St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-10-17
Wheat Culture in California.

y stockton correspondent OF the san
Framci>c" BHIIctjH, under date of Sept
-. gives the following facts relative tc
tire cultivation of wheat in the san
joaquin valley
Il have been gathering Il few facts
with regard To the grain product in the
valley. the result of which | here lay
before the readers of the RHlietiH.
have been informed from two or three
sources. that the statement which has
gained currency that Il much greater
breadth of land WAS sovn To wheat last
season that in the preceding one. is
erroneous. The fact i. that the area
under wheat in this valley for the har-
vest year Just ended WAS very little in
excess of the year lr1l l-2. On that year.
however. the area Sown exceeded the
previous one 10y about omr-third.
1t l. NOW sixteen ycaIs since wheat
began to he first raised i'll this valley.
There WIS Il little grown previous to
that period. Int only in small quanti-
ties. The results. however. were ST
satisfactory that the area placed under
cultivation WIS gradually enlarged. un-
ill in about I~62 the wheat of the val
ley began to acquire Il motuIitty. Then
began the movement SouthwaTd. Pre-
NiouS to lcti2 it was III san joaquin
county only that wheat WAS grown.
Since that wear the country Southward
has been gradually opening up. hut Il
II greater proportion of wheat l. still
produced within the limits of san Joa-
pUIu county. ! find il very difficult tu
obtain anything like Il reliable estimate
of the actual acreage >own to wheat
during the past season. The crop is
stated to me to hc about I:}u.OOO tons.
oI. 2.GOO.0nO ccntal> of which 9O.OOu
tons. or about two-third>. was raised in
san joaquin county. All crops on the
west of the san Joaquin were Il c"mpar-
atiVc failure owing to the dry season.
The WELD in san joaquin varied with
the class of the soil In the adobe il
went from - to - bushels to the acre.
In the upper lands from II to ~. and
in the sandy soil from eight to twelve.
| WAS shown samples of Chile wheat
grown about four miles from Stockton.
ON blossoms ranch. where the Weld
WAS % bushels To the acre. Another
specimen SAW WAS Excelsior with club
head. raised at Mnkclumnc. 10y MIR.
Dcirc'.. where the average was b bash
els. These we've said to hc anon. the
finest grown in the valley. The kernels
we're large and dry. and at the same
time not ;" hard a> l. usual with Cali
tormia wheat. consequently they are
more acceptable in the English markets.
I'm the CalnvcIa> and Cherokee districts.
the Weld wa> still greater and went up
between II and ~ bushels to the acre.
A.,-.f tl,, h,..,t IL
have already been shipped to Liverpool.
1t i stated that there i less quantity
under summer tall"w this wear than
Last. If. however. the season opens
promising that i>. with tolcrahlc good
raiu~ 10y thr end of November Il larger
breadth will hc Snwn to wheat than cv-
cT before.
san Jonguin. StaniSlaus and Merced
are three of the best agricultural c"un-
tir> in the State. There may hc i few
hundred acres uutillahlc on the slope of
the Coast range. but an average for the
whole l. not more than acre ont of
.JOG. The present mcultiVatcd districts
will doubtless soon he brought under
the pillow. especially III san joaquin
county. which perhaps offers the best
facilities for market. Newcomers gen
orally select new localities further
south. but there are. am told. still
large tracts of land in san Joaquin coun-
ty which may he purchased at low
rates. say $40 per acre.
Mr.. Mitchell had :}5.0OO acres under
wheat this year i'll various parts of the
valley. This he is not selling. but is
keeping it in store, expecting ii rise in
the market"