The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1898-12-29
ioriy .quuc miIe.

ierlY squafe miles
THIS enormous fcld OF graia 10 Iocsist
on the banks OF The s.n Jssquin River
nesr the iown Of Clovis, 10 Msders coat
,y. The aeld is psri 10 Fresno eoatty
. sud pAri 10 Maiefs coaniy.
Clovis Cole is the man DO n pu iins n
this vast acreage. aud be has underl.ker
enc Of the large ilbs that suy man be.
! yet done 10 Csliiotnis.
While II IL true that lager scrcsses OF
whcst have been planted by certain
ranches in tlis State. there seems to be
20 record OF an exact parallel 10 the
nresert case. Ga the Miller nd Luz
raj ch, IN Kern county, %. 900 scres we're
Ilsnied one year, but the felds we're
sesttafed around 10 different places.
They were really series OF aelds, located
wherever there vas . fertile spot Few Of
the fields we're 1000 aeres, and in many
instances there would be half . mile OF
bare land between them. The acreage
planted could not be called . vhssl nsld
OF $4,000 acres any more than oil the
wheat fields IN the State could be clssssd
under ooe head.
The Clovis field, however. 10 an idssl
wheat teld, II is almost ~ ast o. . floor.
VITA gentle slope towsrl the river. The
outer lioes OF the field make IL slmost .
perfect squsrs. Each side 10 little over
six milee, and It clear day every part OF the
field can be seen nom any other BART II |
will be beautiful sight worth seeing
when all the grain is up and waves gently
in the bretzss OF sprinstime. Th,rs are
no ror5s through the Clovis wheat field,
II il TO be one solid stretch Of grain, aud
every SOUR foot land is 10 be utilized.
Flowing eni planting began 10 the big
field about the middle OF last July snd
will hardly be completed before the next
two months st least. Rnt the grain will
all mature 1t about the same time. Then
will come the herculesn to K Of harvest
ing.
To get 40 idea OF the enormous size OF
this great wheat field let uq imsgine that
II ls clofe TO San Fr,ncisco II one end OF
it one mile vide touched on NJ !rket street
The rest OF the felI would stretch one
mile vide almost to San Jose. This same 4
" heat field is over four times the sizs OF r
he improved portion OF San Francisco.
The whole city and county OF San Francis
20, including all the outlying district. is I
'bont the same size.
With the big improved m ,chinery II 4
loes not look as though there was M muoh
work spent OF planting and harvesting
he f'ld. Bnt suppose one man had to
Ian9!n the crop II snch were possible, how
our would u take hinp
lOe tle field was enc mile vide I
nd forty miles long, aud the one man n
sd donble gang plow cutting furrow
wenty-fonr inches wide. He would start
I a corner OF the field in San Francisco =.
nd plow south toward San Jose, Q dis m
,nce Of forty miles. Then be would =,
ONE back and cut another furrow 10 San
'raocisco, making eighty miles for the 4,
ornd trip.
This amount OF work would only be a a,
ny scratch four feet vide along one side II
the forty-mle field. and the process -,
ould have to be repeated st least 800 al
NEE, making total distance OF about
O5, 900 miles. n,
Suppose that the ploughmsn worked At III
,e rate OF twenty miles q day. To get
yer the LOG. 900 miles would take 6 25O :,
ays. To plant would take about the =,
'me time, making . total OF 10000 days. =,
: nearly thirty years II would be like il
pending lifetime. and the distance =
aveled would be equivalent TO going
o'"' ''o WIN. 'o', ''uae'' Auu s'' ~ Of
10 CaliIornis wheat field. r,
To accomplish the necessary amount Of >.
Ork within the time at his di possl the :.
sntr oi the Clovis wheat field hss TO EN-
oy Over 200 DeD, over 900 horses end @
veral tone Of big machinery. The men -
e working e,rly and late nov, and il the ~
hole acreage is plat ted by Jsnusry and o.
snlticient quantity Of rain falls there
II be euch a crop OF wheat " hss never
en- heard Of, Tor the land is good land
d the aeed is good seed. Then will the =.
cad caters OF the world give thanks for
g existence OF the largest field In Cali -.
rni.. a.,