The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1871-01-26
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA.
By Dr.. c. Leighton. or Sinking
Springs.

Springs.
Opinion oftts C5uatrzj-Tas Dry Sea.
Son-A Magical Change = From
q Desert to3a Paradise-Farming
Profitable Only on large Scale,
Mexican Land Grants and WHISKY
The "Heathen. Pfofais-
ity and Sabbath Breaking-Eforts
ofthe Methodist and other MissioHa-
rtes-Future Of the Country, &c., &c.
Ho1LIsTER, California, Dec. 5, 1870.
I FRIEND WIcKERHAH As 1 prom
ised, intend in this letter to give
you some of my, experiences ia, and.
opinions of California. Since wrote
to you I have Travelled considerably
over the State. and feel more comps-.
tent to Judge its merits and demerits.
as country, and the Inducements
it offers to immigration. At this
time 1 am about,25O miles from, Iowa
Hills-15O miles. further southland
30 miles from the sea.
It shows the Necessity for person.
to be slow in forming an opinion of q
country, when 1 say that while in
many particulars my first impressions
are confirmed, in others they ars
modified, or entirely changed. The
fact is, l camo to California at the
most unfayorable time of the year
for Il stranger to form a good opinion
oft. :s
It was the dry. season when I
arrived, and-the sudden change and,
contrast from the green meadows and,
beautiful forests of New England to
an apparent desert, was sufficient
to inspire the profoundest disghst.--
To person who has never visited
a country similar to this, it is imp0s-
sible to give any satisfactory descrip-
ton, or one that would give them any
conception Of the barren, desolate ap+
pearanco Of California at that time Of
the year.
Try and imagine land il requires
ones best efflrts to i'm tgine, in order
to do it justice a country utterly
destitute Of vegetation-not a tree or
a green spot, in many instances for
hundreds of miles-the valleys sur.
rounded with hills, with not tree
or shrub growing on them;-distorl ed ,
misshapen, furrowed with gulches--
totally unlike anything ever seen or
conceived of-bosides the whole
country parched, dried up-dust 50
thick that the wind will form clouds
of it so as to render it impossible to
breathe or see-and that is California
in the dry season.
But The law of compensation as
serts itself here, as in any other
place. And if at that time you express
disgust, an old Californian will say,
qwait until next winter if yon wish
to Judge fairly" and in order to do
SO it is necessary to follow their ad-
vice.
Strictly speaking, there are but
two seasons in California. the rainy
and the dry seasons-the dry season
is considered from June to December
tho rainy from December to May
From the Ist of May to November
there is rarely drop Of rain, but in
December a wonderful change takes
place. In few weeks after the first
rain the whole country Gas if by, en-
chantmenO Is transformed. 1t is
converted into a Paradise-a fairy
Hand. A large share of its beauty
should undoubtedly be attributed to
its sudden conversion from a desert
to garden, and is probably more
apparant than real yet making due
allowance for that, it certainly pre-
sents a rare beauty. The hills turn
to a deep green, and the valleys to q
ca, pet of A3wers. The weather all
all the time has that hazy, dreamy
appearance of the "Indian summer"
lin Ohio. If the garden Of Eden was
not, it should have been something
like it. There are sometimes slight
frosts, but uot ea~ugh to injure vege'
Itation.
b. Its adaptation to farming is, I think,
limited. Wheat is the only crop that
can be grown without irrigation,
though fruit, when once started, does
/ very well without it. Al other crops
require a constant supply of water,
which makes the cost of opening up u
farm beyond the reach of men Of
small means. 1t is only men Of con-
siderable means that are able to mako
it rcmunerative. 1t requires large
amount of machinery to farm success
fully. The margin of profit is so
small that several hundred acres must
be cultivated in order to pay and
when a drought effects them, as #
does every few years, there being no
variety of crops to fall back upon
J there is great distress In the agricul'
tural sections.
A drought is caused by deficiency
D in the aggregate fall OF rain in the
winter season: Such was the case in
this valley last winter. The result is
the farmers did not raise enough for
their seed this fall. They never at
] tempt to raise anything else. l know
farmers that SOW four hundred acres
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