The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-03-03

single or half acre lot in the village
The idea is that the farmers shall live in
the village and till their adjacent lands.
The village is to be surrounded by a
broad, circular boulevard on which the
houses will face.
Another feature of the plan is to be
the system of ownership. The owners of
the farms are to constitute company
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 sur
plus milk; cannery for the fruit, a
packing house and starch factory to
convert the surplus potatoes into a mar
ketable article.
The most important feature of the
plan, and the one on which its life de-
ponds, 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 ir-
rigation almost any kind of crops could
be raised, as well as such semitropical
fruits as oranges, lemons, lines, pome-
granates, olives and figs. Good railroad
facilities are easy of access and, besides,
the Sacramento river furnishes a clear
waterway to Sacramento and San Fran
cisco.
1t is estimated that capital Of S670
is sufficient to establish family on a
20 acre farm in the proposed colony and
SAT- on 10 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 num-
Der of thrifty American families to the
west, gather them into farm villages
hike this, where they can rely upon their
own efforts to bring them a good living
with good prospects for acquiring mod
est fortune. A community similar to the
one proposed has already been started in
Payette Valley, Ida, and in the two
years of it's existence has prospered
greatly.
The plan gives the colonist 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 in 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 prac-
q wa n
Worcester, Mass, about 81 years ago
and comes of Puritan stock. He is
journalist by profession, but has been
identified with several successful bust
ness enterprises in the west. For two
years he was president Of the irrigation
congress.
His plan is the outcome of a study Of
various colony schemes that have already
been tried, and he claims to have en-
braced all the best points and avoided
the bad ones. The idea is primarily t12t
a hundred such communities would r.
claim by irrigation the SO called ario
lands and secOndarily the establishment
of combined agricultural and manufac
turing communities 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 a
mere theory. 1t would be a financial in
terest and consequently a lasting one.
Social economists will watch with great
the new colony which Mr..
Smythe is to establish.