Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-01-31
cALiFoRvirs BoouED LANDS


WANT worthy Master uesscr saw Of
the Happy side Of Life in their Midst.
The members Of the National grange ap.
pear 10 have been subjects Of great atten-
ton in California During their stay there
they were treated TO railroad excursions.
/ pleasant drives and receptions. banqueted
shown the sights, and fcted without limit
/ Under such circumstances visitors, Of
course, see the country at it's very best
They can hardly be expected to speak OF
facts not favorable to the interests of their
generou, entertainers, who are proiited 10y
/ booming the country.
Mr. Alpha Messer. master of the state
/ grange, has written a series of very inter
esting letters descriptive of California and
the journey Of the delegates and their com
pany TO and from sacramento We give be
low the principal part Of one Of Mr. Messer
letters, taken from Grange Homes We
| hope Mr.. Messer will not be induced to quit
Vermont by having seen California from
such favorable points of view There is
certainly another side that might be seen,
especially Of that naturally desert portion
Of southern California which by irrign-
ton, booming, orange planting, etc, has
been kited up so that Am owner of one of
these orange farms talks TO Mr.. Messer,
for anything that appears to the contrary
with an innocent face, of having refused
S3SOO per acre for it The price of the
raisin lands in Fresno county is very mod
erate-only $1,000 per acre The value of
the raisin product per acre is not given, but
the average price of raisns delivered to
the buyer is said 10 be about five cents per
pound. The number of acres in cultiva-
ton is 10000 the total product 10, 900. 900
pounds. Computing from these figures it
will be seen that the average value Of the
raisin product is about $50 per acre Fruit
crops exceeding that value per acre have
been repeatedly raised in Vermont, and
without the expense Of artificial irrigation:
yet it has never occurred to any one here
that such land was worth $1,000 an acre
At $1,000 per acre for these raisin lands,
1t Is difficult to understand where the profit
comes IN from a gross product worth $50
per acre At the legal rate of interest in
California the use of the money invested in
the land alone is worth $40 per acre. The
cost of irrigation, cultivation. gathering.
harvesting and marketing the crop may be
reckoned at as much more. making the
cost of the crop $40. 1t is probable that
the yield per acre is often greatly above
the average that is shown by these figures
But we let Mr. Messer tell the story
Fresno county lies in the heart of San
joaquin valley, and Fresno city Is situated
in the centre of the county about POO miles
southeast of San Francisco The climate
in the county Is naturally very dry and
temperate with an average annual rainfall
Of only about SIX inches, aud until the
present system of irrigation was introduced,
about IA years ago 1t contained only "a
sparse population and its products were
extremely limited but irrigation effected
wond rful change 10y Transforming the
barren plains into thousands of the most
pruduc i've orchards and VINEYARD, in tine
world and increasing its population from
5000 To 30. 900 during the past ten wears
While Fresno county. with irrigation. is
well adapted TO gram raising and orchard
ing, 1t Is most noted for its raisIn vineyards.
OF which there are nearly 10000 acres IN
Ihe county, Nlelulng TINS season about ten
million pounds of raisins. or nearly half
the raisln product of the entire state One
other cause beside irrigation has had
marked influence IN the marvellous growth
of the county IN wealth aud population dur
ing the past few years Tins Is the colony
system 10y which much of the land is divid-
ed into 20 and 40 acre farms with certain
restrictions of a public nature These
small holdings are just what Is needed to
develop the fruit industry of California and
make good neighborhoods for the support
of schools, churches and society. and If the
Chinese are excluded from the state it will
be when the ranches are cut up into these
small farms, and each farmer. with the help
of his family will do the most of the work
on his own farm. After "a visit to the
board of trade rooms and lunch at the
fine hotel, carriages were provided for a
ride through the raisin aud wine VINEYARDS
and orchards IN the vicinity of Fresno city.
We had heard much of the wonderful raj
sin vineyards of Fresno, but the half had
not been told 50