Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-06-26
LETTER FROM JOHN SHIRLEY
WARD.
The Pacific COast-San Francisco
santa Clara and San Jose The Land
OF Grapes-Will Farming Pay I'm Cal.
irOrnfa?


Of Grapes-WnlF Farming Pay I'm Ca
iTOrnfa?
Correspondence OF the Union and American.
SANTA CLARA, Cal, June 9, 1S73.--I
our last letter we promised to say SOM
thing of San Francisco in our next, but {
the city has been so frequently "writte
up" by tourists and the local press, we wi
be brief in our notice of the great city
the Pacific. Nature made the site Of Sa
Francisco for a great city. Its deep az
capacious barbor, its beautiful bay, extend
ing forty mics in the interior, its rich agri
cultural lands, surprising IN their fertilit
the valley of the Nile, all coDspire TO max
San Francisco great metropolis. 1t seem
to a stranger that the city ought to haV:
been built on the east or north Side of IL
bay, where now stands the city of o Akland.
| The city is built on q series Of sand bills
some of them rising hundreds of feet high
The view from these hills is all that love-
| of the picturesque could desire. On one
| side is the vast Pacific whose waves born out
in mid-ocean, are ever repeating to the list
ening shore the old song Of the sea; on the
other, white-winged vessels lie at anchor
close where the vine, the olive and the al
|
| cloudless air. The city has many fine
blocks of buildings, many of them oi
| exquisite architecture, but none of them so
| tall as the buildings in our eastern cities.
| The Grand Hotel is an imposing building,
and in its appointments seems equal to the
best hotels in New York The City Hall,
now ip course of erection, will cost between
two or three millions of dollars, and will be
the finest building on this coast. The peo-
pie in San Francisco have healthy appear
ance, and every one seems in hurry. The
winds are too fierce in the city for those
not born in storm. They begin coming
in from the ocean early in the foreL Don, and
by the middle Of the afternoon they rise TO
the dignity of young hurricane. This is
a daily occurrence. People say it is very
healthy when you get use to it bu. rather
think many die while trying the experiment.
The street cars on one line have had to cease
running because the sand covers up the
track every day. Ii you want uniformity
OF climate, San Francisco can beat any
place in the world, AS there is only a variation
of eight or nine degrees from summer TO
winter. The winters are regarded as more
pleasant than the summer. San Francisco,
despite It's wind and dust, is destined to be
an immense city. The rich agricultural
and grass lands lying around it will make
Il the centre OF vast population.
SANTA CLARA AND SAN JOSE VALLEYS.
The Santa Clara valley, named from
Santa Clara county, extending down the
baT southwark for sixty miles, is really one
of the most beautiful landscapes in the
world. 1t lies between the inner and outer
Coast Rauge of mountains, and is sheltered
to great extent from the fierce winds of
the Pacific. Its soil is a rich, black loan,
sometimes mixed with sand, and its pro-
auctions both in quantity and variety are
not excelled by any portion of the globe.
Nearly the entire valley is in high state of
cultivation and the farmers are contented
and happy. The chief productions here
are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, strawber-
ries and fruits, and all fiud ready market
at San Francisco. The orange does not do
well in this valley, it being little too cold.
The olive flourishes well. The almond
grows well some years, but is not certain
crop. The fig, apricot, cherry, plum,
peach, apple, pear and grape grow to per-
fiction. Such cherries no man ever saw
before. They are juicy, weli-favored and
luscious and have something beside the skin
and seed, and none of the Prussic-acid taste
Of our Tennessee cherries.
In the vicinity of the village there are
nearly 500 acres in strawberries. 1t is no
uncommon thing to see a hundred China
men picking them in one field. They
yield large profit to the producer, being
as high here as at Nashville.
GRAPES.
And now Messieurs Editors, about these
grapes Of which you and your readers have
heard so much. This coast is the natural
home of the grape. They do not mature
so well on the rich valley lands as On the
foothills, but they grow well everywhere
here. Just two squares from where l am
writing, there is q vineyard containing one
acre and half which has yielded $4,000
pounds of grapes i'll one year. a short
time ago visited the rancho (every farm
is called a rancho here) Of DR.. Bsscom, a
brother of B shop Bascom. He has been
here many years and has lovely farm.
While in his vineyard he told me that his
vines had by actual weight averaged fifty
pounds each for one year. As there are
1920 vines on an acre, you can see that
an acre would yie!d 10000 pounds. This
at cent and half pound would yield
through his orchird containing 80 acres
in apples, pears, peaches, figs, cherries and
spricots, the truitof which he sold one year
on the trees for $1,000, after securing
enough for home use. These figures may
seem fabulous, Tut they are vOuched for
by the most unimpeachable authority.
WILL FARMING PAY HERE?
An ounce of fact is worth a pound of
theory. If man does MT wish to work,
be can get along very wei, without it here.
| know a farm near here for which the
renter pays s. so per acre. He did not
strike one lick of work en- it till harvest
time. The volunteer crop of wild oats and
barley has yielded him four tons per acre,
and the COST of rent, harvesting and putting
it into market has not exceeded SIP per acre.
This hay is sold at SO per ton, thus leaV-
ing net profit of $40 per acre produced
by only few days work. A poor man
who has the means % rent few acres of
land, can use the greater part of the year
working for wages, and can thus save a
large amount of bis annual earnings. The
usual wheat crop in this valley is 80 to 80
bushels per acre. Barley yields from 40 to
70 bushels and pays well.
We would not advise men of small means
to settle in this valley, as lands just IS good
can be bought in other portions of the s ate
for one-thi:d of their cost here. But to the
man of means, who simply wishes to have
an easy, Luxurious country life, this valley
presents many attractions. This valley is
dotted over with pleasant little villages.
The city of San Jose pronounced Hossyl
is one of the most attractive places we have
ever seen. 1t contains about 10000 in
habitants. For e'egant and tasteful resi-
dences, for variety of flowers and ever
green's, and for artisticslly arranged pleas
ure grounds, we have never seen a city TO
C Ompare with it. 1t has all the richness
aud luxuriance Of the tropics, with none of
the malaria and heat Of tropical climes. 1t |
is lighted with gas, has water-works, fine |
three banks, fine schools, and is
a live city, built by live and thrifty popu |
Iation. Santa Clara is a beautiful village |
three miles from San Jose, empowered in |
orchards and evergreens. 1t is connected
with San Jose by street railroad, which |
runs through the Almeda, the most beau
5iful drive on the continent. The Almeda is
,hickly set with trees, planted nearly one
hundred years ago by the old Jesuit priests.
The trees are principally the willow, and
many of them are more than two feet in
1ameter. The entire length is spriakled
3very day, thus making it charming drive.
& We have made trip to Southern Cali