hollywood melon man

Chapter 484: The Farm in Kansas
During this year's vacation, Gilbert Jr. did not travel anywhere overseas, but took his family to a farm in Topeka, Kansas for vacation.

This farm was bought by Gilbert Jr.'s investment manager David last year for Gilbert Jr. to use as a vacation and leisure place.

Kansas is one of the seven major agricultural states in the central United States. It has the endless Kansas prairie, where countless cattle, sheep and horses live leisurely.

Kansas is also an important wheat producing area in the United States, which is exported all over the world.

This place has a unique advantage, with most rivers flowing from west to east.

The northern part belongs to the Kansas River basin, and its important tributaries include the Blue River, the Republika River, the Solomon River, the Saline River and the Smoky Hill River.

The southern part belongs to the Arkansas River basin, whose main tributaries are the Cimarron River, Verdigris River, Neosho River and Meridexin River. A corner of Kansas' northeastern border is the Mississippi River.

Because the land slopes toward the southeast, the rivers in the state are suitable for building irrigation canals, and hundreds of small artificial lakes have been built.

In terms of topography, although there are river valleys, streams, canyons and hills, most of the area is still dominated by high plains.

The Flint Hills in the east, the Smokey Hills and the Red Hills in the west. The Sunflower Mountain in the west near the Colorado border is 1231 meters above sea level, the highest point in the state.

Flint Hills, literally translated as Flint Hills, got its name because the Indians in the past searched for flint in this hilly area to use as arrowheads.

The Verdigris River Valley in the south near Oklahoma is 213 meters above sea level, the lowest point in the country.

Whether in the past or now, the several large states in the middle are of great significance to the United States.

It is this vast central Great Plains that has enabled the United States to develop the world's largest agricultural industry with the smallest agricultural population.

The agricultural model of the Central Great Plains is basically a mechanized large-scale farm model, with each farmer owning a farm area ranging from a dozen square kilometers to hundreds of square kilometers.

The largest farm in southern Texas, Wagner Farm, covers an area of ​​2070 square kilometers and spans six counties. It is the largest farm in the world and belongs to the local Wagner family.

Founder Dan Wagner moved to Texas in the 19s. He actively expanded his land and continued to invest. By 40 he had begun purchasing land in western Wythe County.

In 1873, he drove a herd of cattle to the Kansas market to sell, earning $55000, which was considered the seed money for building a farm empire.

Wagner Farm is not limited to agriculture and animal husbandry, it also involves many fields such as oil extraction, leisure and entertainment, and wildlife protection.

In terms of agriculture and animal husbandry, the farm raises 1.4 cattle and about 500 horses, and owns more than 3 acres of arable land.

With the continuous improvement of breeding technology, the farm is expected to further increase the number of breeding, and even become a center supporting the breeding of tens of thousands of cattle.

In terms of oil production, Wagner Farms has more than 1200 producing wells, which, although relatively shallow, have huge potential contributions.

This is an important potential resource for the energy market.

In the field of leisure and entertainment, the farm’s lake can be used for water activities such as fishing and boating, and can also be used to build tourist facilities such as holiday villas to attract more tourists.

In terms of wildlife, the farm’s abundant wild resources, such as deer, turkeys, quail, pigeons, waterfowl and wild boars, can ostensibly be used for wildlife protection and utilization, enriching the farm’s ornamental value.

But in fact, this is a huge hunting ground. It would be a pity not to go in with a hunting rifle and hunt.

Wagner Farms is not limited to Texas, it also owns a 150 square kilometer farm in Kansas.

Now the Wagner family is in constant dispute over internal succession issues. The youngest son of the Wagner family has decided to sell the farm under his name and go to Wall Street for development.

But in today's America, the agricultural industry is a sunset industry.

Wall Street is keen on financial activities, and Silicon Valley combines with Wall Street to constantly hype those high-concept technology stocks. Agriculture and manufacturing are both sunset industries and are gradually being abandoned by capitalists.

However, compared with the manufacturing industry which can be relocated, agriculture cannot be moved because the land is there.

Fortunately, because of the highly developed mechanization, even though there are not many cowboys engaged in agriculture, the United States can still maintain its position as the world's number one agricultural country.

Rather than paying too little attention to manufacturing, the guys in Washington realized long ago that the future world will be a competition for food and water resources.

Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture has been providing subsidies to the agricultural industry with the aim of maintaining agriculture, a sunset industry, and preventing it from becoming a sunset industry.

Gilbert Jr. did not buy the farm for the subsidy from the Ministry of Agriculture or to participate in the struggle for future food and water resources.

He has money and bought it simply for enjoyment.

This was the first time that little Gilbert had come here since he bought the farm.

The private plane flew directly to Topeka and stopped there. Arthur, the local farm manager, was responsible for leading the way, taking Gilbert Jr. and his family from Topeka to Lenora, where Gilbert Jr.'s farm was located.

"We're here," Little Gilbert came down and took a deep breath, exclaiming, "It's really a farm, with the fragrance of soil, the smell of grass, and the smell of cow, sheep and horse manure..."

Naomi Watts held Ilian in her arms and couldn't help laughing after hearing what little Gilbert said: "Farms are like this. It would be strange if there was no cow, sheep or horse manure."

"That's true," Little Gilbert nodded, and turned to instruct Lily, who had replaced her mother Xingzi as the housekeeper: "Lily, follow them and arrange the rooms on the farm."

"Okay," Lily followed a farm manager to make arrangements.

The women and children got off the car one by one, and the bodyguards carried the luggage in first. The bodyguard captain Anderson directed several people to check the security management equipment.

When David bought the farm last year, he carried out a comprehensive renovation of the farm, including the renovation of the dilapidated villa in the center of the farm.

Monitoring equipment, side wall electric fences and other safety equipment have also been installed, which can be regarded as a major modern renovation of this farm with a history of hundreds of years.

As one of the few super-rich people, Gilbert Jr. attaches great importance to his life and property.

Although he naturally belongs to the upper class, after all, he is a squid man. But some people think that his actions are too unorthodox, and who knows, some people may ask someone to give him a convertible ride because of their different ideas.

Fortunately, Gilbert Jr. opened his own security company to serve himself, several women, children, and relatives. The security personnel in it are basically from the elite special forces and excellent agents of the Secret Service of the United States, as well as security experts.

With good relations with the Pentagon, these people can be easily hired.

Besides, working in his company is a good choice for retired soldiers and agents. After all, the salary is high, the work is less, and you don't have to work hard as a mercenary every day. How good is that.

In order to keep this high-paying job, the security guards will of course work hard to protect little Gilbert and his family.

Feelings and trust can't buy loyalty, but money can.

"You guys go settle down and rest for a while, I'll talk to Arthur." Little Gilbert said to the women.

"Let's go, sisters." Naomi Watts greeted, and Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Connelly, Anne Hathaway, Noriko Sakai, and Norika Fujiwara followed in.

Together with four children and a nanny, the large group of people moved into the big villa in the center of the farm.

Charlize Theron is still busy promoting "The Invincibles" overseas and will arrive later. Scarlett clung to little Gilbert and wanted to visit the farm with him.

Little Gilbert didn't chase Scarlett away, letting her go and rest.

This girl is like this, she has endless energy and is very lively.

"Arthur, please give me a brief introduction to the farm. I just arrived and don't know much about it." said little Gilbert.

"Okay, boss. Come with me. We'll talk while we walk and meet the employees." Arthur led little Gilbert from the big villa to the staff dormitory one kilometer behind the villa.

As the distance was not far, the three did not take a car, but instead enjoyed the rural scenery along the way, chatting as they walked.

Starting from the big villa in the center of the farm, along the winding road, the red oak trees planted on both sides of the road are lush and full of vitality because of the summer season.

Behind these rows of tree walls is an endless expanse of arable farmland. On the left side is planted corn, which is big and plump.

On the right is an endless golden wheat field with a combine harvester working in the distance.

Arthur introduced: "This batch of wheat was planted in winter, and now is the time to harvest it."

Scarlett asked curiously, "What do we do with the wheat after it's harvested? Make it into bread directly?"

Arthur smiled and said, "That's not the case, Miss Johnson. Merchants from Topeka will come to buy the farm.

We also have our own bakery, but we usually make our own bread for ourselves and don’t sell it to the public.”

After saying this, Arthur took a look at little Gilbert's face and felt relieved when he saw that he was not angry.

You have to know that all the items on the farm belong to the boss. Previously, due to the chaotic management, they used wheat to make bread and brew wine without any problems.

But after the change of boss last year, Arthur took over the management and sent the farm's account statements to investment manager David every month.

Including income, expenditure and so on, everything is written clearly.

Arthur understood that these people would not know how to do anything if they left the farm. It was unrealistic to work in the mines or on the assembly line. Although working on the farm was tiring, at least they had security if they changed to a rich boss.

Gilbert Jr. will not pursue the past, there is no point. There is no need to change the management, it is better to stick with this group of familiar people.

As long as they work well under him, little Gilbert will not treat his people badly.

Besides, the purpose of buying a farm is to have a place to relax and vacation, not to become an agricultural tycoon.

Little Gilbert waved his hand and asked Arthur to continue his introduction: "Go on, I want to know the scale of the farm."

"Okay," Arthur continued, seeing that his boss didn't care, "The farm currently covers an area of ​​about 150 square kilometers. In addition to 40 square kilometers of arable land, there are 52 square kilometers of pastures, and 58 square kilometers of forests and lakes."

Scarlett opened his mouth wide, feeling incredible: "The farm is so big, how long will it take to tour it?"

"So we're going to ride horses and motorcycles," Arthur laughed.

Scarlett was happy: "Great, I'm going to ride a horse."

Little Gilbert also thought it was fine. He didn't care about farmland or pastures. A resort area that was large enough was his only choice.

Arthur continued, "The entire farm is slightly higher on both sides and lower in the middle. We are located in the middle plain farm, with pastures to the east and forests to the west.

The three streams perfectly separate the three areas, and the man-made canals also provide convenience for irrigation of our farms.”

Arthur gave little Gilbert a general introduction to the situation of the farm so that he could understand it.

In short, this farm is no different from most typical large American farms. The farm is rich in resources and produces abundant products.

Except for some daily necessities that need to be purchased from outside, the rest of the food, meat and vegetables can be self-sufficient.

The lakes and streams provide a rich fishing asset, and although they cannot withstand large-scale fishing, there is no problem with fishing.

In addition, there are wild boars, deer, rabbits, wild sheep and other animals roaming around, which is also a good choice for hunting.

No wonder the last time he had dinner with Bill Gates, he boasted to him about how great his life as a farmer was, which aroused little Gilbert's curiosity.

Otherwise, little Gilbert would not have had the time to come to the farm for vacation this summer and experience the life of a farmer.

Such a life might be a bit monotonous for little Gilbert for too long, but it is really nice to experience it once in a while on vacation.

(End of this chapter)