Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-10-30
Farming in California.

s line FARMER IN LnlS OCdUc Is u pcIsOu
of uncommon resources and ingenuity.
think he uses his brains more than east
ern farmers. do not mean to say that
he lives better, for he does not. His
house is often shabby. even though he
is a man of wealth, and his table is not
unfrequently without milk; he buys his
butter with his canned vegetables In
San Francisco, and bread and mutton
are the chief part of his living, both be-
ing universally good here. But inman-
aging his land he displays great enter
prise, and knows how to fit his efforts
to the climate and soil. Thus, in the
tule lands, when they are drained, he
finds it impossible to work the soil with
cattle or horses; but this does not pre-
vent him from putting in crop, for OF
the tules, which are tall reed, and the
high grasses, he sows his hundreds of
acres with coffee-mill wheat sower, and
colly turns a flock of sheep on the
ground, driving them compactly and
slowly overit, with the help of dogs to
keep the fianks of his flock from scatter
ing ;and what thus "sheeped-in, ''as they
cali it, has borne sixty bushels per acre.
Nor is this all. Unless he depends upon
volunteer crop next year, ,he must plow
the ground. 1t is still, however, COM
monty too light to bear up horses, and
so he shoes these animals with stout
wooden sabots, eleven inches long by
eight broad, and thus they can walk at
Leisure and drag the gang-plow after
them.
The gathering of the wheat crop gees
on in all the valley lands with headers,
and you will find on all the farms in the
Sacramento Valley the best labor~saving
machinery employed, and human labor
which is always the most profitable uses
They talk here of steam-plows and
steam-wagons for common roads, and I
have no doubt the steam-plow will be
first practically and generally used, so
far as the United States are concerned,
in these Californian valleys, where 1
have seen burrows two miles long, and
ten eight horse teams following each
other. ....
Withal, they are somewhat ruthless
in their pursuit of a wheat crop. You
may see farmer who plows hundreds
of acres, but he will have his wheat
growing up to the edge of his veranda.
If he keeps a vegetable garden, he has
performed heroic act of self-denial ;
and as for flowers, they must grow
among the wheat or nowhere. More
over, while he has great ingenuity in his
methods, the farmer of the Sacramento
plain has but little originality in his
planting. He raises wheat and barley.
He might raise dozen, a score, Of 9TH
er products, many more profitable, and
all obliging him to cultivate less ground
but it is only here and there you meet
with one who appreciates the remarks-
| Die CpdUtiiliCo VI shC coAA anu SAaAA&s@sN'
Near Tehama some Chinese have in the
last two years grown large crops ofpea-
nuts, and have, was told, realized
handsome profits from nut which will
be popular in America, 1 suppose, as
long as there is pit and gallery in a
theatre; but the peanut makes valua-
BILE oil, and as it produces enormously
here, it will some day be raised fol
this use, as well asfor the benefit of tn,
old women who keep fruit-stands OF
the street corners. 1t would not be sur
prising If the Chinese, who continue t.
come over to California in great num-
bers, should yet show the farmers her
what can be done on small farms b.
patient and thorough culture. As yc
they conflne their culture of land main
ly to vegetable gardens.