Imperial Valley press., 1919-07-01
PACKARD TELLS
OF EXPERIENCES
IN OLD FRANCE

the Farm Bureau, who is in France (
aiding in the establishment Of an
army agricultural university, writes /
Of his experiences as /
follows:
l certainly hope that some sort of
government cooperation may be Sc
cured, fer | am sure that the valley
will receive a big boost as soon as
tie water situation is stabilized. /
have had more inqSries from soldiers
about opportunities in Imperial Val
ley than about any other section Of
the country They all seer to know
something about the valley.
| received q telegram from Paul
Dougherty and from Arthur Palmer
the other day. they were both in Paris
leave but | was unable to oct up there
them. | find that the work is so near
a close that it will be impossible to
get Dougherty transferred to the
Educational Corps, as I had hoped TO
do. It seems quite natural to see
Mr.. A. L. SUDDEN at the station at
Beame in charge Of the Z. 7. O. He
used to work for the Holton inter
urban. Although ! have met lots q
Californians. have not met with
manv with whom | was formerlv ac-
quainted. They are all glad to hear
from the state, however, and are ter
ribly anxious to get home. 1t really
seems fine 10 be & Californian, f0r
everyone seems to feel, and RIGHTLY
too for thai matter, that California Is
most romatic spot.
| have had pretty good chance to
see some Of the French agriculture
and rove taken some pictures Of IL
terasting features. The most Str'k-
ing thing to the Americans is the
scattered holdings, in getting tract
Of "00 acres fer the Univer itV Farm
here at Beaune, the authorities had
TO deaol with something like $50 mon
Fifteen acres is big holding, while
many farm or . acres, and i'm many
cases there are holdings an acre there
and a strip Of land q rod wide and Q
hundred yards lon~ somewhere cls2.
The farmers here i've II villages.
%cin" out to work in the moralng
with thr inevitable bottle Of VINE
and hnuk C bread, and returning late
tS O. g o'clochl in the evening Most
Of the work is done hy hand, rs most
men Canaat afford to own a horse.
WEe nhors2s are Ii ed, there seems to
be am awfu waste of enerev, for it
usua .y takes two men 10 urIEo one
horse on team (alHays h.tshed n
taadcm) and sometimes taeFe2 mea
are used. one man leads the horse
ani the other holds the ploU, or one
man or hey leads the horse and ~
other drives the second horse, while
the third holds TIE plow
Vine grapes, rye, wheat. mustard
rape, clover and Vegetables Soon t.
be their main crops here. The yicl3s
per acre are very satisfactory. some
what larger than the Yields per acre
in the states, largely uGe to the care
ful manner in which they handle the
manure. 1t is all composed in small
piles before being applied and every
bit Of it is used effectively. The man
TIRE pile on the court yard, Casually
just outside the living roo1 auori is
the SIGN e mans wealth, rather
than the size Of his bank l.li.
There is comparatively little live
stock in these parts. \ te" farm
ers keep hogs-a white breed ,1at IS
always kept confined in small mems
near the house. Chickens are COM
mon but not PLENTIFUL perhaps he
cause they scratch down the manure
piles. which have been so carefully
worked over Rabbit hutches are
found On every farm. Rabbit meat
is very cheap. The dairy animals
are vr--- poor, most Of them are q
duel purpose typo-a white breed not
found in the state. One man may
own two or three cows and . couple
of goats, which his wife. children or
grandparents herd along the road on
in the small unfenced fields or grcss
meadows.
TIE forests are very carefully man
aged. many Of the forests are owned
and managed by the government. The
people are very careful indeed with
what wood they get. The trees are
all pruned in such a way as to fur
nish the most faRgots and brush. The
brush is used for broom for street
sweeping and the like. The houses
are all made Of stone-iimeStoue
mostly-takcn from the rock cliffs
along the rivers. Tunnels are made
into the hills instead of having large
open Cuaries This saves the ground
surface and the tunnels form fine,
dry cellars for the storage Of wine.
Many of the houses have tile floors,
covered. with home made rugs. Al
though the houses all have the large
French doors and windows, they are
tightly closed at night for fear a lit
tie fresh air might crecp in.
Well, ! guess that this is enough
for this time. ! may be home in July
supposed to be demobilized on June
18th. There is q chance, however,
that I viii get into Germany for a
period of six months or so. Here's
hoping. With kndest REGARDS and
best wishes to you and all the rest,
| am,