came to him some years ago when 

 in the east he had occasion to drain oft a swamp. He put in 

 tiling to make it more effective. Mr. Brill is endeavoring to 

 reverse this plan in his system here, his object being to lead 

 the water into the land. 



The trees in his orchard are 28 feet apart, so that two 

 lines of tiling are necessary between the rows. This system, 

 if successful, will facilitate the cultivation of the soil and 

 will do away with a great deal of labor and waste of water. 



The tiling is being manufactured on the ground by a 



C. L. SEAGRAVES, 

 General Colonization Agent the Santa Fe Railway. 



special process. It is figured that it will cost between $100 

 and $150 per acre to install the system. 



The plant furnishing the water is being constructed with 

 double 6-inch walls filled with sawdust, covered on the out- 

 side with siding and painted, sealed on the inside with ship- 

 lap, making it frostprsof. The building rests on a concrete 

 foundation. Below is the gasoline engine which pumps the 

 water into the two galvanized tanks. The plant when com- 

 plete will cost between $1,100 and $1,500. 



If the plan is successful the owner will construct a con- 

 crete tank of sufficient capacity to irrigate the entire ranch 

 of 160 acres. There is a deposit of fine gravel on the place 

 suited to the purpose of making the porous tiling used in the 

 underground system of irrigation. 



FOR SALE- 

 WYOMING RANCH. 

 327 acres in Albany County, 16 miles from Laramie, in 

 the beautiful Laramie Valley; 2% miles from railroad 

 station. 



Every acre of land irrigable by gravity. Never-failing 

 spring for domestic and stock water on the premises. 

 House and barn now erected. A-l potato land. 

 Will sell as a whole or in two parcels. Reason for 

 selling, poor health of owner. 

 For prices and terms address "O LANDER," 



Care IRRIGATION AGE, 

 CHICAGO, ILL. 



