a.!?er was then hired, and the rentes already carried 
<ai by some of the meinher.s were con.solidated with 
tlie business purchased. 
.METHODS AND MANAGEMENT.—The company 
has now been in .successful operation for .six montlis. 
llie milk is gathered at the member’s door by the 
company’s auto truck, is brought to the plant, clari- 
hed, pasteurized, bottled and put out in the most 
sanitary manner. The surplus is taken care of in 
the manufacture of cream and other by-products. 
'I'lie member does not have to leave his farm, has 
no bottles or cans to wash or bills to collect, but 
The Farmers’ Milk Plant. Fig. 73 
can give all his tiiiu' to the lu'oduction end of the 
bu.sine.ss and is sure t>> rt'ceive a check at th<> end of 
each week for the milk fniaiished. The company 
started with an output of o.r)(M> (juarts daily, but 
this has been increased to o.dOP, until already the 
facilities purchased are unable to take care of the 
business. A modern cement plant which will cost 
.SitiO.tMX) completed and be capable of handling 20.0(10 
(juarts daily is in inwe.ss of construction. This new 
plant will be a model of sanitary develoi)ment and 
mechanical ellicieuey. It will be tini.shed inside in 
pure white glazed tile and will be fitted Avith the 
most modern milk machinery, so that the cost of 
handling Avill be greatly reduced. The coinjiany's 
common stock has risen in price to .$110 jier .shaiv. 
and there is a Avaiting list of producers ready to 
come in Avith their milk when the new jdant is 
completed. 
RESULTS. —'I’he most jiractii'al results, howevm-, 
have been seen in the price paid for the members' 
milk. Fifty cents per 8f^-quart can AA'as all that Avas 
obtainable AA'hen the enterprise started. This has 
advanced steadily until on August 14, 1017, the price 
to jiroducjer members Avas set at 7.7c. per can deliv¬ 
ered at the plant. As the. organization gathers 
strength and its members gain confidence in each 
other the comjiany will undonbtedl.A’ become the 
nucleus for other cobperatiAe enterpri.ses, thus assur¬ 
ing its members a saving in costs as Avell as an in- 
< "case in returns. at.dk.v r. n.:i:Tr. 
M.issachusetts. 
Another Side of Farm Labor 
Here is another cliaptei- in this ncA'cr-eiuling farni 
labor problem. Most of us know about the ecjuiiunent 
of the average back-to-the-lander, and his chances for 
success. Here is a ucav siih* of it. Is it likely tlnit this 
mechanic can find a i>lac(‘ Avhere he can Avork out his 
plan ? 
I .VM 28 years old, marrie.l, one child, boy tAA'o years 
old, Hollander, speak English fluently, good 
habit.s. do not smoke, drink or chcAV'. I haAe been 
AA(»rking for the last five years on farms as farm¬ 
hand. teamster, herdsman, foreiuiin, fimilly manager; 
hav(‘ therefore done all kinds of farm AA'ork, and 
have Imd this exi)erience :is avcII Avifh manual l.ibor 
Milk is Collected by Auto Truck. Fig. 74 
as with braiiiAA'ork, as Avell AA'itli “doing-as-you-are- 
told" as Avith ‘-telling others Aviiat to do.” I have 
given satisfaction in my differemt positions, but, of 
coiii-se, on every place is something Avrong. On the 
one. one finds out that the help doesn’t stay any 
length of time, leaving as soon as convenient for 
better conditions. On the other, the Golden Rule 
is not knoAvn to the emjAloyer, making life disa¬ 
greeable for his help and the imsition untenable for 
a_ man with any self-respect. 
T luiA'^e i-ad about an aA'erage of one position a 
^ear (not.A'ery long. .I admit'); moA'cd from one 
Ghe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
locality to another, and from one State to another, 
always helped by advertising in your Subscriber’s 
Exchange. 'When aac began to get friends Avith our 
neighbors it (juite often hapj)ened aa’c had to moA-e 
again, and as it never happened to me yet that I 
could get a .similar position as the one A’acated in 
the immediate neighborhood, this inoA’ing meant giA'- 
ing up social life and friends, and entering a ucav 
(ommunit.v again. So Ave never got to be ".some- 
body" in a community, felt our.selA'es to be outsidei-s, 
I (derated but not considered as “one of the croAvd.” 
We are getting sick of this. We Avant to settle some- 
AA'Iiere Avhere aac can huA'e a home, a place Avhere 
( ur youngster can groAv up Avithout “trekking" all 
over creation and feeling like Avanderers. All Ave 
IniAU' sav(>(l noAv is a little OA’er oiu? thousand dollars, 
too little to do anything Avith, by making a payment 
on a farm, and taking uj) farming as a busine.ss. 
This amount Avould dwindle to nothing, no Avorking 
capital, no inoiu^v for necessitie.s, a mortgage and 
no chance to pay it; discourageunent, failure. 
T have been thinking about buying a small jdace, 
dO or 40 acres, maybe, in an industrial .section. We 
llien Avould have a jdace of our oavu Avhere imin-oA'o- 
nients made by us Avould not benefit ‘‘the next man.” 
but Avould be for ourselves and offsju-ing. I am a 
machinist by trade. I Avant this j)lace to be in a 
lliickly setth'd manufacturing .section, for tAA'o rea¬ 
sons; jdenty of Avork Avhen T need it, plenty of con¬ 
sumers when our little place .should haA'e ju'oduce to 
sell. IMy jdan AA'oidd be t(A go to AA'ork in machiiu'- 
.shoj) or factory Avithiu commuting distance from my 
jdace (motorcycle), so as to-make a little mor(' 
moiu'y than I can on farm, combined Avith shoi-ter 
hojirs. no Sunday and holiday-Avork. Avhicli days I 
could utilize on our oavu jdace. 
What do you tliiidc about this j)lan? A good 
.skilled Avorkman has got .some standing, is sonudtody, 
Avhilo the farm for(‘man or herdsman, drifting from 
( iH‘ jdace to another is nobody. So lu're ar(' a fcAA" 
of the most imj>ortant (jnestions T Avould like to 
have .•msAver('d; 
1. Is the plan as outlined practical or feasible? 
2. 'Will it be j)ossibl(( to juirchas(‘ a idac(> such 
as I Avaut Avith the moiu'y I liaAc and the inoiu'y T 
Avill earn Avithout the jiayment getting to be too 
gi-('at a burden? 
.'). Is there any Avay a ida(‘(‘ can b(‘ bought, tin' 
jiayments apjdying on the juirchase price inst(‘ad of 
being interest money alone, and leaving the ])rincij)al 
still to be i)aid? 
4. Where can I get good information regarding 
localities AA'here there is much industry and also 
good farm land? 
7. 'Would it b(' ;i good idea to ask chandlers of 
comnu'rce. etc., foi- information? 
Ma.ssachusetts. v. k. 
Hops that Raise Bread 
Pact T. 
NGREASING 1 )E.MAXI).—"The Plains raises the 
AvlK^at for bnnid : A\-e groAv the hojis to raise the 
bread,’’ is a pojnilar sa.Aing in Sonoma County, 
California, the largest hoji-ju-oducing region in 
America. Sonoma region groAvs one-half of the 
Golden Stat(‘’s hojis on an average year, betAA'een 
$2,7fM).0(I0 and .$.-),0()0,0<X) Avorth of hojis being mar- 
ket(“(l in Santa Ro.sa alone. The demand for hojis 
has Ihh'ii trijilcd in the jiast fcAV years, due to the 
groAving custom of honsruvives making bread at 
lionu'. It Avji.s thought not long ago that the jiassing 
of the lireAA'ery, consumiug tons of hop.s in li(*er 
manufacture, aa-ou1(1 likewise find the hop-groAving 
regions turned into other diversified crops. Put 
b(>er or no lamr, the great hoji-jiroducing centers can¬ 
not to-day, Avith scA-eral of the former Imer-consum- 
ing C(Mit(‘r.s jis dry as tin* C ilorado Ib'sin-t, conu> any- 
AvheiA* iK'ar snjijilying the demand of y('ast ni.-mu- 
1;’.( t nr(*r. 
.VCRE.VGE .VNI) PRICE.-s.—You a\ ill find b(d\ve('n 
liv(‘ .and six thon.sand acTes of hoji yards in Sonoma 
County this s(‘ason. The aven-age general jiradnc- 
tion for the county is fii/. bales jier acre; often this 
is almost trijiled. The average of the Russian 
RiA'er bottom lands is 1,700 jKiunds. This is not so 
bad AAheu AA’e recall that the English hop fields jiro- 
duce 007 jiounds jier acre, and Germany 510 jiounds, 
and the average for the AA’hole of the United State's 
is S,S5 jAound.s. Therefore, ideal climate and inten¬ 
sive agriculture are meaning success spelled Avith 
the dollar sign for Sonoma County groAvers. The 
jirices received from 1895 to 1910 shoAV that the 
average quotations on Sejiteinlier 1 are a fraction 
less than 14 cents a jiouiid. In 20 years the loAvest 
(jiuitation has been seven cents and the highest 
$1.48. In 1910 the range Avas betAveen 12^ and 25 
cents a pound. Put since 1911, Avith a short foreign 
crop, uncertain importations, the lOAvest price has 
185 
been .20 cents, while sales haA-e been as high as .70 
cents Jier jiound. As it costs about 10 cents a jinnnd 
to jn-oduce the hojis, there is real money in growing 
them. « 
PROFITAPLE RETURNS.—Sonoma County Imjis 
are the basis of (juotations in the general market. 
The yards of this county are excejitionally hea-lthy, 
the dry Summer protecting the groAvth. About one- 
third of the hoji fields lie around Healdsburg. from 
Geyersville on tin' north to Wind.sor in the south. 
Russian bdttom lands are the faA-orite .soil. W. H. 
The Man on The Team. Fig. 75 
IMcCutcheon of Healdsburg has 27 acres of bottom 
lands Avhich for five years have averaged 2,200 
Jiounds an acre, in one season giving 2.500. It costs 
tins groAver seA'en and one-half to eight cents a 
Jiound to jiroduce. or 10 including the land i-ental. 
’this land is AA'orth .$.iOO an acre. For fiA’('j yi'jirs 
the net jirotit jk'i- acre has h('(*n $loo jier y(*ar; 
oiui year it aa jis $.‘!oo. I'his has been made on sales 
as loAA' as .714 cents and uii to 2.7 cents jier jiound. 
Part of the croji is contracted for three and five 
yt'ars, k'aA'ing a surjilus to s('ll at cui-rent jirici's in 
high y('ars, such as the jiast six yi'ars have been. 
SOIIi .VXD PROP.Vtt.VTK (X'.—'I'ln* selection of the 
best .soil on Avhich to groAv tlu' hoji jilant luA-olves 
the consideration of seA'eral factors, dejiending on 
the jK'culiarities of the jilant it.seIC and the jihy.sieal 
conditions of the region in Avhich the land lies. 
Rich alluvial lands or deeji .sandy or gravelly loams 
ai-e jin-ferred generally. This is due to the fact 
that the .soil Avith a high ji(‘rc(*ntage of sand is 
r(*a(lily tillable, Avhile the cultivation of a stilY .soil 
is difficult and (‘xjiensive. .Vs the roots of the 
Jilant jienetrate the earth for a distance of many 
leet, a Avell-drained .subsoil is es.sential. d'hen'fori', in 
selecting a location for the hoji yard, it is essential 
that the groAver jiay e.sjieciid att(nitiou to the dejith, 
fertility, drainage, and tinene.ss of the soil. Avoid 
the lieaA'y, AA'ot soils, jind stiff clayey soils are not 
satisfactory. Cuttings are by far the mo.st jirotitable 
method of starting the yard, since by using jilants 
raised from .s('ed, the jilants cannot be dejii'iided 
ujion and are usually Aveaker. Throughout the Cali¬ 
fornia lioji belt the croji is obtained from cuttings 
jilanted in the .Sjiring, a full crop being hai-Amsted 
the second year. The.se cuttings are taken from 
young plant.s, since tlu'.v are most resistant to distnise 
and more jirodnctive than tho.se tak('u from old jilants. 
lT,.VX’'riX"(;.—In the Sonoma groAving region, 
jilanting is done in January or February, although 
in some .seasons jilanting as late us IMay 1 has 
yiebh'd good result.s. Practically all ncAV hops are 
.set out in roAvs six to seven feet each Avay. Setting 
<;!/, feet ajiart, there Avill be 1,0:!1 hills jier ae-n'. and 
42C> sijnare feet of soil to the jilants each hill; 
Avhen s(‘t s('V('n f(‘et ajiart, tlu-re Avill be .8,s<i hills 
Jier acre and 49 sijuare feet of soil to the jilants of 
\ 
New Plant Under Construction. Fig. 76 
each hill, i he cidtivation method.s folloAA'f'd nt'cessi- 
tate stniight roAvs. Three iiud often four cuttings 
!ire set in each hill. Differences of ojiinion and 
jirtictice there are, and the number AA'hich it is ad- 
A'isable to .set is in a mea.sure dejiendent on the 
sy.steiu of tniining emjiloyed. The fourth root is 
set as ti measure of jn-ecaution against the jAossibiiity 
of loss by rotting or injury of one or more of the 
cuttings after they are set out. 
KARI.E AVILLIAM GAGE. 
A REAiiEK back among the hills writes, “my ink is 
frozen and so I use a jiencil.” This means ink may 
freeze, but his spirit Avill thaAv out his troubles. 
