The record-union., 1892-06-23
CALIFORNIA WHEAT CROP.
Comments on Our System by Colo.
RADIO Paper.

RADIO Paper.
Denver Field and Farm
One of the most profitable resources of
California is its wheat crop. The annual
yield will average 81, 100000 bushels year
in and year out, and as dollar wheat" is
generally the ruling quotation the bust
ness is remunerative. The State receives
a magnificent revenue from this cereal.
One reason for the good prices which
govern the California wheat market is
the shipping facilities by water, and the
foreign trade takes all the surplus that
California has to spare. On two rivers
the boats run 100 miles inland, and these
rivers penetrate the greatest wheat
growing districts in the State. The yield
an acre is given by the Government re-
ports at l2.5 bushels, while some authori-
ties claim as high as thirteen bushels.
The methods of growing wheat in Cali
fornia are greatly at variance with those
in vogue here. They do no irrigating in
their grain fields, but depend a great deal
upon the summer following of the
ground. Just as soon as the harvest is
over the ground is plowed and gotten
ready for the next crop, which is sown in
the early fall about the time the rainy sea-
son sets in. The crop natures during the
wet weather of the winter months and
the harvest begins the first of June and
continues until August, according to lati-
tude. The combined harvester or header
machine and we should like to see it in
troduced into Colorado. 1t is drawn by
twenty-five horses, and three men are
| sufficient to operate it. 1t cuts the crop
| at any desired length, threshes out the
grain as it goes and leaves the tied sack
on the field, while the straw and chaff
are thrown out and soon plowed under
again, so that nearly all the elements
| taken from the ground are returned to it.
The farmers have no granaries, as the
sacks remain on the field until sent to
market, and they often remain in this
way as late as October. These headers
| cost 81 800 each, and the city OF Stockton
has five factories which turn out nearly
| 500 machines year.
We found while in California lately
| that there is no distinction between WIN
| ter and spring wheat. We were told that
! these varieties when imported to Califor-
mia soon lose their characteristics. Diff
| terent kinds are sown in different Iocali-
ties. Proper, Chile, Club, Australian
and Sonora are the most largely grown.
all OF which, by the way, are successfully
grown in Colorado. We saw more rust
and smut in California on one acre than
could be found in whole county in the
San Luis Valley. This may be expected
in any country where the wheat crop is
entirely dependent on the rainfall. Asa
rule the farmers of California do not di-
yersify their crops in a way that would
more generally benefit their best inter-
ests. They put wheat on the same ground
year after year, and while we were told of
yields as high as eighty bushels to the
acre on virgin ground, the State average
has fallen of to 12.5. Irrigation has not
been practiced to great extent in wheat
culture, as lands that are well supplied
with irrigation are used in the production
of more profitable crops, and wheat is left
to take care of itself and becomes a make
shift