Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-07-10
A FAMOUS ORCHARD.

FAMOOS OhNhARD.
The Oldest orange orchard on the Pacific
coast is the Wolfskill orchard, located on
Alameda street, Los Angeles 1t consists
now OF nearly 10000 trees, but only about
1000 of these are very old The first trees
in this orchard were planted by VIM.
Wolfskill in 1911, and they are now giants
in size and are producing from eight to ten
boxes of oranges each per year, and at
times this orchard has yielded an income
OF 81 200 to 81 800 an acre per year The
soil is q rich sandy loan, and it is treated
in peculiar way by ]. w. Wolfski,l, the
present owner Instead of blowing fur
rows for irrigating streams says the Ratral
Californian, he floods the entire surface of
the land with stream of nearly 200 inches
of water, one row at a time, except strip
some three feet wide ridged up a trifle, in
| the center of which the trees stand. The
water is never allowed to touch the trunk
of the tree. The land is nearly level, and
1t requires nearly an hour for the stream
to run across a 20-acre orchard, and it is
turned off as soon as it reaches the last
| tree. This irrigation is given about every
| six weeks, and the land is plowed after
each irrigation. Alex. Craw, who has
| charge of this famous orchard, says that
the trees seem to do very much better IN
der this system of deep culture than by any
other which they have tried, and the mag
nificence Of the trees and the eyuberance
of the crop both attest the success of
orange culture under the Wolfskill method.
| IRRIGATION FOLLOWING HYDRAULIcKING.
| 1t will be a good thing for the mining
counties, as well as for the State, when the
| last hydraulic monitor shall have ceased
| its destructive work, since drift mining
! employs ten men where hydraulicking
! makes work for but one. In its vast reser-
| voirs and hundreds of miles of bitches,
| hydraulic mining has left a legacy to the
| State that may through the use of water
! for irrigation, accomplish much benefit.
| II is stated that the Excelsior Company at
Smartsville is making arrangements for
| the employment of its copious flow
of water in the irrigation of thousands
! of acres of foothill lands. Should
, orange culture be extensively engaged
| in upon the foothills the water could be
made to yield handsome revenue to the
company. For years past the company has
| grown alfalfa upon its own foothill lands,
| BY means of irrigation. 1t is hardly prob
| able, however that all the reservoirs and
| bitches in the mountains can be profitably
used for irrigation. Some OF them cost
| great deal to maintain and repair, and are
| situated so high in the mountains as to be
much above the belt where they could be
! available for irrigation purposes. But it is
UNREASONABLE that, IN the course of time,
much of the water hitherto diverted from
! the rivers for mining purposes will be used
| for irrigation, with results far more bene-
fetal to the State.-Odkiand Times.
THOROUGH CULTIVATION AND ITS EFFECTS.
| R. G.. Breckenridge owns-or did until a
| few days ago, when he sold out to Mr.. Oh
sen, of Sacramento-a beautiful place a
I ~
| He has q full assortment of trees vines,
etc., many of which are in bearing, and
none of which have ever been irrigated in
the least, except by the showers of nature.
Mr.. Breckenridge cultivates thoroughly,
and the place is splendid illustration of
| the practicability of the theory of cultiva-
ton instead of irrigation. The growth of
his trees is rank, and those in bearing
promise liberal yield according to their
age of excellent fruit. To illustrate the
| thriftiness of his trees and vines he
left with us last Monday some samples
of this years growth. There were
| peach, pear, apple and plum limbs
| on which the new wood was from
| four to six feet long. One rank old black
| berry vine was literally loaded with fruit,
and another of this years growth meas
ured between six and seven feet. Every
| limb left with us shows the highest degree
of thrift and vigor. In the hay line Mr.
Breckenridge has Just harvested crop,
and bunch OF rye grown on his place can
be seen at the office which measures eight
feet and three inches. This place is above
the ditch, and Mr.. Breckenridge could not
conveniently irrigate if he was disposed
to. He therefore adopted the cultivation
theory from necessity, and the excellent
result he is attaining promises to go long
way toward solving the irrigation question
so far as the red land of the foothills is
CONGRATULATIONS Herald.
NEW PACKING FOR FRUIT SHIPPING.
A little box lies on the reporters table
that looks as if revolution was to be
| worked in the shipping of fruit to long
distance in a natural state. The box is
| lined on all six sides with tule woven to-
gether, and the inside is filled with the
| same substance, cut up into fine particles.
The tule, both in the lining and in the dust,
is dry as finder, and almost without weight.
Much has been said about shipping
grapes and other fruit East in natural
| state in cork dust, and fruit dealers in the
large cities are making experiments with
this object in view 1t looks as if the whole
question was solved There is plenty of
tule in California. 1t is easily accessible
at many points in the State. The stuff
is very easily gathered, dried and pre-
pared for use. The cost of the material
will be very light as compared with the
grand results to be obtained. The added
weight to the box of fruit will be very little,
and therefore there will be very little adj
ditional freight tc pay. The lining OF the
tule strips on the sides of the box will pre-
vent glass from breaking when wine or
brandy is shipped in cases. Altogether
| for a cursory inspection of the sample Tor
warded by the makers, it certainly seems
as if cork dust would be supplanted by this
plentiful cheap, light and dry product OF
| all the river bottoms and other damp places
| in the State. If it works as one must ex-
pect it will, the whole question of shipping
| fruit is solved, and great industry is
| formed in the State.-Los Angeles Herald,
THE SHEEP NUISANCE.
/ Deputy Assessor and Constable Danforth
| went to the Little Truckee bridge on Friday
| last to collect the new tax, according to
recent county ordinance, on 5000 head of
sheep about TO come into the county. The
! ordinance requires that all sheep not
owned in the county shall pay a tax of
! five cents each to the county. The gall
4 of these lower country sheep men is with
out limit. They bring up their sheep TO
| eat up the pastures that our own ranchers
need and destroy our roads by filling
them with stones and debris from the hill
sides. and are not even willing to repair the
roads they destroy, which the mountain
counties have TO expend large amounts of
money in tie repairing. They destroy the
| feed and the public highway without pay
| ing one cent, either directly or indirectly,
| into the county treasury, make a fuss be-
cause We wish TO work cur mines, and in
| lure us in that way, and then some come
| up here and eat up our feed. Our people
4 - al.