Imperial press and farmer., 1902-08-02
Grow Alfalfa: Be Rich.

CTl6S On the HdC10C COdSC IS CndC OI dairying. Alfalfa is the basis of feed for cows. Nowhere on this continent can so much alfalfa feed be grown so cheaply as right here in the Imperial settlements and nowhere else can good alfalfa land be had at so low a figure, where the absolute water right with an abundance of water can be had with the land.
 To make the situation still better an ice and refrigerating plant has now been built at Imperial, and put in op- eration. The creamery is now in or der
 Fred M. West, president of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce, has written a good article on alfalfa grow ing. The article is given herewith:
 Away over on the other side of the world there is a little country that supplies a large part of Europe with it's butter This country is Holland. The farmer has but six months in which he can work out of doors with his stock; the rest of the year he must house and feed them. The land and canal tax that he pays is the high est known. With all these diSad vantages, the Holland farmer is able to make profit out of the dairying in dustry, and to successfully compete with the dairymen of England, Ger many and France.
 In the two great central valleys of California there are hundreds of thousands of acres specially adapted to the growth of alfalfa. There is no better known green feed for stock than this succulent grass. Land that will grow an average of six tons of alfalfa to the acre in four or five cut tings can be obtained in San Joaquin county for as low as $25 an acre. Else where in the Sacramento and San JOa- quin valleys lands can be purchased at the same price or for a little more. The counties of Sacramento, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin are particu larly favored in this regard, on ac- count of having navigable waterways contiguous to alfalfa land, which re- suits in low freight rates for the pro- duct of the dairy.
 Comparing this favored region with Holland, we find that the dairyman here is not compelled to house and feed his stock during the winter, and that everything leads up to the belief that butter can be produced here for a less cost per pound than it can be in Holland. The irrigation charge where alfalfa land requires irrigation is not more than $250 per acre in San Joa- quin county, and in the Turlock dis trict it is but 50 cents an acre. The eX- perience of the San Joaquin county dairyman has been that he can raise a COW to the acre on alfalfa, and that a net profit of $50 per annum per COW is a very conservative estimate. On some of the island lands too moist for alfalfa Australian rye grass has been planted and found to be splen- did feed for beef or dairy stock. On one ranch on the San Joaquin river, near Stockton, 6S head of stock were pastured all summer on thirteen acres of this rye grass and they no more than kept it fed down.
 It has been only within the past two or three years that the oppor- tunities in the dairying industry have been realized in California. Factories for the manufacture of cheese, con- densed milk and other milk products are springing up throughout the state, and means will De found to market the product. The United States De- partment of Agriculture has been eX- plotting the Orient as a market for American butter put up in hermet1- caly sealed cans. There is good req