The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-10-21
Pears and Wheat In California.

A correspondent of the Hearth ana
Home writes as follows of the unmar
velous productiveness of California
Monday we took the San Francisco
and San Jose Railroad for Santa Clara
passing through valley which, from
what could be seen of the stubble, and
of the gathered crops still remaining
in the field, l Should judge was OF
marvellous fertility. After arriving at
our destination, we visited a Catholic
college, where great attention has been
paid to pears; and also the grounds OF
L. A. Gould, at Santa Clara, that are
said to be second to none in the State
His speciality is strawberries, of which
he has in bearing thirty five acres, and
it was the unanimous opinion Of the
party that nothing like them could be
found east of the Rocky Mountains.
Besides this, his pear-trees were so
loaded with fruit that, despite propping
which was almost every where resorted
to, the trees were breaking with the
weight upon their branches. He has,
say five thousand of these in bearing
which were estimated to yield an aver
age of four bushels per tree, which will
give twenty thousand bushels in all
and this is but one Of, for aught | know,
twenty or more similar orchards, though
perhaps not quite as extensive in this
natural fruit-growing valley. Mr.. Gould
lives a little out of the village, and with
reference to his crop last year, they tell
this story: Desiring to show his gen
erosity, he suggested to the village folks
that whenever they wanted pears, they
could have them, if they would come
to his grounds, without cost ; to which
they responded that he was altogether
too selfish in his offer, inasmuch as his
neighbors had already proposed to bring
them all they wanted for nothing, and
they were waiting in the confident ex-
pectation that they would yet offer to
pay them someting for taking them
At the college grounds, | saw in an
orchard containing six hundred trees,
hundreds Of bushels already on the
ground, and twenty-five hundred (esti-
mated) on the trees, which one Of the
Fathers said would probably be fed to
hogs or left to rot.
Most of this valley in the neighbor-
hood of Santa Clara and San Jose is
irrigated by artesian-wells, of which,
within q circuit of few miles, there
are over two hundred The surface
water is reached at about thirty feet;
after that one hundred and seventy is
needed to reach the streams that under
lie this whole region. The water is
considerably warm, and vegetation
drinks it in with wondrous rapidity and
surprising effect.
Land in the Santa Clara Valley Is
worth for farming purposes from SlOO
to $50 the acre. 1t raises wheat that
sometimes reaches fifty bushels to the
acre, and a kind of hay "a sort Of wild
oats) that generally yields about three
tons to the acre, worth twelve dollars a
ton in the field. Here l saw for the
first time a steam thresher, which
turned out from fifteen hundred to
eighteen hundred bushels day, with
the little assistance that eight men and
four horses gave in the way of bring
ing wood and water, and transferring
the sheaves to the beater.
This valley is a sample of many
others, as | am informed, scattered
here and there all over this State-val-
leys that are productive by old tilling;
valleys in which ! was told by relia-
ble farmer, that, except when cut off
10y the drought single season, he had
raised wheat at the rate Of fifty bushels
to the acre for twelve years valleys
that will make any State rich, if there
is any outside market, or sufficient
number of men producers in the State
to appropriate the immense products.