The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-08-10
The STANFORD UNIVERSITY.
The Richest College In the World-Its
Wealth Hard to Estimate.

Wealth Hard to Estimate.
The newspaper accounts OF the estate
left by the late Senator Stanford have
started speculation as to the value OF
his endowment of the university which
definite idea of the actual sum OF
money represented by the property
which will come into the possession of
the trustees of the university when
Mrs. Stanford dies.
That property consists of three pieces
of land-Palo Alto, S,409 acres, of
which a large portion is under high
cultivation, being planted in vines
which have been found to suit the soil
Gridley, p 000 acres, which have been
planted to wheat and will probably be
gradually planted in vines, and Vina,
50, 900 acres, of which bstween 1000 and
1000 acres are planted in vines. OF
these three the Vina estate is, of
course, the most valuable. There are,
in round numbers, S,OOo,00O grapevines
on the estate, which yielded last year
1000 tons of grapes. When all the
vines now planted are in full bearing
the product will be something like
5000 tons of grapes per year; and the
vineyard is growing from year to year.
A largo portion of the Vina estate Is
used for raising horses of all the
various breeds, and other portions are
employed as COW pastures, sheep past.
urcs and hog pastures II Is dificult
To form an adequate idea Of the mdxs
value of such land at the present time
and almost impossible to guess
what II will be when II better knowl-
edge of the peculiartics of soil
and climate and the handling Of
the grapes will enable California
wines to command the same price as
the foreign pro luct. But land whch
will grow five tons of grapes TO the
acre has definite and well-known
value in France and Germany, md
there is no reason why 1t shout be
different here. 1t is worth as p,arly
as possible -, 900 an acre in the Gir)nde
and on the Rhine, and though it Gould
not be sold for any such sum at present
in this state, it will earn interest on
that amount. Thus the Vina vineyard
alone represents an endowment o the
college of $1,000, 600 and present. in
come of about S24O, 900 a year. This, it
will be remembered. is exclusiveof the
Palo Alto property the Gridley 'anch,
and the tifty-odd thousand ares of
land at Vina not planted in wires. If
all the land in the three properties
which is suited to vine-growiIg We're
planted in vines it would represent the
enormous sum of 5000, 900, 900 and an
annual income of over S11, 900, O)O
No university in America has any
thing like such an endowment Ac-
cording to the college registers leading
universities are endowed as follows:
Columbia, S13, 900, 900; Harvard, ST., 000,-
300: Yale, $4,000, 900; University of
California, S1,0O0.0oO Johns Hopkins,
81, 900, 600. The endowment of the Lee
land Stanford cannot be added to the
list, because no one can tell is real
amount. The Vina vineyard represents
IS, 900. 900 at present, with possible
extension to over ten times that amount
in the early future, but no one pos
Sesses the Information required to ap-
praise Palo Alto or Gridley. 1t may be
said, without fearing contradiction, that
its resources are far in excess of those
Of any other educational establishment
in the world and that it will never
need to deny itself anything. from
library to an observatory or u labora-
tory, on the ground of expense. 1t is
quite possible that when the properties
which are devoted to its support yield
their full income it will find it possible
TO abolish all fees for tuition and to
reduce the charge for board below that
which a pupil would cost at home
San Francisco Argonaut.