Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1866-05-12
Correspondence Of the New York Tribune.
SAN Francisco, Cal,
Monday, Dec. Is. 1868

DNS' 40 AOOO J
The fruits Of California, unequaled il
variety aud luxuriousness, ere her surpass-
ing riches. Trees are twice as large as il
New York or Ohio at the same age Ii
one ysar the cherry has grown fourteen
feet high, the pear ten feet, aud the stem
of peach trees three inches 10 diameter
One peach tree yeer from the bud grew
eight feet high. with trunk-circumferencC
of eight and half inches. A peach twip
foot long, stuck in the ground in 1858
bore fruit the mex. year. The apple tret
bears in the second or third year from tht
bud, and apples have been exhibited weigh
ing two and half pounds Distinctly a
Northern fruit however, reduiring q colo
climate, it has not the pungent favor
which New England and Oregon impart
But The enormous peaches, the straw ber-
ries-whose vines produce four or five crop;
a year-aud grapes, which grow with in
credible profusion, have a peculiarly rich
and generous tas that fingers lovingly on
the palate
10 the orchard of Wilson Flint, near
Sacramento, saw hundreds Of pear trees,
seven years from the graft, bearing 90
pounds of fruit each. At Wholesale, in
Winter, j, commands from FIVE to six cents
per pound, by which weight fruits, vegeta-
bles and grain are invariably sold. These
pears were enormous, though far from
their full growth and M Flint assures
me that they sometimes weigh two-snd a
half pounds each. | noticed o cluster Of
six, growing on one twig, almost as close
as they could be packed 10 fruit dish, aud
each nearly as large as mans is:. This
was the 28th Of August, and the graft
which bore them was put 10 last April
1t was the most wonderful sight of my Sum-
mer journey. Jonah'S gourd ceases to be
the symbol Of miraculous growth.
Iu the same orchard buRdreds Of fg
trees bent under rich purple fruit Olives,
pomegrauates, lemons and apricots grow in
various sections. The orchards of the
State contain also a6ont $500 orange
trees. When six or eight years old they
produce fruit and continue for half a CEN
tury. At IA years they are iu full bearing.
yielding from 1000 to 1000 oranges per
tree. They blossom early in Spring the
fruit is ripe in the following February, and
if left ca The branches, keeps until May
A full grown tree is 80 feet high, with
dense buShy top, 0 or ten yards in diameter
1t requires irrigation and careful culture
Mr.. Flint's vineyard, only FIVE years old,
contained scores of varieties of delicious
grapes, growing 10 enormous clusters, sew
eral punches weighing fully five pounds
each. On Gov. Lows table ons morning,
was q six pound bunch from the Sacremen-
to market Clusters weighing eight or ten
pounds excite little attention, and / am
assured that bunch of seventeen pounds
was exhibited at one Fair. Two hundred
varieties are cultivated the most delicate
Malaga grapes, indeed nearly all vises from
the Atlantic slope, Europe, Asia aud
Africa. flourish in this kindly soil The
fruit'growers begin to make rasins and
preserve figs, and with the completion Of
the Pacific Railroad they expect to supply
the Eastern market daily with fresh grapes
The crop never fails, aud is said to average
to the acre double the yield of the b st
vineyards of Ohio France and Germany
The Catawbs, though smaller than some
varieties, excels, think, all Others in flavor
The vineyards of the State, of which more
than one-third are in Los Angeles County,
cover upward of 10000 acres. The lar
gest is in Sonoma County. and contains
5000 vines. In 1861 the wine product
was about 100000 gallons, and it has
largely increased SINCE Many varieties of
still and sparkling wines ore produced, but
in general they are raw, heady, aud far less
pleasant here than after they reach New
York. The long voyage Improves them
greatly, and age adds mnch to their flavor.
Ono day this will be a very leading branch
of commerce, and the wines of California
will excel those of all other countries.