The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-06-03
IACaMfornia Farm.

JArs Ou3fleS 1tOrlpS Druce, IN mis- DGOk
called "The New. West; or, California in
1867 and 1862" gives the following
sketch OF a California farm: '~'
drove up recently to the doorway of
a picturesque house, belonging to one of
that class perhaps peculiar to California
-fthe large farmers" The building,
like very many in the country districts
of the State, shows an effort toward an
appropriate architecture. It is built of
wood, painted brown; the roof.line is
broken with sharp gables, and the front
has very broad veranda, ornamented
with creeping vines; the wings run out
behind. enclosing little fountain in a
small square, into which the central hall
opens under another rear veranda. In
this climate galleries or verandas are an
essential Of life. and as bedrooms under
the roof are not Objectionable. the
pointed gables and picturesque roof
forms can be adopted without difficulty.
Much of the inside is finished with ma
tive woods, vanished. Few on the
Eastern coast have any idea of the beauty
of some Of the native woods here. The
State is unfortunately deficit in some of
the most useful woods, especially the
oak and ash-so that the material for
barrel-staves and wagon-frames has to
be imported}from our coast; but in Or
namental varieties she has some exqui-
site specimens. The manzanila, when
polished, has deep red, with exquisite
granting, more beautiful than mahogany.
The laurel is one of the richest woods
ever used for paneling. and the oak is
remarkably pretty, and even the red
wood ornaments room nicely with its
rich color.
One may Judge of California hospitali-
ty when say that almost my first saluta-
ton from the gentleman was: "Well,
you have come to spend a month, of
course" and riding horse was at my
service every dny, &c.
This property is within four hours of
the city, and will soon be within two.
It enjoys the GOODNESS of the sea breeze
without the chill and dust of San Frar-
cisco winds. You have the sun of Italy
and the temperature of an English sum-
mer; seldom in winter n frost, and in
summer heat rarely above SO degrees,
and more generally about 70 degrees,
with, nights always cool. AS conse-
quence, this gentleman's garden will
show o variety of vegetation, 1 believe
rarely seen anywhere else on earth.
Think of an orchard where the olive
grows by the side of the ounce, and the
almond near the barberry; where the fig
and the glnpe flourish equally with the
apple, the peach and the cherry. His
house is almost embowered in olives; and
fig trees, with trunks six inches thick,
form groves about it, while long lines Of
almonds stretch away toward the rear
Behind it is dense orchard of peach
trees. A small palm is fourishing in
front, and few rods off, IN the kitchen
garden, Indian corn and peas and toma-
toes. Such combination of the best
fruits and products of two zones is g
wonderful spectacle. California is an
elysium for the orchard-grower or tree
planter. Here is a splendid hedge, ten
feet high, Of the ''cherry-holly," planted
from seed few years ago; here are or
chards bearing immense quantities Of
fruit, only five or six years old, and
shade trees from Australia, perhaps seven
inches thick in trunk, set out from
shoot only two years since.
a man sits under his own grove in ten
years, and gets his fruit in two or three.
The most exquisite trees and growths
are being introduced from Japan and
Australia. You see in such grounds the
beautiful Australian gum trees (Eucalyp-
ti), with their singular variety of leaves
on the same trunk, destined hereafter, if
they equal their Australian ancestors, to
reach growth of 25O-3OO feet, and o
girth of 100. Japanese acaci&s and
shrubs, with variegated leaves, also
abound, and the symmetrical Norfolk
Island pine. the Monterey cypress. and
pine, and the young giant Ssquoia, be-
ginning patiently his thousand years of
growth. Everything grows here, the
ivy as well as the Japanese honeysuckle.
On the upper portion OF this gentle
mans garden stream of water was
turned. brought from the mountains,
and occasionally bitches were unclosed
which carried it among the strawberries
and vegetables, and along the roots of
the fruit trees, in rough kind of sur.
face irrigation. All that California gar.
dening wants is water, and then the sun
does the rest. On every farm you see
either the windmill or the artesian we'll,
fn orru fa ~ {l,a rxxaok MI 49,. z.