The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-06-28
VROm SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

kHOm SOUTHERN GALAFOhNAA
Several California Absurdities CuriOsitie
of Marksting-Pulleis Lay When Five
Months OId-Butter Truly Gilt Edged
wild Game in the CIty-Midnight Free
Concerts-winged Butchers and ailors
Maria Can Climb!-They Smots the
Rock, and the Cons 'quen"es.
LUGoNIA, CAL, June ii, 1888.
To the Editor Of The Bdnner:-Ther,
ae some ridiculous and incongrou'
features Of California life which im-
press me more and more. One lie, that
things that ought 10 be orpOricd are iar
imported. You will find in our mar
kets more lemons from Mediterranean
ports than from our own orchards,
though the best Of lemons grow here
and are so plentiful that people are
often careless about harvesting them,
People here also consume vast quanti-
ties of Baltimore canned tomatoes, and
very likely ours are popular in Balti-
more. The joke Of it is, that not only
are our tomatoes the best, and millions
of cans Of them sent abroad, but fresh
tomatoes can be picked from the vines
ten months in the year. Some con-
sumers appear to prefer them canned,
and brought across the ointment at
that.
| A man came to my house this morn
ing with fresh cherries, asparagus and
rhubarb, all brought from San Francisco!
For a rural horticultural settlement 20
send to a city five or six hundred miles
north for f. Iits ard early vegetable s
exceedingly funny. Imagine Georgia
farmer depending on Boston for "gar-
den saucer
The climax Is reached in importing
canned Strawberries from London, Eng
land and you may find these at aNy OF
our groceries. When it is considered
that Strawberries Can be grown here
with the utmost ease, at least nine
months in the year, and can be had
fresh from the vines all the time If one
will take little pains with them, what
could be more delciousIy absurd than
to send TO Crosse & Blackwell, GOOO
miles away, for canned strawberries;
Southern California resIrtng to ondon
for fruit!
Most of the pickles eaten here are
also put up by the same London firm;
and those that are American are
brought from San Francisco. Yet
every variety OF material Tor pickle can
be as easily grown here as anywhere 10
the world, if anybody would take the
trouble. We learn in this country not
to be surprised at anything. | expect
men will Ue here soon with VIneapples
grown IN hOl-houses on the tops Of
the mountains, or shad reared in arti-
fetal streams in the Mojave desert.
Meantime we are getting our lumber
from Texas, aud our Kerosene from
Ohio, though the forests of this State
are almost ilimilable and there are fine
petroleum wells IN every county OF
Southern California.
Then again, things that ought TO be
cheapest are usually dear and regarded
as luxuries, This IS fruit country;
yet fruit in the markets is always dear
or than in New York, with the possib Q
exception of grapes Oranges are our
one great staple, yet you cannot buy one
at store for less than four or five
cents, and often they are hard to find
at any price. Cherries and small fruits
if bought, cost more than in Yer
mont,
Poultry, ore would think, must be
cheap and abundant, for chickens can
be halched all times Of the year and
speedily begin 10 lay eggs. had d
brood Of chickens last spring which he
gan to produce eggs daily as soon as
they had been five months out Of the
shell! When pullets go TO laying before
they are half year Old, both fowls and
eggs might be supposed to be abundant
and cheap. But as matter of fact,
they cost twice what they do anywhere
In the East. One reason is, that fowls
find no insects 10 feed on, and you have
to provide grain for them; their own
scra! ching is extremely unBroductiye OF
results. This drawb lack in raising pOul-
try has its cOmpensatlOns, for when you
plant melons, squashes aud cucumbers,
they are not touched by the voracious
bugs that are the terror Of New England
vines. Perhaps it is better to feed fowls,
If at that expense we can escape the
caterpillars, curcullos, grasshoppers
and white grubs.
| theoretically, this is an excellent
region for daryIng. You are assured
that alfalfa clover grows with luXur-
lance, yields seven Or eight crops a
year, and single acre Of IL will support
horse ana COW. This being So, you
naturally infer that Southern California
must be d paradise for lovers Of cream,
and it probably exports butter and
cheese to less favored States where
stock must be housed and fed half the
year. Instead of this being the case,
however, great quantities of dairy pro-
ducts are brought to Us from the older
States, good butter is difficult to get at
any figure, and Is gilt edged only IN the
price, butter and milk costing half as
much again as in Maine. Getting our
fresh vegetables from San Francisco,
our tomatoes from Baltimore, our green
corn from Portland. Me-, and our straw
berries from London. the wonder is that
we do not send TO Switzerland for our
butter. Indeed, we do use what passes
for Sw iss milk, and It's flavor is less Of
Alpine pastures than Of Yankee corn
starch factories. A Ci r'nia j ltym II
ought 10 grow as r.cn as Chat trad
tional Il Job OF your climate, The
plumber
Oae delcacy, however, is plenty here,
and cheap if one has II -un-rabbits.
These - anals, exactly like those that
abound vn the Green MOu ltains, are
found in the villages and zen cities.
My daughters plnks are broNsed off by
these beasts, and even in cur largest
city, Los Angeles. this wild game is not
l. u.