The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-10
FORTY 0uAae SMILES or WHEAT.
a Field That Would Take One Man Thirty
Years to Plough and Plant.

What is said to be the largest sim
gle wheat field in California is now
being planted to the grain that makes
the staff OF life. Ii overs more than
5000 acres. or 40 square miles.
This enormous field of grain is To-
Gated on the banks of the San Joaquin
river, near the town of Clovis. in Ma
dera county. The field is part in Fres-
no county and part in MADEIRA coun-
ty.
Clovis Cole Is the man who is put
ting In this vast acreage, n he has
undertaken one of the largest jobs that
any mar las yet done in California.
While IL is true that larger acreages
of wheat have been planted by certain
ranchers In this state, there seems to
be no record of an exact parallel to
the present case. On the Miller & Lux
ranch. in Kern county. $4,000 acres
were planted one cal, but the fields
were scattered about in different
places. They were really a series of
fields. located wherever there was a
fertile spot. Few Of the fields were
1000 acres. and in many instances
there would be half a mile of bare
land between them. The acreage
planted could not be called a wheat
field of $4,000 acres any more than ell
the wheat fields in the state could be
classed under one head.
The Clovis field. however. is an ideal
wheat field. 1t Is almost as fiat as
a floor. with q general slope toward the
river. The outer lines of the field
make II almost a perfect square Each
side Is a little more than six miles, and
IL the day is clear every part of the
field can be seen from any other part.
1t will be a beautiful sight worth see
ing when all the grain Is up and waves
gently in the breezes of ~springtime.
There are no roads through the Clovis
wheat field. 1t is to be one solid
stretch of grain, and every square foo
of land Is to be utilized.
Ploughing and planting began in the
big wheat field about the middle Of
last July and will hardly be completed
before the next two months at least.
But the grain will all mature at about
the same time. Then viii come the
herculean task OF harvesting IL.
To get an idea of the enormou size
of this great wheat field let us imagine
thai it is close to a Francisco. IL
one end of IL one mile wide touched on
Market street the rest OF the field
would stretch one mile wide almost to
San Jose. This same field is more
than four times the size OF the I'M
proved portion of San Francisco. The
whole city and county of San Francisco,
including all the outlying districts. is
about the same size.
With the big improved machinery Ii
does not look as though there was
much work spent on planting and har-
vesting the field. But suppose one
man a TO handle the crop. IL such
We're possible. how long would Ii take
him?
Suppose the field was one mile wide
and 40 miles long. and the one man
had a double gang pillow cutting a fur
row "a inches w.de He would START
at a corner OF the field In a Fran
cisco and pillow south toward San Jose,
a distance of 40 miles. Then he would
come back and cut another furrow TO
San Francisco. making so miles for
the round trip.
This noun OF work would only he
a tiny scratch four feet wide along
one side of the 40-mile field. and the
process would hav to be repeated at
least 1900 times. making a total dis
lance of about los. 900 miles.
Suppose that the plowman worked
at the rate OF 20 miles a day. To set