River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1896-05-28
CALIFORNIA LETTER.



price for oranges partially compensat.
ed for the loss, yet Southern California
must have lost over one million and a
half dollars. There was warm spell
in February that brought out the
deciduous fruit buds which were badly
hurt by an unheard of snow storm
and freeze on the Sd of March. This
killed nearly all the almond blossoms,
and probably half of the early apricots.
Then on the 10Th Of April it froze
thin ice, and hard enough to cut down
the peach and prune crop over one
half.
The winter as whole was very dry.
with high winds which has reduced
the hay and grain crops three fourths
from the average crop. Since the I'd
OF November-when the first rain OF
the season came-there has fallen
about an average of u inches of water,
some places more and some less. This
is only about one third of what should
have fallen TO insure good grain and
hay crop. And 30 inches of rain well
distributed, from the middle OF
November to the first of May will not
be too much.
The northern part of the state has
suffered still worse from the late
frosts, as also has the middle part
but they report an average crop of hay
and grain.
The lemon and olive seems to fare
the best of all the fruits. While the
lemon has been considered more
susceptible to frost, it has stood the
past winter better than the orange
1t has one advantage over all other
fruit in that it is perpetual bearer
If it should lose its present crop by a
freeze it soon loads up again.
The olive tree does not bud out till
about the first of May, after the cold
weather is past. The olive bids fair
to be the leading fruit in few years.
The American people are just
beginning to realize what pure olive oil
is. The adulterated production from
Europe must soon find a market
somewhere else than here.
The weather has taken change
for the warmer. The change came
very sudden on the 18th inst And,
by the way, that was my I'D birthday,
and the AID anniversary of our married
life. Now / am not vain enough to
think that such little things had any
thing to do with the change of the
weather, but it just happened so.
A Winter Crop IN Southern California.
Every country grows to perfection
something that is best adapted to
either the soil or climate, or both.
Southern California is leading the
world in the production of bets. There
are different kinds of beets, but the
dead beat" grows to perfection here
in the winter, and the harder the
winter elsewhere the better they
grow here. Now it cannot be the soil
that favors such a prolific crop of
dead BEATS" The beet is considered
root crop but the dead beat never
roots" it would Idle" first.
1t may be said that such crop is
not profitable, but the objector loses
sight of 'the home market" which
not only saves extortionate freights
and commissions on your surplus, but
uses up some of the imported stuff. /
think can prove my case by a single
incident. A ''beat," or tramp, came
up to the house very boldly one after
noon. He said he wanted something
to eat. but he wanted to ,cork for it,.
This was an unusual thing, and /
wanted to encourage such a laudable
ambition, so led the way to the wood
pile. l watched him chop off a stick.
/ told him it made me more tired
to look at him chop wood than it would
to do it myself. But everything must
have beginning, so let him work.
My wife's usual way is to give tramp
"heel' of loaf and bowl of milk
and let him eat on the steps of the
porch. But that would not do for a
acoThing man. So she baked stack of
pancakes, shortened with eggs and
cream, and set on hot coffee, butter,
potatoes, vegetables, bread, fruit, etc.
Everything on the table Except Dishes
went out of sight like water in a gopher
hole. My wife was nearly paralyzed,
but she recovered enough to tell him
that was all she would let him eat at
that time So it will be readily seen
that the tramp crop, if attended to,
will make "home market" for all
other crops.
But some one will say, show will
you make ends meet?" That only
shows a want Of faith. A good
authority on finance has said, "There
is that scattereth and yet increaseth,
and there is that withholdeth more
than is meet, and yet tendeth to
poverty" And another authority,
later, has said, Freely give, hoping
for nothing, and you shall be reward
ed at the resurrection of the just"
The state of California has many
things peculiar to itself and different
from any other state, not only in its
physical and climatic features, but in
its social and governmental. Organ
lied to meet the needs of hetero-
geneous class of people it has many
laws and customs which must soon
give way to those more congenial to
its more homogeneous class of
citizens. But it has many laws, or
rather the absence o. laws, which are
more in harmony with the spirit of
republican form of government
than any other state Of the Union, viz:
the absence of all pasefadt laws regu-
lating the moral and religious views OF
its citizens. To the extra good, =
religious overmuch," National Re-
form" class this is very Objectionable,
but it is in harmony with our Declara-
tion OF Independence and our teach
ing and practice of Christ and His
apostles. Where the citizen is hedged
about with civil law, defining the
quality and quantity of his conscience
the result al,cays is hypocricy and
Journalism.