Delaware weekly Republican., 1872-07-04
AGRicui- -Tun RAJ.

AesRgCUs- 7 W NAs.s
FARMING IN Between Stock
on and Merced lie about six hundred sqiar
niles of wheat. The railroad train runs throu9
What appears TO be an interpinable wheat delf
with small houses and barns at great dlstau9
apart, and no fences, except those by which tll
has guarded its trains against the cal
lie, which are turned into the fields after hal i
vest TO clean the grain and consume the stut
BILE. Wheat, wheat, wheat and nothing bJ Z
wheat Is what you see on your journey, as II
as the eye can reach over tho plain in every 4
rection. Fields Of two three and four thousai
acres make but small farms; here Is ma /,
who "has in" 10000 acres; here one with 40 !
900 acres, and another with some still mo /
amount--all in wheat. Look oa s
and see mile after mile, without divisid /,
fence, so or 90 miles apparently in one feld~ I
makes its impression. The Valley Of the 50 =
joaquin differs from an Illinois prairie in thi
ii has two magnificent mountain ranges ford
boundaries, the Sierra Nevada on the east, al
the Coast Range on the west. The moutha
the Valley Is to the north as that of the gre
Valley of Virginia; the San joaquin river joii
the Sacramento and flows into the sea, and ti
has been, until this year, the chief avenualgt
freight transport from the country which 1t flow
Now the railroad Is in operation as far as MD
ced; 1t will reach Visalia in May, and Baked
field In July, and Los Angeles or San BernaE
dino perhaps in October; and the great rid
valley, which has so long lain asleep, given n
to horses and cattle, is waking up.
A MARVELLOUS CROP AT HAND.
1t Is q apga&er piece of good fortune to ~
farmers ant 8zSltasi owners that they Get a remark
season and the railroad m the sa,N
year. They have known how to avail tl,eimN
selves OF their good luck for they have nut "A
enormous crops. One of the best informed mo,
IN Stockton assured me that the San JoanuN
Valley will send TO tide-water this year isl
oO0 tons ofwheat. Mr. Friedlander, the greI
grain buyer Of this State, is reported to me d
have estimated the probable export of the who'd
State this year at 100000 tons. This mead
that TOO ships of 1000 tons each will he needeI
to carry Californias crop to its far away mai
kets ana il means that $4,000 cars. each ear,l
ing lO ions OF grain, will be needed 10 move tI,l
surplus wheat of the San JOAQUIN Valley n
San Francisco; or 800 trains of so cars eacl,l
OF a single train more than 100 miles lonu.-
There Will be ships needed TO market the nI,i,
crop, and there will be men needed to haryes
le' ana as the harvest here lasts three months
and as harvesters will this year get at least 50
Jay and food, many thrifty man will no Couh
earn small farm by his labor in tile whea
nelds' ltwIl surprise you perhaps as it dit
me, 10 near that much Of this great wheat fielt
oi which have spoken, does not bear, even !,
such good year as this is, more than from ID
10 IL bushels per acre. A large part of IN,
plain between Stockton and Merced is lrht and
sandy. Some Of il looks like mere colIectio,
Oh white sand, and tho wind when it blow.
strongly, as il often does, blows a mans farm
about agreat deal. There is goodly quantity
OF heavier SOFIA sandy loan, the best Of which
yields in good year from 20 TO 30. and even ID
bushels per acre and at the western side Of th,
san joaquin there is yet Heavier land, adobe
Which VIII bear, when II is not too wei. still
heavier crops. A great deal of this land is avn.
ed m large tracts of from 10000 TO 10000 and
from that TO 100000 acres. Tho holdersy oI
these tracts do not usually farm them, but lease
rrent Them; and this is a vast business in il.
sell, as you may understand. But | must tlrst
remind you that If il We're not for the peculiar
climate Of this State, wheat raising on sncb q
scale would be impossible. They sow the
wheat mere from the lst of December to the Isl
OF March, and they have the other three months
10 harvest II IN, with a certainty that m ra;,,
VIII disturb them during their long harvest,
HOW THE CALIFORNIA FIELDS ARE PLowFD
The fields are plowed with what are callsd
gang -plows, which are simply four, six or eioI,t
plowshares fastened TO q stout frame of wood.
on the lighter soils eight horses draw seven
gang-plow, and one such team is counted on II
PAe Ia o7to d'IeS III Wlleat In tlp SOWING season.
or from to 10 acres per day. Cant. GRAY
near Merced, put in this season 1000 acres with
hVe such teams--his own land and his own
leans. A seed-sower is fastened in front Of the
piow itscatters the seed, and the plows cover
lt-and the work is done. The blow has no
handles, and the plowman is, in Fact, only n
driver; he guides the team ; the plows do t6eiy.
aSh y ~ Tok " 9 easy Z, Y3Ek ra ae aHe Is s good
ploMInan a, as the team turns the
corners, and the plow is not handled al ali, II
Is striking sight TO see, as [ saw, 10 eight
horse teams following each other. over a ynsf
plain, cutting "landsn mile long, and when All
mad passed me leavinga track 40 feet wide. of
pl0wed ground. On the heavier soil, the mo-
cess is somewhat different. An eirht horse
team moves four-gang plow, and gets over
ABOUT SIX acres per day. The seed is then sown
Dy machine which scatters 40 feet, and sows
70 to 100 acres in day, and the ground Is then
narrowed and cross-harrowed. When the far
lner, in this Valley, has done his winter SOW
ing, he turns his teams and men into other
ground, which is to summer fal!ow. This he
can do from the first of March to the middle of
May and by IL he secures remuneratiye cron
Tor the following year, even If the season is ,ry,
This discovery is of inestimable Importance to
the farmers on the drier part of these great
plains, Experience has demonstrated coacIu.
siyely that II they plow their land in tile spring
let It lie until the winter rains come on, then
sow their wheat land harrow it in, they are sure
of crop, and the summer win have killed
every weed beside.