The Llano colonist. [volume] (Llano, Calif.) 191?-1937, 1922-04-22
The Colony Diary

when needed and rush thru hurry
up JOB. The print shop and laundry
prepared for the emergency and we
were able to shut down the big boiler
for the next two Or three days. Lou
trell and his helpers made another trip
TO Longville to-day. A letter came
from the rice farm with call for some
special help; SO Ole. Sanders, Van Nu-
land and drove to the rice plantation
this afternoon 10 get the work lined up
down there. You didn't know about
the rice pIantation7 Well, that will
give me job for next days diary, and
| will tell you all about ii. Miss For
biss. kindergarten and Fairgrounds
teacher, arrived in the Colony to-day,
as also did Chester Potts, full-grown
young man from Minnesota. He is the
son of Tom Potts, the founder of the
"l25-CLUB." OF course, the Esperan-
to class and the psychological meeting
were pulled off tonight; but as was
not there, it gives me an excuse TO pass
them over until next week. However,
Comrade Buck will probobly spread on
for the Esperanto class. and | hope he
does, for | sure need some help these
days. [Typesetter's note: ''Unu por
ciuj, kaj ciuj for Unu" estas MIA moto
en- Llano Kolonio. Yes, Esperanto is
furnishing us a fascinating and in
structive side-study, and at the same
thine improves our English; but we ore
beginning to realize that it is more 'har
fad and a pastime are f,ndine
in it an inspiration and an ideal.
****
Friday, April a. South end eas'
Of the Colony about one-half days
drive in a Ford is a plantation Of 273
acres of very fine rice land. 1t has
good houses. barns, storage houses end
a $4,000 well and pumping outfit. This
place will easily produce, at low esti-
mate. 1900 bags of rice each year, and
the pumping plant is SO situated that it
irrigates several hundred acres of land
around it. Furnishing water to our
lneighbors will bring in enough rice for
our years work. We have chance to
buy this place for $4,000. That is
the mortgage against it at the present
time. We have rented it for the year
and will buy it by July first if suffi-
cient funds can be raised BY that time.
Our net income from the rice planta-
tion should bring us at least $4,000
this year. We are taking but little
chance and are depending upon you
folks TO give us the answer whether 10
buy and start another small colony
there or not. Truck garden and Irish
potatoes and other valuable crops will
be grown in rotation with the rice, so
as to keep the soil built up. The rice
straw will be baled and shipped here
for roughage for our stock and we can
get all the straw we can possibly use
BY baling on shares in that district. We
coIonists feel it is an exceptionally fine
chance to start another small commune
ity Of co-operators and we know it will
give us very valuable grain crop.
The place is now well-stocked and
equipped, having two tractors. plows,
harrows, discs, binder, planter, mules,
and all that is necessary to completely
grow and harvest the crop; excepting
the threshing machine. which work we
can ge done with very little expense.
The neighbors who depend upon our
well for water give one-fifth Of their
crop for water service, and that will
pay all cost Of our own labor and ex-
penses. It i. an exceptionally fine pro-
position and the comrades who own the
place say we should pay the mortgage
and the place is ours. W. H. West and
Arthur Sharpe are farming the place
this year for us. Each has a wife and
two small children, and make an addi-
ton Of eight more persons to our Coll
ony membership list. Van Nuland and
Lynn Sanders stayed down on the
place to help plant and get all the
machines in good repair. while Ole and
q returned to get more help to handle
things with extra speed. Comrades,
this is fine chance for US to spread
out and make ourselves more self-sup-
porting; but the purchase is possible
only providing you send in your mon
ey and add it to ours. The more DIFF
ferent kinds Of food we can raise, the
easier it win be for us 10 make our
selves free from capitalism; the more
land we own the more people can come
annd enjoy the cooperative life. Now
Continued on last page)