Imperial Valley press., 1919-07-16

RANCH VISITED
Continued From Page u

houses did not appear to have ever
been cleaned and were as cheerless
as dugout. There was no op
portunity to take bath on the
place, not even a washtub or a pail.
unless calf pail was snitched out
of the milk house, with which men
could clean up and look themselves
in the face and know that they were
men. In open defiance of state law
the Bonita Farm furnishes no bath
facilities for it's men, and thus adds
| its quota to the already astounding
| list of men living upon bonanza
ranches reekinp with filth and dis
ease, menace to public health and
decency. incidentally, we rise to in
quire where are our state boards OF
health officers that they allow plague
spots like those at Bonita Farm?
| Sanitation on the avenues and streets
is of value, but when eighteen cans
of milk a day are handed children
to drink that has been MIXED by men
sleeping without bed linen, clean
clothes and a bath--short of going
ten miles to get tit strikes the
writer that some of our public meas
ures are badly out of joint and some
even of our millionaire philanthro-
pists should be placed in the limelight
as undesirable citizens. We would
not wilfully misrepresent the facts in
| this case, as no public good could
come of it; but let the doubter go
to the Bonita Farm tomorrow morn
ing and he will find what the above
| depicts in all essential matters.
State Milk Supervisor Driven Away
/ AS dairymen are aware, the State
| University co-operates with them in
providing milk supervisors who come
to the ranch and run an official Bah
cock test of their cows for a three,
seven or thirty day period--while at
Bonita a Young man arrived and con-
tinued the A. R. 0. testing Of the cows
on test. He was a sensible, common
ly dressed individual, with quite ex-
tended experience in testing over the
state. His stay ran on until the bath
I question was pressing and, going to
Mr.. Henderson's man Friday, who han
just come out from the Capitol,he ask
ed for conveyance to Lodi's bath tubs.
He was blankly refused this request
and told that if he did not like the
conditions he could close his test half
finished, which he did. and reported
the conditions to the University de-
partment-which had already advised
the farm that living conditions for
clean men which it sends out were
net satisfactory.
Not dairyman in Ell Centro would
lend his aid to lower men in the so.
cial scale-give them push toward
degeneracy, in any manner compare
bic to the above conditions.
1t is not uncommon that mixers
sit at the family table and are given
family hospitality which makes for a
more desirable citizenship.
Mixers Came and Went
AS result of the living conditions
at Bonita mixers came and mixers
: went, so that complete change re
. suited about every ten days-and
thus the registered cows were fed and
MIXED by new hands and failed to
give the returns commensurate with
: the cost of heavy grain feeding inc
pasture) and mixers wages $llO a
month and board.
The farm machinery was az badly
run down as the milk house engine
and it was a common sight to see 8
Mexican repairing disc or harrow
; with four mules standing idle fol
hours at a time.
Any one short Of a banker coult
mot have met the ruinous payroll ant
monthly expense account that made
the balances look red month by
! month. My confidence in farm man
agement SO learnedly taught by ou
university men received jolt tina
: will sober my enthusiasm for day
to come.
Some Conclusions Drawn
In view of the foregoing seen ant
y heard by the writer at the BOnt;
: Farm during the last three weeks o
: June, it was impossible to refrail
= from adding this mite to the grea
! discussion now stirring the state from
: end to end. If it shall in any wa.
y contribute to solution of more AM
: better milk for our people and bet
= ter returns for the dairymen, tn
writer is repaid.
II 1t is easy to be wrong but some
how we believe that che who point
tobrighter worlds should lead tn,
way" Let Mr. Henderson invite hi
new found friends to his Omit;
| Farm and explain his fine business
management and show his who'll
| equipment and we shall admit j
| they find much to copy after, tina
we are wrong.
II My final word is, if daiymen hav
not broken away from their presen
selling agency they had better sta.
| by till the fog clears and the ligh
breaks upon a better plan. If the.
have joined the M. P. A. it is tn
part of wisdom for their own an
their fami!y's sake to cut the Gordial
knot or at least weaken its strand
so they may not lose control OF thei
own financial interests.
Financial Investments near hOm