The record-union., 1892-06-06
MODEL PEACH ORCHARD.
Land That Seems to Have Been Es-
pecialIy Made Therefor.
Development of the Mokelumne River
Section-One of Senator Lang
ford'S Enterprises.

Travelling Correspondence RECoRD-UNIoN.l
CLEMENTS, June Sd. = Three miles
above Clements, on the Mokelumne
River, Senator Langford has located
an orchard upon deep sediment land
underlaid by gravel, with water ten
feet from the surface. He has seventy
acres of peach trees, about six years old,
pruned on the vase system snd carefully
cultivated, that would be hard to beat
anywhere in the world. The leaves are
rank and green, the trees are symmet-
rical, and from the drive which leads
around the adjoining bluff it seems as
though one could walk upon the tops of
the trees from one side of the orchard to
the other.
One hundred and twenty acres ofyoung
prune trees adjoining this orchard were
destroyed by grasshoppers last year, but
he has an island near by where there are
forty acres of arge prune trees looking
well. The chief damage done to the older
trees was the destruction of the fruit crop
for 1891 and most of the fruit buds for
1892.
Some damage was done by frost, which
was partially averted by burning straw
injured turned black at the pit and is now
dropping. The crop will be small in
number OF peaches but may beaverage in
weight, and promises to be extra in
quality.
Considering the devastation by the yell
lows IN the East, the prospective demand
for peaches, and the quality of the soil, it
may be questioned whether an owner has
moral and financial right to plant any
thing but peaches on such land as this.
The operations of the Patent Office are
quite extensive already, but it might be
some advantage if land so peculiarly
adapted to peaches as these Sedimentary
bottom lands of the Mokelumne could be
so patented as to be devoted to that pro-
duct only.
CONVENIENT ORCHARD DEVICES.
Senator Langford's son George is in
charge OF the place, and is determined
that no weed shall be III sight when his
father returns from the East. He showed
me a San Jose truck with bent aXles that
bring the platform, mounted on good
springs, within less than twenty inches
Of the ground. 1t has two separate
reaches crossing each other under the
bed, extending from The left end of the
front axle TO the right end OF the hind
axle, thus causing the hind wheels to fol-
low the tracks of those in front no matter
how you turn. This permits Of using so
long platform even between rows of
trees that you need not pile the boxes
upon one another when hauling large
load. With its wide tires and easy
springs this leaves little to be desired in
an orchard truck.
PRODUCING INVENTORS ALREADY.
Senator Iangford's younger son is
studying mechanical engineering at the
Stanford University. For some time L
have been looking over drying establish
ments, questioning fruit-men and trying
to find or invent a device for raising Il
load of trays from the truck when it runs
into the sulphur box. l found it ut
Langford's, and found that it was the in
vention Of his son.
The truck should be made about six
incnes narrower than the length of the
trays, so that they may project three
inches on each side when loaded. AS the
truck runs into the sulphur-h0use there
Is a scantilng on each side of the truck
resting on hinged legs that carry the load
an inch higher than the platform when
they are perpendicular. Near the back
end OF each scantling is stop, against
which the load strikes and carries itself
up, grasshopper fashion, by the mo-
mentun Of the load, until the hinged legs
have passed the center and the load rests
| on the scantllngS and against the back
end Of the house and the truck is free for
other uses while the load of fruit is in the
| suiphur-boX.
1t is good idea and valuable, TO those
who have that kind of work to do, in
proportion to its simplicity. When yon
want TO load the trays on the truck again
| ali you have to do is 10 run it under and
| pull hard enough on the stack of trays to
swing back the grasshopper scantlings
over the center on their hinged legs.
DEVICE FOR BURNING SULPHUR.
The Largford sulphur houses are on
brick foundation, with a little cellar two
! feet square and two feet deep, nicely
! bricked up and connected with Ihe house
| by fire. Here they burn the sulphur
| without any danger of setting ire to the
! house, provided they replace their wooden
! cover with one OF iron or line it with
asbestos. FRANK S. CHAPLIN.