St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-12
ircular boulevard on which the houses

circular boulevard on which the houses
will face. a~e @
Another feature of the plan is to be
the system of ownership. The owners
of the farms are to constitute a COM
pany which shall own the village and
conduct various enterprises necessary
for the profitable utilization of the
crops. Thus there will be a creamery.
to use the surplus milk; cannery for
the fruit, a packing house and starch
factory to convert the surplus potatoes
into marketable article
The most important feature of the
plan, and the one on which it's life
depends, is the irrigation system. This
is to be in the hands of the company
and the water right goes with the title
to every farm Each colonist is to
purchase as many shares of stock as
he does acres of land, and the capital
thus acquired is to be used for the
general benefit of the colony. While
the Sacramento valley is not actually
an arid region, the rainfall is only
sufficient for the raising of grain and
early vegetables. With sufficient irri-
cation almost any kind of crops could
be raised, as well as such semi-tropical
fruits as oranges, lemons, lines, pome-
GRANTEES, olives and figs Good rail-
road facilities are easy of access, and,
besides, the Sacramento river furnishes
clear waterway to Sacramento and
San Francisco.
1t is estimated that a capital of $3.50
is sufficient to establish a family on a
twenty-acre farm in the proposed col
ony and SAT- on ten acres. In return
for this it is said that from $50 to 500
an acre can be made over and above
living expenses
Mr.. Smythe's idea is to attract
number of thrifty American families
to the West, gather them into farm
villages like this, where they can rely
upon their own efforts to bring them q
good living with good prospects for &C.
curing modest fortune. A COM
munity similar to the one proposed
has already been started in Payette
valley, Idaho, and in the two years
of it's existence has prospered greatly
The plan gives the coIonist a great
advantage over the individual farmer,
for the village company, of which he
is a member, furnishes him with water,
power, electric light and, what is more,
a good market for his products. He
gets the benefits of living i'll a village
and is still near to his farm.
Mr.. Smythe, the author of this
scheme, is neither a wild dreamer nor
a selfish land boomer. He is a young
energetic, earnest business man, with
lots of practical common sense. He
was born in Worcester, Mass, about
thirty-four years ago, and comes Of
Puritan stock. He is a journalist by
profession, but has been identified
with several successful business enter
prises in the West. For two years
| he was president of the irrigation con-
| gress.
| His plan is the outcome. of a study
| of various colony schemes that have
| already been tried, and he claims to
| have embraced all the best points and
| avoided the bad ones. The idea is pri-
marily that a hundred such communi-
ties would reclaim by irrigation the
so-called arid lands. and secondarily
the establishment of combined agri-
cultural and manufacturing communi-
ties on a sound financial basis. These
colonies would consist Of men who
owned their own farms and at the
same time had an active interest in
the community in which they lived
| Their interest would not depend on
mere theory. 1t would be a financial
interest and consequently lasting
one. Social economists will watch
with great interest the new colony
which Mr. smythe II to establish.