Sacramento daily record-union., 1890-09-19

system, WHICH Is cdrIyluS Tue pIouuCbS VI
the garden, the orchard and the field half
round the world, with inappreciable value
added on account of its cost. every portion
of the world is in immediate competition
with all other portions in the production of
the objects of human desire. The compe-
tition of soils and climates is Immediately
present in every market of the world. In
these markets we see the fertility of soils and
the favoring conditions of the climate COM
peting with the environment of every other
portion of the world, where any industrial
pursuits are followed. In every market
there are Immediately present the effects of
the systems of labor, the methods of pro-
duction. the favoring conditions of soil and
climate; they meet face to face; distance
no longer divides them. Their economic
presence has become the equivalent of
physical contiguity. Now, suppose that in
single township in some OF the valleys OF
California you have the rigorous climate Of
Minnesota. Suppose that within that
township the thermometer descends to ten
degrees below zero in November, and, with
the exception of occasional thaws, never
rise above that indication until March.
Suppose that destructive billiards, accom-
panied by sleet and snow, rule and reign
for six or seven months of the year, would
any fruit-grower in California be regarded
as sane who would plant an orchard within
that wintry belt? Now, since commuuica-
ton hassbecome equal to contact, will fruit
growing be pursued in any country sub
iected to the wintry conditions herein de-
scribed, as against the production of fruit.
where spring comes at the end of harvest
Take as an illustration the cost of pro-
ducing wheat in California. There are no
storms in the harvest period this is equal to
twenty-five per cent. advantage in the pro-
duction of the crop.
Upon this subject Mr.. Shippee of Stock
ton, an experienced wheat grower, SAYS:
First, we have climate that is wonder
fully we'll adapted for the production of
wheat. In the second place, our lands are
level; are cultivated by large gang plows,
from two to eight in gang, and handled
by one man; while one man is able to plow
more in one day in this State than in al
most every other State in the Union, in
like manner he is able to SOW and harrow
more. In the third place, the machinery
used in harvesting enables the wheat
grower to harvest his entire crop at less
than half what it costs in any other State
since no other State possesses these harvest
ers. Fourth, we have no rains in the sum-
mer to interfere; we begin harvesting in
June and wind up in October, and are not
compelled to take the grain out of the
field until the harvest season is over No
other portions of the wheat producing
zones can do this
Joseph Cone, very large wheat-grower
of the Sacramento valley, confirms these
grown for less in California than in any
other country in the world. He illustrates
graphically the progress that has been
made in economic methods of producing
wheat by saying that under the old system,
when harvesting was done with sickle,
thrashing done with a fail and separating
done by the primitive method of a fan,
tenth OF an acre was as much as q single
harvester could cut, thrash, separate and
sack in one day; or, in other words, it
would require the labor or ten men to har-
vest, separate and sack one acre of wheat,
but with the machinery now in use the re-
suit is seven and one-half acres day for
each man employed in harvesting, or
seventy-tive times the productive capacity
of an individual harvester under former
systems.
Hon. H NJ La Rue says: THAT wheat
may be raised more economically in Cali
fornia than elsewhere is perfectly tenable.
Our wheat lands are generally level, uni
form in quality; our soil is rich and easily
worked. Our system of summer following
enables up to do our plowing in the spring
and our seeding in the long days in the
fall before the rainy season commences.
Owing to our long, dry summers, we have
ample time for harvest, without danger
from wet weather. Our climate also
enables US to use the most improved ma
chinery, both in seeding and harvesting.
The combined harvester can be used to
better advantage in California than in any
other wheat-growing country, and by its
use we have been enabled to reduce the
cost of harvesting, thrashing and cleaning
sixty per cent. of what it costs in other
countries"
l present the testimony of these inteli-
gent and experienced gentlemen, practical
wheat. growers, as conclusive of the asser-
ton that wheat can be grown more cheaply
in California than elsewhere. The full sig-
ni6cance of this can scarcely be realized.
Now if the advantages of soil, climate and
general environment are present in every
market in the world. California can
raise breadstuffs at a price which would
be unreInunerative to any other pOr-
ton of the wheat-growlng zone. Distance
being no longer factor, whenever the test
comes under which the fttest survive,
wheat growing in California would con-
tinue in this State long after its discontinu-
ance elsewhere. At the same market rate,
therefore, the wheat producer of California
receives higher reward for his labor.
Keeping in mind the position taken at the
outset, that we are saying these things to
an intending immigrant, to a farmer in
Iowa or Illinois, can we not say with truth
to him that the labor he puts upon his
fields in those States would reward him
better if expended upon fields in Califor-
ria nd fhis md
which would lead him to decide in our
favor when seeking new home? Let Us
reverse the illustration. Suppose that in
an Eastern State, in single county OF
Ohio, Minnesota or New York, there is q
climate where storms in the harvest period
are unknown, where hailstorms and wind
storms do not waste the ripening grain,
and where the gang-plow and seeder may
be run in seeding season and the harvester
may be run in harvest time, would other
land in that country bear an equal rate to
that lying under this favored zone? re-
peat again, what cannot be too strongly
impressed, that modern methods of trans
portation produce economies of production,
equal to nearness of contact, and that the
competition of climates between different
portions of the earth is present in every
market.
1ne ultimate OperdtOu vi lHlS prluClple
will be to produce every article where its
production affords the greatest reward to
the labor devoted to its production. No
fiscal policy or .ariff device will very long
DELAY, nor eventually wholly prevent, the
universal sway of this principle of produc-
ton. Each object of human desire will be
produced in the country where its
production costs the minimum OF human
effort. This principle is inherent in the
human mentality. 1t is inseparable from
human desire, because it is the desire of
mankind to get the maximum return from
the minimum outlay of effort. Mankind,
as a whole, will then, sooner or later, adopt
this principle of production, appealing to
that natural subsidy which favoring con-
ditions bounteously confer upon those pro-
ducts grown in the soil and in the climate
most promotive of their growth. Apply
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