The San Francisco call., 1895-05-22

Tor months rode every day on horseback
through the hot valley says he did not in
the least suffer thereby.
This is largely due to the extreme dry
ness of the air; IS deg. in the moist at
mosphere of this City or of New York is
more trying than ITO deg. in the shade or
l3o to lao in the sun in the great valley,
where sunstroke is unknown. The direc-
tors of the road, without suitable light
clothing, rode in wagons every day, driving
from AS A. NJ. until 4 to P. NJ, with the
thermometer during the hot hours at an
altitude of 100 to ITO deg. They not
only did not suffer. but came back bene-
| fitted by the trip.
climates is almost miracul Gus, but in the
San Joaquin Valley, for the reasons stated,
she is absolutely explosive, in the sense of
| actually bursting with wealth of crops
nowhere surpassed and but rarely equaled.
Four crops of alfalfa, two of grapes, one of
wheat and another of corn from the same
| land, without the application of fertilizers,
or even thought OF their use, everybody
can now behold, necessarily marveling
constantly at the sight.
The alkali of the San Joaquin Valley,
thought to be wholly curse by those who
are unacquainted with the facts, has much
to do with preserving the life of the land
| uiiucI luS uedNy pISSSuIc VI TWO W IOuT
crops year. 1t cannot be said of alkali as
the Indians said of whisky, that too much
is just right; but certain percentage,
which the most of the land possesses, is a
valuable adjunct to agriculture, because it
contains chemical constituents which add
permanent fertility of soil. Some of the
| land of the valley is badly alkalied, and
therefore barren, but much of it can be
divested of its injurious surplus of alkali
by flooding (that is by leaching) or the
| alkali can be neutraliZed by the applica-
tion of gypsum, large deposits of which are
to be found in the east side Of the inner
coast range, sloping toward the great
valley.
But there is so much land in the valley
brought under high state of cultivation,
and such vast areas that are yet by the
same process to be similarly made in
tensely productive, that it is unnecessary
| to dwell on the problem of reclaiming the
lesser areas of refractory land. Indeed,
throughout all of the valley it is not yet SO
much what has been as what yet remains
to be done that attracts attention. And
yet probably in no portion of the world is
there field for the elicitation of greater
wonder and admiration at what agricul-
ture has already accomplished, touching,
as it here does, nearly every variety of
land product.
Those addicted to pessimistic views of
|
of wheat growing is lost to us then all is
lost, should see of what varied crop re-
sources OF the very highest pecuniary
value and of very limited area of world
production the San Joaquin Valley is now
possessed.
1 have here spoken of the wealth of the
San joaquin Valley, but the ownership of
land in it, and the systems of irrigation
have not always been economical or wise,
nor has cultivation in it by any means al
ways been profitable. Land purchased or
acquired by various schemes from the
| Government at 81 25 an acre has been
held at $40 to $100 an acre. The profits of
sale to the spectators who acquired those
lands have thus been enormous the settler
at the very outset having had the heavy
weight of excessive prices hung around his
| neck.
Selections of colony locations too were
seldom we'll advised. Then irrigation in
some cases resulted in bringing so much
alkali to the surface as to make cultivation
impossible, without at least two seasons
flooding, which was not always possible.
Colonies settling in the valley in some
cases were charged $50 an acre for badly
alkalied land. Their consequent failure
kept hundreds of other newcomers from
| buying.
Southern Pacific freight overcharges,
which have been the chief cause of want
!. of profits in farming and fruit-raising, have
| not been by any means the only drawback
i to increased settlement and cultivation.
The raisin-grower is charged 5 per cent
| commission in the valley and 2L per cent
commission on the Atlantic side, where
his crop is sold. He generally needs ad-
vances, and pays 10 per cent interest on
them. There was q time in the raisin
districts when $500 to $3.50 an acre net was
made from that crop. These excessive
profits proved in a general way to be an
unmitigated curse. Everybody went crazy
on raisin growing, and therefore the
boomer and seller Of land at outrageously
high prices had a perfect bonanza. Land
was sold on the credit system, and nearly
everybody went in debt heavily. Prices
fell last year-indeed, they then went out
of sight. In the blue days, and they have
been many during the past five years,
Sheriffs were the chief land operators. I
think it doubtful whether Southern Pacific
back-breaking charges (of which the di-
rectors of the new road everywhere heard)
have had any more injurious effect on the
development of the San Joaquin Valley
and the profits from cultivation than the
high prices charged for land.
Those who acquired dry lands were en-
Titled to large profits for putting water on
and making them irrigable, but they
would have made enormous profits had
they charged one-third to one-half the
prices they actually exacted. In short,
land grabbing on the most outrageously
wholesale scale has been, next to railroad
exactlons, the great curse of the valley.
Families and large land monopolies are
not apt to be found together.
Confinement of attention to special crops
is another great drawback in the valley,
although much-needed change in this
respect is gradually taking place. The
farmer of the valley is beginning to learn
that he must give attention to details, by
producing his own poultry, eggs, butter,
meat and vegetabies-that is to say, to buy
nothing he can raise on his own ground.
The exposure of costly agricultural imple-
ments to raging sun, the air notoriously
arid. seems nearly universal. There is no
excuse for such folly.
The San Joaquin Valley is greatly in
need, on wholesale scale, of very homely
element. | mean the domestic hog. He
is now occasionally but he should every
where be seen. He is at home on almost
any kind of feed, and therefore, as a most
useful scavenger, he takes care of all waste
and refuse. But one animal equals the
| hog in his power of digestion, and the ease