Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-01-26
Ascend Letter From Southern California.
VINEYARDS FOR WINE AND EAIsIN MAKING

| Asecond Letter From Southern California.
VINEYARDS FOR WINE AND EAIsIN MAKING
| HONEY.
| Ell MoNT, Los Angeles Co,
| CALIFORNIA, Dec. Is, 1876.
To ths Editor Of the Free Press and Times
! The average rainfall of this section is tii-
teen inches This is ample for the grape,
which is almost indigenous. Los Angeles
has been the largest grape growing county IN
the State. Its wine grape vines alone are
over 5000. 600. These yield about LOO. :
600 gallons of wine anl 100, 900 gallons OF
brandy annually. Win making requires
| good deal of capital, anI encounters many
risks, and is hampered and harrassed with
government duties. The vineyard interest
for wine making purposes Is not enlarging
Not much of the domestic article is drank
here. although it is cheap and pure. Coco
| port and white wines year old RETAIL the
| former at one dollar. the latter at fifty cents
gallon ; good brandy at two dollars Il gal
| lon. A good deal of foreign tarantuta Juice
or tangle foot whiskey is drank. Am happy
| to say that its indlscriminate use Is decreas-
ing
RAIsIN GRAPES
If the average of time grapes is not in
| creasing. many farmers setting out eight
| to ten thousand and more vines apiece, OF
the Royal Musat of Alexandria for rsisins.
Every circumstance seems to favor raisin
culture.
LIST. The duty of five cents pound ON
| foreign raisins, is much in our favor to start
with. A population of over forty millions
East of US, will furnish ready and perma-
nent market. The ways of transportation
by rail and Sea, are multiplying. The crop
| is not perishable. 1t will have no jealousies
to contend with. Fruit dryers, which will
work up crop cheaply and rapidly, are con-
stantly being invented, SO, that the busi-
ness may employ capital economically and
be conducted on large scale. AZ the found
| alton for the raisin business is being laid in
! different parts of California, and is likely to
become Il staple industry, it may be interest
ing to know how II vineyard is made. There
are different ways varying with the individ
ual and of the locality For my place, ex-
perience has shown the quickest aud cheap
| est way to be the best.
LIST. The ground is deeply plowed, with
, the early rams in October and November.
I'd. Early in January the ground is turrow-
| ed out as deep as possible with common
turning plow in furrows six feet apart, and
check ed across the same distance.
Sd. A trigue plow, or else a bar of iron
fitted into the plow beam, with ground end
flared, is then IAN through the length of the
burrows to the depth of twelve to fourteen
inches. The bottom of the furrow is then at
least twenty inches below the surface.
4th. The setting now begins. Three hands
is g convenient gang. My son, aged eight
cen, assisted by two Indians, does the work.
Cuttings should be fresh. Indian No. l.
prepares the cuttings from the vines in the
nursery. The nursery although only an
acre will annually after three years. furnish
many thousands OF cuttings. Indian No. 2,
sticks the cuttings, which are all of the same
length, into the burrows where the cross line
intersects. He thrusts them down until the
end touches the bottom of the furrow, and
leaves about two inches and one eye above
the surface.
5th. Water is then run into the burrows to
settle the earth to the cuttings
9Th. And to protect the cuttings from the
cold night breeze which comes from off the
snow capped (Mansfield if you please) noun
tain, north of us, the work is finished by
plowing in the furrows and slightly covering
the cuttings. The rabbits are great pest
to vines, and if not protected. will be de-
stroyed by them. pair of gray hounds
will protect quite an area. But lsth fence,
costing seventy cents rod for mater al is
thoroughly efficient. This fence may be
movable and used for years. in protecting
newly set out vineyards. After the first year
the vine is strong and will get along without
protection. The annual work to keep a vine
yard IN order Is, plowing from and back to
the vine two hoeings to keep out weeds
and trimming. This last is generally done
about Christmas. The cost of trimming is
from s2.50 to $500 per acre. Foreign vines
begin to bear at two, and native vines at
three years. They are at iull bearing III sew
ha
age yield then and after is five tons of grapes
to the acre. There are two general ways of
drying. Firstly, exposure to the sun and
secondly. by artificial ways. The first is
slow and exposure to the atmosphere in-
vites the attacks Of insects who deposit lar
viB within the fruit. OF course, in no very
long time the article is infested with worms
and if not ruined, its commercial value is
greatly lessened Artificial ways obviate the
above evils. The Alden process (there are
two Alden factories in the county, is con-
sidered the best. By it, Muscat of Alexan-
dria grapes shrink one-third, and Mission
grapes one-half. in drying. In other words
an acre of Muscats will yield 10 900 pounds
of grapes or 200 pounds of choice laisins.
And one acre of Mission grapes will yield
5000 pounds OF fair and very sweet cooking
raisns.
Two hundred and fifty tons is about the
annual honey crop. 1t is of very delicate
flavor. and made chiefly from white sage.
Most of it is strained and put into sixty
pound tin cans, for shipment. Its price here
ID from five TO seven cents coin. Its interest
requires foreign market. Here is q chance
for ys enterprising Vermonters. A promi-
nent Apiarian wishes me to say that good
inman can find steady employment from
the Bee men Of this county, in making cans.
They furnish stock.
My object i'll this and previous letters has
been to give correct showing SO far as it
goes, OF this section of Lower California.
for the benefit OF any who may wish to seek
homes in this beautiful climate. 1t is evi-
dent from the above, that unless a man has
capital after paying for his land he will have
to support himself by the lesser products of
the farm, such as butter, chickens, etc,
which have ready market
The public school statistics show, that over
nine thousand children, between five and
seventeen years of age. are in the county.
About wO-thirds of these are in attendance.
Over ninety trained teachers, are employed
There are some siIty-fve school houses,
varying from one to five thousand dollars.
Many of these have a very tasteful appear
ance. One hundred thousand dollars at
least, will this year be expended upon the
schools. What might be said OF our public
schools would be too lengthy to be in place
here. It's enough to say that they probably
are fully up to the Vermont standard.
ANY questions about this county will be
cheeriully answered by addressing, stamp en-
closed GEO. II. PECK,
Ell Monte, Los Angeles Co. California.
TooTH PULLING ExTRAoRDINARY.-One of
the youthful inmates Of tho Aquarium in