The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1907-05-01

No trouble to market fruit at haywood.
In Corning, and on the railway, Is To-
Gated the big fruit packing house where
the dried fruit OF the colony Is pro-
cessed and packed for Eastern shipment.
During the packing season this plant
affords pleasant and paying employment
for every available man, woman and girl
on the colony. Practically all OF the
colony fruit crop is sold in dried form.
In this form there can be no loss. The
into cars. Fresh fruit consignments are
always risky, and the haywood Colony
fruit growers do not sell their fruit
that way. A market has already been
developed which calls for the entire
haywood brand Of fruit. The excellence
of the fruit commands top prices.
The olive crop Of the coiony. which is
big one, finds ready sale. Many car
loads of olives are shipped from May
wood to Los Angeles, at which place a
big demand has been created for ripe
picked olives. Some Of the colonists
pickle their olive crop and find a ready
market locally.
The almond crop of the colony is
usually engaged, or contracted for, two
months before it is time to harvest the
almonds This statement is made to
show that the market for the haywood
Colony product is already established,
and that a prospective settler need not
bother his head about what he is going
to do with his fruit when he has pro-
duced it.
Close to the fruit business as money
maker, comes the hen-the White Leg
horn hen. She is money maker here.
This is the hens heaven. The climate
just suits her. She knows but little, If
any, disease here. Here she lays an av-
erage of 10 dozen eggs year, and the
average selling price Of these eggs is %
cents per dozen. This is a gross annual
earning per hen of $2.86. Poultry peo-
pie here allow $1.86 year for the keep
of a hen, and give her credit for earn
ing a net profit of 81 year. Many Of
the colonists carry from $50 to 500 hens
and some as many as 1000. The hens
find plenty of natural green grass here
for seven months in the year. Alfaifa
patches supply green food during the
other five months. The most successful
poultry growers cut their wheat with a
binder, and feed the wheat in the bum
die. This plan saves the cost OF sacks
and and ogo dyes the wh neh
hens always have a rattle in their
pockets.
Corning enjoys the distinction OF
being the biggest turkey shipping sta
ton in the state of California.
AS a third source of regular income
many of the colonists keep few cows.
the product Of which is sold to cream
cry located in Corning. This is an ex-
ceptionally good grass country. Alfalfa
yields from 3 to cuttings season.
One acre of good alfalfa keeps two
cows.
Many of the colony orchards are
owned by absentees, and the care of
these orchards, including harvesting the
fruit crops, affords a vast amount of
work for those who are on the ground.
An effort is made by the colony manage
ment to distribute this work in an
equitable manner among those colon1stS
who are equipped to perform this class
of work
One of the valuable assets of the col
ony, and one which costs the colonists
not a cent. is the Sacramento river.
which forms the eastern boundary of
the colony for distance of seven miles.
In other words, the colony has a river
frontage of seven miles. and the colony
land is above danger from overflow.
This river is full of salmon, sturgeon,
carp pike, bass and catfish. Thousands
of pounds of salmon are seined at this
point and shipped to the salmon can
neries. The river affords great hunt
ing place for quail, dove, geese and duck.
OF course, the boys and girls have their
boating and swimming clubs.
Located on the colony side of the river
are the immense freight houses of the
Sacramento Transportation company.