most valuable are probably dairy cows and hogs. Skimming stations are established within easy distances at which the farmers sell their cream. The skim milk is returned and fed to hogs. The creamery companies pay each month a large sum to the farmers, a system that is in operation throughout the year. These conditions offer exceptional opportunities to the dairyman who will take advantage of the wonderful feed producing capabilities of the country. Of course alfalfa is here, as elsewhere, the favorite forage crop. The locality seems to be particularly favorable for the production of this valuable plant. It will yield, besides winter pasture, four or five crops of hay of one and one-half to two tons each-in other words, from six to ten tons annually per acre. One acre of alfalfa will successfully feed a cow and calf and one or two pigs. The average annual return from a cow and one acre of alfalfa is from $65.00 to $75.00. It is of course a fact in any country, that it is more profitable to feed to stock such forage crops as may be produced, than to sell them. This is true here as elsewhere, and while large quantities of corn and hay are sold yearly, the farmers find an advantage in keeping cows, hogs and stock as much as possible. The demand for corn is always good for the reason that, as before stated, but little corn is grown in California. Its most valuable use,

however, is for feeding hogs. If one were to attempt to enumerate all the different kinds of crops produced, knowledge and memory would surely fail. Among those most valuable and prominent are Egyptian corn, broom corn, pumpkins, squash, melons, potatoes - both Irish and sweettomatoes, cabbage, onions, in fact all kinds of garden vegetables, including asparagus and celery. All kinds of berries and small fruits. All of the deciduous fruits that are grown elsewhere in California. Grape vines of all varieties grow beautifully and produce heavily.

To one acquainted with California generally, the conditions on the Laguna de Tache suggest certain advantages not to be found everywhere. There are many localities adapted to orchard and vineyard that do not offer much opportunity to the general farmer. There are no lines of production that offer quicker and surer returns than those of the general farm. The demand for beef, pork and butter seems to be ever on the increase. One is particularly impressed with the adaptability of the Laguna de Tache country to these lines of production. The conditions seem also splendidly adapted to grapes and fruits, excepting oranges and lemons. One feature of the Laguna de Tache is the cause of exclamation upon the part of most strangers who visit the Grant. What a world of water! A description of this interesting section would not be complete without reference to the irrigation conditions, for in these it possesses advantages that are peculiar to the locality. Irrigation by surface flooding is prac

ticed very little. The nature of the soil renders this unnecessary. The surface soil is sediment loam through which water seeps readily. The subsoil is sandy to a great depth. The method of irrigating in almost universal use is to fill the ditches with water holding it in by check gates and allowing it to seep into the ground. This method is inexpensive and effectual. The same conditions that make this kind of irrigation possible, also furnish a natural sub-drainage. There is a constant movement of the water in the sandy subsoil. There is no hardpan upon which the water can settle to the detriment of plant roots. These irrigation conditions make farming an exact science. The farmer may have just as much or just as little moisture as he may want to use for the kind of crops he is producing.

The Laguna de Tache is particularly well supplied with transportation facilities. Near the center of the Grant are stations on both of the great transcontinental railroads, the Santa Fé having a depot at the town of Laton, and the Southern Pacific one at Lillis. At the extreme eastern end of the Grant is the town of Kingsburg, with another Southern Pacific station. The town of Laton, which is the business headquarters of the Grant, is a

thriving, growing place. Its rapid growth is due to the settling up of the surrounding farming country. The town is but a little more than three years old, but already it is equipped with all of the business facilities necessary to a place of its kind. There are good general merchandise stores, markets, hotel and restaurant, drug store, harness and blacksmith shops, postoffice, telegraph office, telephone, both local and long distance. There is a broom factory manufacturing the corn grown on the ranch. Lumber yard, grain warehouse, cattle shipping corrals, gas and water works, public hall, free reading room, church, and last, but not least, good schools. There are three new school houses already on the Grant, and more will be supplied as they are required. There are many pretty homes. and altogether the town is attractive and progressive. There is an active board of trade looking after the commercial interests of Laton which are steadily growing more important. The town supports a good weekly news

paper.

The immediate surroundings of Laton are very attractive. The oak groves are favorite places for holding picnics. A large pavilion has been constructed in the beautiful grove just south of the town where, during the summer season, thousands gather for Sunday school and fraternal picnics.

Many people from different parts of California have located on the Grant, finding conditions there more to their liking than elsewhere. The

Easterner seeking a California home finds things more nearly like what he has been used to. He finds here a chance to do the kind of farming that he has done at home. For this reason hundreds of the best class of Eastern farmers have located on the Grant. The low prices of land and the terms upon which land may be bought are very attractive to the man of limited or small means who wants to live in California, but cannot afford to purchase land in the portions of the State where property is high. Upon the Laguna de Tache the problem is not so much one of dollars as it is of industry. A great many of the settlers who came with a small amount of money, today own good homes and well cultivated productive and profitable farms. Excepting the amount necessary to make the first payments on their land and provide shelter for their families and buy the necessary tools, these homes and farms have been developed and paid for out of the produce taken from the land. Altogether the Laguna de Tache is a good place to know about, and to the homeseeker it is worth investigating.