The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-06-19
OAR California Correspondence.
CREssEY STATION, Nerced CO., Cal. I
Jure l. 1874 /

CREssEY STATION, MERGED Co, Cal.
DEAR FRsKMAN-I have just received the
! FREEMAN OF the 22d, containing two OF my Let
| N nhlch is very gratifying TO me. | wrote SIX
! letters to you, but some have evidently mis-
but as yet have not received "a copy of either
/ or them containing any OF my letters, although
/ / presume they were forwarded to me.
! INTERIOR OF CALIFORNIA.
! California is three or four times as large IS
! FennSJ iyanla, consequently have not seen
( much OF 1t yet, but read extracts from some
/ twenty papers publ shed here, from which
/ E!ean some information. There are three lead
ing interests in this SJaJc-miItg. raising rlisut
/ and groztUg The mining pays better thar for
| merry, not because the miners have better lDlss
/ n%ut % because mining IS better systemIzed ana
/ the machinery Is Detter. There will be tw ice
/ much grain raised this summer as last, the
! Sah ftshGisco thLoHicts estimating the yield at
/ forty million bushels. Grazing is going back
/ ward, the no telcs law having virtually Biled
( tue business. rms law eNOutFatcs L ram grow
| ers from fencing and imposes damages on all
whose cattle trespass. The wide business and
silk and cotton culture aIe about in 5tdtu quo,
/ so that mining aud farming may be put down
| as the leading pursuits.
IRRIGATION.
Canals are being constructed here for the
! purpose OF inyigOrating the soil. Just ten
! miles from US across the joaquin river one of
I these canals is in operation. Land which yield
/ ed only thirteen bushels TO the acre without
| water, now yields nifty 20 seventy bushels with
! water supplied by these canals, and the cost is
thirty feet vide AT the bottom 81 ire - ton 6
/ and seven feet deep. / predict that this entire
valley will be thus irriga ted in less tnan ten
/ years.
! CROPS AND REAPISG.
! The cTopa as they are, without irrigation are
good tEis year, and the early sOwed grain is
! ers go in to-day. I "a " one Tiggcd, a sixteen
/ foot header. Some are twenty-four feet wide.
/ stead of pulled, From six to eight horses push
| it along, and reel draws the heads in. which
revolving bet,w hich hcarries them u p into a wa
/ gon, which wagon hauis them 20 a'stack, where
FvfE ENEs4
gons to do the hauling, so that the entire outfit
| with four horses each, and eight men. A good
/ header will cut from twenty to thirty acres per
day. Al! the threshing is now done by steam
! One steamer win thresh aud clean from 1000 TO
! I,5UO bushels in a day. It requires twenty men
| to attend a steamer, as water and wood have to
| be hauled. Our folks say they can reap or head
( days with a steamer which charges seven cents
/ busheI for threshing and cleaning. The steam
! or IN moved from one ranch TO another by
! gang of horses, and has often only to cross a
! rOad-nOt even a fence, as there are no fences.
ADVANTAGES.
| California has advantages for raising grain
| that your State has not. Land can be bought
! at from II p to sl4 per acre, aud II is always
| ready fer the piOw- and being sandy is easily
pto"ei1i, mere IS no sruo9lug cAopplHG PICK
| lHg' clearing, rolling or fencing 70 40 just
! get gang pIOw and six horses, and start in and
from November until April, but as the rain
usually falls during the night, p.Owng can be
done nearly every day. The sand retains the
moisture SO tn2t the grain continues 70 grow
until it has fully ripened. The adobe land re
!
does reclaimed tltLs land. I was astonished To
soc deep green wheat growing on sand into
or three inches.
California presents another advantage. If a
man has no capital some good fellow will give
him horses ftirIisb him with inniernents etc
Rich men here have generally started out poor
themselves, and they seem willing 10 help 9th
ers. In short, they have souls, and are willing
to see Others live.
DISADVANTAGES.
One great disadvantage here is the heat 1t
is almost impossible here to keep machinery
from drying up 10 the sun. Flows and wagons,
headers and reapers are dried up until not an
atom OF moisture remains in them. Scarcity
of water is another disadvantage Scarcity or
wood is another. Want OF pasture in summer
is another. Flies and mosquitoes are another
Fioods IN summer along the rivers are auothsr'
These are OcCasiOued by melting SHOWS in the
mountains. Want OF spring houses and cellars
/ Is another GlsadFantaEe. Exceedingly warm
days and exceedingly cool nights are still an-
water can he obtained Dy bo1 u9J from thlrly
to seventy feet. Our well is seventy feet deep,
/ us2, etc is pumped by wind mill.
EnRcEn f. Il, CITY, -, ,r.u,.z c-t.--
moved from Smelling by vote OF the people
/ on tho line ~ a rdlir0ad "nd contSlns apOHt
hundred buildings. The railroad hotel called
{ house going up viii cost $4,000, and a schooI
house sI6,Ot. Two printing presses enlghtsn
for the Yosemite valley wonders. Mrs. Wood
hull and Miss Csfin are said 10 be there now
mc-tee, in four sy b.es Eccented On SEM. Half
the town is made up of livery stables, and about
the valley. 1t cost me one dollar to 20 TO her-
ced by rail, three dollars to remain one Gay
and nothing to return. Everything is sold here
by the pound and for bit. BlaciSberries, cher
rles and cheesFi .anco, candy ana ana CoChtaitS fEe
Quart measures and yard-sticks are unknown
men were cutting " heat for hay right in town.
between the e. Captain. the court house, tho
pOst-Ofice and the district attorneys shop.
a
The Legislature OF California has cOdifs6 all
the laws by one sweeping act called the omnibus
act, containing about 10000 sections and DIVIDED
into four books Of about 100 pages each OAe
Code, one the Political Code and one something
else. The school law ia comprised in the Poit-
icAl Code. 1t is we'll indexef and IL easy or re-
ference, but the lawyers oppose il for other
reasons. There are many omissions, as there
bad writing. as the fiiss. about one hundred in
number. follow along after the pen and drink
up the ink a. fast as II dowsl Inc com hiss!oL-
ers ire called supervisors here. and in a1dItlOn
to the cuties imposed in your county, they also
have charge of all the roads 10 the county. me
school directors are three in number 10 each
district and called trustees. The assessor
judicial system is similar to our own.
TRIES, PLANTS. BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
We have the oak, the willow, the box, the el-
der, the pine (near the mountatnsl. the locust,
and some other trees like ours we have the
tobacco plant mot tobacco, WorInWood, via
OATS Il have sOwn mineo pepEermIRt. spear
mint, lamb quarter, hileree, "a kind OF cloycr,)
alfalfa, another kindD tar-weed, hddie--neck'
sage, nettles, hlackherries,. .etc much as in our
own State. OF birds, we have tse crane, the
hawk. the crow, the dove the Jay, the Oee-hlru'
the'QuaiI, etc. OF animals, we have the gopher
"a kind OF ratl the badger, "a kind Of fox or
crouudD the rabbit, the hare. the antelope, "a
kind of deerJ and many others. l 60 for the
FINALLY.
There are two rivers here within q few miles
of each other-the Eerced and Bear creek. The
former heads in the Sierra Nevada mountains
and the latter in the-foot hills consequently
the MERGED is at flood height, while Bear creek
is dry punk.
VOCE NEWS, ETC.
l am sorry TO hear OF the death OF Abram
Kopelin, ESQ Charles Samuels and John Han
nan, the landlord.
If YOU have either or all of the JOhnstOwn
papers containing my letters, 1 wish you would
cut them out and send me the slips, as desire
to know what do and say in this world before
| go to the next