THIRTY-FOURTH FRUIT-GROWERS^ CONVENTION. 



101 



of Davisville, in Yolo County, thirteen miles from the Capitol at 

 Sacramento. The farm is right near the railroad, and any one can get 

 off at the depot and walk over to it. The farm comprises 780 acres, 

 and the ground is practically flat. Sites have been chosen for the 

 instructional buildings, the livestock pavilion, which Avill seat about 

 four hundred people and admit of the showing of animals, and the 

 creamery building. The creamery building is a regular commercial 

 creamery, capable of handling the milk of several hundred cows. It 

 is to be run as a commercial creamery on commercial principles, and 

 at the same time serve for instructional purposes. It will be very 

 complete; will be equipped for the handling of both butter and cheese 

 in accordance with the latest approved commercial methods. Of course, 

 we don't expect to keep on the farm enough cows to produce milk for 

 that creamer.y, but will buy milk from the surrounding farmers, and 

 will run it on a large scale as a producing creamery. 



We have a water supply from a deep well, with a water tower holding 

 a 25,000-gallon tank, about sixty feet in the air. This gives pressure 

 in these different buildings, and also gives us an opportunity for out- 

 look. The farm is so depressingly flat that the only place we could 

 get any point of view was by the construction of a tower of that sort, 

 which serves for a water tower and is necessary. There will be car- 

 penter shops and blacksmith shops, which are for farm use and 

 instruction also. There Avill be a modern dairy farm, capable of holding 

 about one hundred animals, old and young. There are four dormitories 

 of fifty rooms each, with a dining-room and kitchen. Ultimately, we 

 ex])ect to have accommodations for not less than two hundred pupils. 



There are ditches to irrigate the orchard and vine^'^ard, and also 

 about 100 acres of alfalfa in one body and 30 acres or so in another 

 piece. The farm is very large, and the view is imposing. The creek 

 carries water, and a portion of it is nicely timbered with a fine growth 

 of native trees. The country is so flat and no drainage provided 

 naturally, that we have been obliged to put in a thoroughly modern 

 system of drainage, consisting of proper conveyances to septic tanks 

 and pumps from the septic tanks into the valley. This sewage is said 

 to be perfecth' harmless after going through the septic tanks, and we 

 propose to make experiments on sewage irrigation for the purpose of 

 testing out different kinds of eucalyptus trees and to determine how far 

 eucalyptus growth can be used for the disposal of purified sewage in 

 connection with a great many of the drainage problems of the valley. 



There is an old vinej-ard, part of which we are retaining. In all 

 probability this will ultimately be planted as a park, and some educa- 

 tional buildings erected there as they are needed. 



We are putting up now structures that we consider to be practicable 

 for the farm. They are the sort of thing that ought to be on every large 

 farm. If the State requires ultimately that more pretentious educa- 

 tional buildings be placed there, "we are saving the more prominent 

 places for them. 



We have been delayed in the opening of the stru.ctures on this farm. 

 This has been more disappointing to us than to any one else. There 

 were great difficulties about building. This thing came upon us right 

 after the earthquake. One time, when bids were advertised for, there 

 was only one bidder, so we have had some difficulty about the designing 



