Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-16
CLASSES OF LANDS.

CLASSES OF LANDS.
The land in the neighborhood of the
town varies in the variety of soil accord
ing to location. That to the west and
south Is heavy sandy loan, very strong,
and as to quality and levelness admirably
adapted for irrigation. This variety also
extends toward the east distance of about
two miles, where, with an abrupt change,
it becomes rich red soil, very deep, but
comparatively rough when contrasted with
the lands to the south and west. North
OF the Fresno river the lands are of red
hog wallow," and while very productive,
are yet unoccupied, the choice of settle
ment always having been in favor of the
more level lands on account of their being
more easy of subjugation rather than on
account of superior productive capacity.
These red lands extend east distance of
from twelve to sixteen miles to where the
foothills of the Sierras form well-defned
boundary.
Directly up the mountain sides are ex-
tensive forests of pine, cedar and redwood,
and the MADEIRA Flume and Trading Com
pany have a "V" hume 60 miles long.
connecting their interests located at the
termini. At the beginning, or mountain
end of the hume, are the company's mills.
two in number, employing over four hun
drp1 and tI1r ont e
10000 feet of lumber per day. This
lumber is all foated down the fume to
MADEIRA, where adjoining the railroad track
the storage yards and factory are located.
Here are manufactured doors, SASH blinds.
holdings, mill work, and all manner of
fruit boxes for shipping, and also raisin-
curing apparatus. The factory is run by
steam-powe gives steady employment to
70 men, and distributes its products to
every railroad station from MADEIRA to Eel
Paso, Texas.
IRRIGATION.
The waste water from the hume, which
has a carrying capacity of 237 miners
inches, is turned into the Fresno Dam and
Canal Company's canal and used for irri-
eating purposes. Adjoining the town, and
to the east, west and south, for distance
of several miles, are numerous farms.
demonstrating the capabilities of the soil,
the small canal above mentioned, with
limited irrigating capacity, having been
brought in number of years ago.
On Orrin Sharp's place, which adioins
the town site, is an orchard of Briggs
early peaches, now in bearing, and al
though the trees are but five and six years
old, they are averaging this year between
200 and $50 pounds of fruit to the tree.
Peaches from this place were the first in
the market this year in all this section,
and brought readily FIVE cents per pound
for shipment, and the last portion of the
crop is now being delivered daily for three
cents per pound. These trees are planted
twenty feet apart, or 108 trees to the acre.
and from the above it is easy to determine
the income from and value of such land.
Mr.. Sharp has also a small vineyard,
experimental and very fine in which
great variety of vines are tested, with
view of determining the varieties best
adapted here for profitable cultivation.
The method of appl lying water to the
land is by sub-irrigation, and while all
the vines are thrifty and do well, the MaIa-
gas and Sultanas are especially thrifty and
prolific. The kitchen garden shows fine
growth of every kind of vegetable known
to the California market, and if Mr.. Sharp
is not troubled by coons this year the
reason will not be through any want Of
success in watermelon experiments.
VINEYARDS AND ORCHARDS.
A couple of miles to the southwest is
the MADEIRA vineyard, with 800 acres of
bearing vines, four years old last season.
Three hundred acres are in wine grapes,
and bore a good crop last year. The
raisins from the remaining twenty acres
sold for $500
Adjoining this is the Stockton vineyard,
of the same age, with 40 acres of equally
productive wine grapes, while further
away is the Doyle vineyard, now owned
by William Ashe with 40 acres of bear
ing vines, so of which are wine, and the
balance Muscats.
Four miles west of MADEIRA, on the farm
of E. ". Chapman, are successfully grown
every variety of temperate and semi-tropi-
cal fruits, shrubs, grains and grasses. One
of the finest objects of attention is a small
tract of Strawberries, that produce con-
stantiy from the LIST of March until
Thanksgiving. At this time white
blossoms and ri pc berries are about equal
and proflse. Blackberry and red rasp-
berry bushes are also heavily loaded with
fruit; and the berries on row of Persian
mulberry trees, which averaged over a foot
in diameter, are large, fine and Just be-
ginning to ripen. In the orchard, apple,
pear, peach, plum, prune and apricot
trees are so loaded with fruit that nearly
every tree has broken limbs, even after the
original crop had been thinned to about
nne-half the amount that set from the
blossoms.
Numerous other instances could be cited