The Newtown bee., 1888-11-30
CALIFORNIA AS IT IS.
WHAT A NEWCOMER THINKS
 OF IT.
POOR FOR FARMING, BUT 4 GLORIOUS GIL
 MATE.

my opinion as to the chances of better ing themselves financially by coming here and not being able to conduct an extended correspondence, with your per- mission I will take the BEE as a medium through which to answer all who are getting uneasy and who are beginning to turn their eyes toward the setting sun, thinking that somewhere away out on the Plains. or over the Sierra Neva- das into California; an opportunity to better themselves for this life awaits them. Having been but about four months in the State. my information is somewhat limited, but I will give ideas which have thus far collected.
 l arrived at Dixon, a small town 20 miles below Sacramento, on the morn ing of August (, from thence I was driven to my boarding place eight miles out on the plains, where for two months I was most hospitably cared for. The coun- try about here is ore vast wheat and barley field, perfectly level, with no perceptible rise in the country between the Sierra Nevadas on the East and the Coast Range on the West. There are many farmers in this section of the Sac ramento Valley who count their acres by the thousand; one in particular has a range of 75,00O acres.
 Right here, I will say q word to the farmer boys of Newtown who may think that they would like to work on these farms. Good help is in demand and the young man who thoroughly understands the method of farming in this country can find work at any time; but we who come from the East are green. We know but little more about farming here than the foreigner just over from the old country. On applying for work, the first question the farmer will ask you is How many mules can you drive: The chances are, if you told him the truth, you would say, I never worked mules, we use oxen back East. He would probably not question you farther. Mus cle is not rated so high here as in the East, but the man who can successfully handle any number of mules is the help that is sought for and he who can get on skilfully handle F mules is the one who can get job any time in California. The farmers smile at me when I talk about ploughing with a yoke of oxen and tell me that they should think I could earn more money making wooden nutmegs.
 I find the farmers growl here, the same as we do in the East. This has been an off year and the price of barley has not averaged over SIG per ton. The raising of colts is quite an industry here and finer draft horses, raised in SOlano county, cannot be found in the State and they are very cheap. I saw one colt, coming three next June, which stands 17 1-2 hands high and weighs 20O0 lbs. This colt is offered for sale at s250.
 There is no government land where have been and farms are held at very high prices. You cannot buy land in the grain region short of s1O0 per acre and prices range from that up to S25o per acre. In the fruit belt, land ranges from $50 for unimproved up to sl2O0 per acre set to fruit.
 was in yaccaville in September and spent day with one of the leading fruit growers of that section. Vaccaville is conceded to be the finest fruit region ir the world and, as far as the eye car reach up and down, this valley is one
 vast vineyard and orchard of all fruits
 imaginable. stopped at the packing house of T. c. Buck, who ships the pro
 ducts of 1000 acres of fruit to Chicago
 and New York markets I saw son,'
 wonderful specimens of fruit here, stemi
 of grapes that weighed from eight to tel
 pounds each. MT Buck told me tha
 last season he sent a bunch of Tokay
 grapes weighing B pounds to Sacramen
 to to be placed on exhibition. This, h.
 said, was an exception, but punches fire
 quently attain weight of 12 pounds
 While among the fruit growers, foun'
 that they. like the grain growers, wer growing, too. The gentleman witt
 whom was stopping told me that ther
 was but little money in fruit and cite an instance of so boxes of fine peache
 that had just been sold at the auctio
 rooms in San Francisco for g. Ther
 were 40 bushels of peaches that onl
 brought SC. per bushel- This man wa going to cut and dry the rest of his croI There is ring here in the fruit busines' the same as in most other kinds of bus ness and, unless you belong to the fru growers association, your returns wi be small. Their fruit is always sold fir then, if the market is stocked, they shov !. the outside growers fruit on the mark ! as surplus and the returns in this cal
 are not very pleasing. Then there is u ! wool industry. have met men he who own from 5000 to 10000 sheeI 2 they, too, are growing. They say tn | there is little money to be made fin raj ing sheep. Wool is only worth abo }. 12c. per pound, which Is lower than tn D ever sold it before.
 VI From all that have seen anu C, s learn, the young men of New Englan e as whole, are far better o6 than a young men of California and the you nI man who comes here with the Idea th ,e all is lovely in California. that he c
 earn big wages here and soon becol :, rich will meet with many ed disappol ments. I came here solely fOr l
 health. have DO nal estate heze, 6 sequently have nothing fo boon I
 tho truth and muet IT t2,6t rIany .
 clea p0bl8hed Ll or ES5t1rS TIT