The morning call., 1891-01-20
NOTES FROM NILES.

Present Time.
Editor Morning Gail: The meadow lark,
that harbinger Of early spring, with his
wild, sweet song of gladness, is here; the
grass lies at our feet like folds of simmer
ing green velvet. The scurrying clouds and
stiff breezes the past week portend rain, but
it is stll too colo, and the thermometer must
rise a few degrees to cOndense the clouds
in1o welcome showers. The farmers have
their wheat in and tile ground about ready
for barley or whatever other cereal they
may intend to plant. The Portuguese upon
the hiilsideS are working early and late to
get in as much acreage as possible before
the rain, and the busy fruitman is pruning
the last few trees, spraying, and planting in
the broken spaces, trimming up gardens,
etc, to be in readiness when the rain shall
come, for it is hardly likely that the rainfall
| will be any more than will be absolutely
necessary TO the rancher 1t is nearly the
end of January, with less than 4 inches of
rain. when 10 to 20 inches is about what is
needed.
Talk concerning next years crop has al
ready begun; the swelling buds on the dit
ferent trees are already showing signs of
life; early in February the aim onds will be
III bloom, ana even now q stray dainty pink
blossom may be found in several orchards.
In Mrs. Cloush'S orchard is an almond,
next the front fence, and in Daniel San
bOrnS another, IN the front row, which BIOS
SONS long before any others in the neigh
borhoOd, as foTerunners of the coming
loneliness. BY curious law Of nature,
those trees which blossom earliest fruit
last, and vice versa; and almost all trees
send blossoms out before the leaves. 1t is
astonishing the ignorance shown by city
people concerning the appearance OF the
different kinds OF fruit trees. The country
lnEpli lis 81 yylAn - fFpu in h1pppI .
there is no dust, the hillsideS and waysides
are green and gayly spriukled with wild
flowers, and the orchards are great wilder
neSseS of fragrance and beauty. ii the city
man could be ersuaded oftener TO try bit
oil country, any time when not actually rain
ing, from February to May, he would ever
alter take his outings in those months.
a taI6 with prominent San Jose Gamer
brings TO light tho fact that Gamers gener-
ally are considering the matter Of a graded
prlce-lSt for graded fruits. This would
seem an admirable plan, and Will probably
be tired this year. The method heretofore
has been, If the yield is heavy in any one
KIND OF FRUIT say apricOts, the Gamer VIII
draw up hls contract, "All god clean april
cots IN condition for canning, eight to the
pound" say l cent, all others are left in the
hands OF the grower To be packed and sent
10 Sdn Francisco, or perhaps dried. II the
yield Is slack, then the Gamers come around
ana Duy up everything possible before the
@4N't - AihAL 3 Ohlls dLu tDt contracts VIII
read something Ike this: "All apricots
not over ripe or too green" say 3 cents in
the hrst case; san francisco people get the
second-grade fruit, and in the second place
they get none at ali. OF course there are
always farmers and sections which are not
affected by these Gamers offers, so San
tranciScans manage ~ get guUdly supply
after all
Our parsonage is inclosed and rooted.
Soon our little church viii celeb rate its first
Zff.N- NEs-afN
a Dung lady well known both in Oakland
and i'll Niles.
Our new rUad-master has done good work
already IN attending to the road from the
several other improvements which viii help
to keep the roads what they always have
been, the best in the township.
The orange and lemon crops have been
unusually large this winter, and the fruit
finer and larger than ever.
1t IS very rarely tina. frO5ts are heavy
enough to nip any but very young trees,
and with the thermometer As low as 29o one
morning this week, the yellow fruit and
Creamy blossoms We're uudlsturUed. Aside
from James Shinn's grove Of about seventy
nYe trees and several small lots Of trees
In different gardens which are ten to
twenty wears old, and which hang full,
ii. a. Mayhem has line young grove OF
a couple OF hundred trees, none more than
SIX years old, and which are beauties. Mr..
Mayhem has, without doubt, the most per-
feet exposure for an orange grove in this
section, slOpe with n southern exposure
and yet with the hill rolling just enough to
the west to protect from the prevailing coast
winds, and another Hill few hundred wards
away to the east to protect from the north
east winds, VITA rich gravel loan aud
water, wafer everywhere" The gentle
man has on his place sulphur spring pow
erIul enough to suit the worst dyspeptic,
and several other springs on the hillside
AD0NR fxx~R INN
sycamores he has built three tanks, each
with capacity OF more than 5000 gallons
80 the trees have everything they need
!nese trees, as well as the others in the see
tloli' seem TO be remarkably clear of the
scale and bear full and regular crops The
only ether groves OF any size are Ed Clarle's
and Perry MorrisOn's. Both of these are
I'VE years old and have as line soil and plen-
" OF water, but NOT the southern protected
exposure which Nj. Mayhem has. Loring
Pickering has set out last winter about 100
trees, which are growing strong ami hardy;
are Ia protected spot in the valley, have
plenty OF water and care and viii add
greatly to the beauty OF the grounds about
his country residence.
The subject of a High School for Oak
land is interesting to the country people who
must send their children there, and they
real with Interest the many plans suggested
by the different Oakland fiRanciers. A plan
Oy a d. Ihomsen, providing for stone
and brick High School and library, to be
built upon Lafayette square, meets with
favorable comment among country folks
who are more interested in educational mat
tiers than OaklanderS would believe.
call for meetings to consider the pro-
posed division of Alameda County by Oak
lanu citizens causes ripple of excitement
among Niles citizens, who wonder if the
outside country has any voice in the matter
ana then confidently whisper in an aside.
Never mind If it is divided, we'll get the
county seat" MRS. l.. r. TUhSE
Mes, January 10 1891