Los Angeles herald., 1891-04-10
PROFITS IN FIGS.

at the court yesterday.
PROFITS IN FIGS.
"A Man Who Wants Too Much for
His Money.
The following letter, received here a
few days ago, has been handed to the
HERALD:
CLEVELAND, O., April 2, 1891.
DEAR SIR: Read in the Ontario
Record of January 2Sth that you have
set out twenty acres to figs. Now,
nave been making inquiry about the
growing of figs for profit, and have not
received very favorable reply. My
sister is now at Pomona, stopping with
the Swans, and requested her to make
diligent inquiry, and that has been the
result, consequently we had about con-
cluded to not invest in land at the ex-
cessively enormous prices asked, for l
don't particularly banker after orange
growing. it being too profitable. Now,
1T may be that you have some partic-
ularly good reason for fig culture, and
that under ordinary conditions it is not
profitable, therefore would like to ask:
On land at 5000 per acre, with ordinary
care, with the ordinary yield in an or
-dinary year. and selling the fruit at the
market price when dried, will it bring
one an income of 500 per acre after
vdeducting the cost of drying? Or, if
one do the work himself, will it bring
him 500 for his labor? Is the picking
expensive or the drying? They can be
dried in the sun, but it has been inti-
mated to me by some one that the pick
ing is tedious work.
am inclined to think that it lis not
necessary to pay 5000 per acre for land
to grow figs upon, but that cheaper
land can be bought, and also that they
don't require irrigating as the orange
tree does. Is this correct? Why is it
that the vineyards are being dug up?
1t used to be claimed that grapes are
profitable to raise. Don't they pay
NOW?
You California people should not lose
sight OF the important fact that this
year there has been an uncommon de-
mand for fruit owing to the greatest
fruit failure ever known east of the
Rockies.
have calculated the price for dried
figs at 10 cents, for can now buy them
here, of excellent quality, for Is cents
by the single box. Respectfully,
N. s. SWEET,
Care of Murray & Heiss, Engravers on
Wood, No. 204 Superior Street.
Perhaps the man of all in this section
best qualified to speak on fig culture is
James Stewart of Downey city, Los An
geles county. He has been for eighteen
years engaged in the business. In let
ter which appeared in the HERALD few
months ago, Mr.. Stewart says that he is
able to sell all the figs he can produce
for $50 ton in their natural state. The
8 crystallizers of fruit here buy them to
put up in their own way. At that price
Mr.. Stewart says his figs pay better than
even oranges. But of course they will
mot continue to do that, as there is more
land suited to figs in this section than
there is suited to oranges. Good
fig land may be had IN parts
of this section as cheap as $40
an acre. The trees do not need
irrigation. Land near towns, with rail
road station, churches, schools, and
other desirable circumstance near by,
will, of course, sell for more money.
still, good land in desirable localities
may be had for 500 an acre, and excel
lent land for 5000.
The writer above wants too much for
his money. But he can get it here.
Land whose crop will be worth 800, if
lit is sold in natural state, or 5000 if
worked up by the owner, is cheap at
$1,000 an acre. But the Cleveland man
can get the best of it for the purposes
proposed for 5000. Care must be taken
; in handling the fig, or any other fruit;
and any orchard must be treated with
care. Work must be done, but intelli-
gence amounts to more than muscle in
This business. Yet all the details are
easily and quickly learned, if man
gives attention to his business.
The vineyards are dug up here, not
because grapes do not sell for good
prices, but because mysterious dis
ease that no expert has learned the
nature of has destroyed great many OF
our vines. This is now disappearing
in a perfectly natural way, as similar
diseases have in France, Germany and
Italy, and as diseases in wheat and po-
tatoes have come and gone in Ohio. AS
"A result new vineyards are being set out
again all over this country.
Yes, fruit was dear last year because
the eastern crop was failure. So it
will be this year for the same reason.
In time all the fruit consumed in the
country must be grown here. The east
can not compete with California in this
business. Our crops are too heavy and
too regular, and the orchards last too
dong to permit of successful competition
on the part of regions where the trees
are frozen on an average once in three
TO five years.
Do not hesitate, Mr.. Sweet. Come to
the most delightful land under the sun,
where you can buy land at 5000 an acre
and produce crops worth that much a
year.
SyruD of Fips