The San Francisco call., 1910-05-14
By JOHN ]. WALL

Not only is alfalfa a great fertilizer,
but it cleans the land of all foreign
growths, and the more one cuts it the
stronger it grows. and when once
rooted it lives and prospers indefinitely
A field of alfalfa carries four or five
times more stock than if it were in
natural grasses. Cattle, sheep and hogs
feed and fatten solely upon alfalfa
all the year around. Poultry also
fiourishes off the alfalfa patch.
Alfalfa is justly called the king of
forage plants" This plant is largely
grown and reaches its perfection in
the vicinity of the Patterson colony.
1t is the finest dairy feed known. Its
perennial bloom and rapid cropping
powers, together with the cheapness
and ease Of its cultivation, have
brought it to the front as the most
valuable forage plant in the world.
The man who has 20 to 40 acres in
alfalfa on the Patterson farms can
cure and ship his hay, either by the
Southern Pacific railroad, which runs
past his place to Los Angeles and San
Francisco. or by the San Joaquin river
steamboats,, receiving therefrom 500 to
$50 per acre net at the warehouse.
This is moderate; the rule is five or six
cuttings, producing eight to ten tons
annually, worth $40, baled, on the spot.
Or he can feed his crop to hogs or
steers, and these will bring him a price
equivalent to SIS or SIG a ton for his
hay. Lands adjoining the Patterson
farms are equaling this continually
Or he can feed his alfalfa to cows.
Two acres of alfalfa will feed three
cows. and if they are good cows they
will produce from 81 to SO per month
each in butter fat, or $50 to $110 a head
per year The creamery wagon will call
daily at his door for the cream, and will
leave him check every two weeks.
The San Joaquin valley is famed all
over the United States for the heavy
yield of its alfalfa, and Stanislaus
county is famed all over the San
Joaquin valley for its supremacy in
alfalfa production. but the Patterson
farms are celebrated throughout the
county as the pride of the entire val
ley, always leading in quality, quantity
and number OF cuttings.
Unlike many varieties of fruit trees,
whose size and quality of fruit often
degenerates as the tree passes a certain
age, the habit of the walnut tree. if
on deep, rich soil, is to bear heavier
crops as the tree ages The we'll au
thenticated average for one well known
grove in California is $500 per acre.
y
limit of production of these trees in
decades to come in the deep, rich soil
of the Patterson colony, with abundant
water and Intelligent culture
The annual cost of pruning and cul-
tivating walnut trees is IS to SO per
acre. Picking costs about $40 per acre.
Sorting, washing and loading cost Is
cents to 80 cents per hundred pounds.
For the eastern investor and the
home seeker, as well as for the prac-
tical farmer, no other crop surpasses
the walnut as a money maker and as
a desirable orchard product. The wal
nut requires very little care. In many
places it grows well without irrigation,
but on the deep soil of the Patterson
farms, where irrigation may be plenti-
fully and intelligently followed. and
the trees developed to their fullest use
fulness, the future value of a walnut
orchard almost surpasses imagination.
A large and prosperous interior, city,
it has everything to base thriving
community upon. 1t is surrounded by
the best farming land in the San
Joaquin valley. When settled up in
farms and dairies, several thousand
families will form the nucleus of one
OF the best cities in the San Joaquin
valley.
The owners of the Patterson irri-
gated farms has laid the foundation of
the city on the broadest and most lib
eral modern lines. A S35,000 concrete
hotel has been erected. A handsome
administration building, also of con-
crete, fronts on the main driveway. A
postoffice has been established and a
postmaster appointed. Electric light
and power service has been installed
supplying electricity at price lower
than in any city surrounding. A bank
has been Incorporated. A creamery has
been provided for School and church