The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1872-06-29
Agriculture in California.

are indeed Of the rosy kind Those who
Grst went to tho Golden State were frm Ia
the opinion that the country was valueless
for purposes Of agriculture. Bat the error
ofthis opinion has been fully demonstrated
by Subsequent experiments. zone reason
for the illrepute OF the State as an
agricultural REGION, SAYS Mr.. NordhoG,
SIS that it oyertnrns all the ideas Of Eastern
farmers. Our people came to the Stale,
aud attempted to'plant aud SOW in May or
June, when the rains were over, and, Of
course, they got no more return than lfthey
had planted corn in Illinois in August
Then, getting no crops, they beheld the
whole wild plain IN June turn brown aud
sore, The grass dry mp, the clover utterly
disappear, and Of course they we're really
to give up the country as a desert. They
did not then know that the grass lies on the
plain, rich, natural-oured hay; that the
Cloyerseed, by u enrious provision Of nature,
is preserved in little bar, on which the
cattle actually iatten, when to the careless
eve the ground seems TO be bare and that
the wild oat also holds its nutritious seed
all the season; so that those brown pastures
are perhaps the sweetest and best support
for cattle aud sheep in the world Tho
different qualities OF soil IN California also
had to be studied and only now, we are
told, the people are discovering that the
great source of Che States wealth is in its
Town productive soil.
Thesubiect, represented by Mr.. NorlhoT,
Is so interesting that we make a longer
extract:
'Iu California the rains begin late in
October. The grass is green an Winter
al y. eli
wheat, barley, oats. and othor crops are
sowed as soon as the land can be made e.;
and sowing aud planting are Confined as
late as March. Thus the hushaudnan has
three or four months to pat in his crops.
Trees are also trgusplauled in this season.
South Of san Francisco, and in the great
San Joaquie Valley, frost is rarely kaOwn,
roses bloom AT the winter through, the
flower garden Is constantly FAN OF flowers.
and many shade trees, like The acaeiaS, the
peppcr-tree, and the i've oaks, keep their
foliage green the year round Corn Is
planted from March to May, and harvested
as late rs December In the Southern
counties, and IN the San joaquin Valley
especially, many farmers take tao crops
from the same fold wheat or barley for
the FIRST, and corn Tor the second aud
have seen fields which yielded Ia q good
season, ninety bushels Of cnrn for this
second crop. Wheat and barley are COM.
monty snwu Cor hay. and cut before the
heals fill, in April, or May. Where this IS
done II is usual 10 plant corn on uip same
ground when the hay crop is cut Thus
the farmer gets two valuable crops from the
same field The harvest season for wheat,
barley, and oats is in the latter part OF May
and IN June.
After the middle Of April the rains cease.
aud the whole harvest season Is absolutely
without rain. Thus the farmer is not
hurried, and the harvest proceeds with
none Of that haste and anxiety about the
weather which trouble The Eastern farmer
The small grains are usually gathered by
machine called q "hcader,' which clips Of
only the heads Of The Grain stalk. Wheat,
oats, and barley are tlIreshca on the field.
put into bugs, aud left either on The field or
along the railroad, for weeks oljen, in the
open air, and until the crop is sold and
shipped. The grain does not sweat, nor is
Il liable to INJURY from this exposure.
Hay, too, Is balcd or stacked on the field,
and left there until il is wanted. Potatoes
are often left in the ground long after they
are lit for digging. Thus II is evident the
farmer has, in the long, dry California
Summer, al immense advantage over his
Eastern competitor. Heueeds lewerbands,
he is not hurried, and he requires no costly
granarics or barns TO contain the products
OF his fields.
Nor does he need to put away much food
for his cattle. a quarter Of an acre Of
beels replauted as they are used, will sup.
port a COW during tho whole year. Work
horses receive barley AID hay, but sheep
are never fed market cattle latten In the
pastures, and horses not at work got no
food except what they pick mp In the
fields, III Winter AS well as Summer The
alfalfa, or Gillian clover, which is row
beginning to be largely sowu, docs well 10
iced 10 pigs, 10 cows, aud even 10 nl5w
horses, aud bears enormous crops. On low
ground, or where it can DO irrigated, as
much as twenty tons have been taken from
an acre 1t is not cut from December to
April, but yields from six u ci lhG cuttings
IN The year. Cattle and horses are more
easily aCpt in good condition Ia California
than elsewhere in the United States, aad
the farmer need nc such substantial stables
as IA Tie Eastern States.
Fruit trees bear much earlier than in the
East. The peach tree bears u peck in the
second year from planting the pit the
apple gives crop at five years. and begins
to bear at three the currulo Is unknown
aud such perishable fruits rs plnms aud
cherries keep far longer than with US.
have eaten cherries and strawberries in
Colorado which Ind been brought from
Sacramen;o-a four days journey--and
they were in perfect order. The growth OF
iruit and other trees IS extraordinary. The
eucalyptus, a fine Australian evergreen
shade tree, has made twenty feet in year
Il have seen one, eight years from a small
cutting, which was seyeniy-ige feet high
and Two aud a half feet in diameter at tie
has q the apricot becomes almost forest
tree in size and in the Southern parts OF
the State 1t is the custom 10 make fences OF
si.cks Of willow, sycamore, or cotton wood,
cut to the length OF eight feet, aud stuck
into The ground in December These strike
root at once, and grow so rapidly that in
the second year the farmer cuts his igewood
from these living Fences.
Moreover, the variety Of fruits cultivated
in the farmers orchard, especially in
Southern California, is much greater than
with us. | have seen, commonly, in
orchards, the apple, pear, peach, cherry,
ounce, plum, neesarine, pOmegranatc
most lovely tree or tall shrub when in
bloom the fig, which bears two crops a
year; the orange, lemon, olive, English
walnut and apricot; and you may cat
Strawberries, wherever care is bestowed
upon them, in every month Of the year.
Fruit trees are oil free from disease, though
the pear slug begins to be troublesome ia
some places sand the finest varieties of fruit
known IL the East grow freely here"
This reads ike astory Of enchanted Ian d
The picture has great deal Of colcr in it,
still we doubt not the country is all that
Mr.. NordhoF paints Il TO Be 10 prosperous
season. In California. as elsewhere, the
picture changes with the seasons. With
such a climate and soil, the Pacific Slope
must become the seat Of vast empire. And