The herald., 1896-10-01
THE SPR|NGV|LLE DISTRICT
A MarveIousIy Fertile Valley ia
Ventura County
ALL DEcIDUOUS FRUITS
Successfully Grown on the FIourishing
Ranches
Rancho Callequas-Camarillo Bros.
Ten Thousand Acre Farm-Sugar
Beet Culture-H. X. Snow Ranch.

Springville and Pleasant Valley, ven-
tura county, comprise a district five
miles long by from four to six miles in
width. The soil Is rnarvelously fertile
and adapted to all kinds of deciduous
fruits and general farming products.
Beans are the principal product, which
yield large returns to the acre. Corn
and barley are also important crops but
the acreage devoted to fruits is
steadily increasing Walnuts, apricots,
prunes, olives and apples are grown sue
cessfully and many other fruits are
grown to some extent. Sugar beets are
now receiving considerable attention,
experiments having demonstrated that
a nigh percentage of saccharine is OBJ
tanned from beets grown in this district,
and that a beet sugar manufactory is
ere long to be established in this section
or Ventura county.
RANCHO CALLEQUAS.
The palatial mansion in the center of
this magnificent property Of 10000 acres
is distant from Ventura eighteen miles
and five miles from Springville, in the
southwest corner of Ventura county. 1t
Is surrounded by Ranches Las Posas,
Simi, Conejo and Guadalasca. 1t was
| purchased in various tracts and at diff
ferent times by Juan Camarillo father
of the present two owners, Camarillo
| brothers, from different heirs of Don
Pedro Ruiz, the original grantee. At
| the invitation of Mr.. Adolf Camarillo,
| senior member of the firm and manager
of the rancho, the writer recently took
ride all over the property, behind Mr..
Camarillo's favorite horse, which has a
2:40 record. The rancho strikingly re-
| sembles the Chino ranch, in soil, geo.
| logical formations and topography. This
naturally suggested the subject of sugar
| beets and a beet sugar factory. 1t seems
| that Claus Spreckels Is favorably i'm
pressed with the soil and climate of Ven-
| tura county as sugar beet country, and
at his request Mr.. Camarillo, among
| others, recently experimental in diff
ferent parts of the rancho, and took sam
| pies of the beets to the Chino sugar fac
=; tory. The analysis showed percentage
! of 1880 degrees saccharine matter in the
| best beets, which Is high percentage.
Mr.. Camarillo was much gratified at the
! result and contemplates engaging heav-
| lily in sugar beet culture, with the object
of inducing Mr. Spreckels to establish
a beet sugar factory on the rancho or
! contiguous thereto. The products of the
rancho this season were as follows:
Beans, 1900 acres; barley, 1000; French
prunes. 100 acres; olives, 100 acres; 300
head of cattle, 500 hogs, 100 horses, be-
| sides many other products of less i'm
! portance. There are 10000 eucalyptus
trees scattered over the property, which
add greatly to the appearance of the
| rancho. The wide avenue running
through the rancho is aligned both sides
with magnificent rows of eucalyptus
trees one mile in length. The pasture
| lands aggregate 5000 acres of fertile
land and are we'll watered by Las Pesos
creek, which runs through the rancho.
| There Is considerable petroleum bearing
land in one corner of the rancho, which
promises a great yield when fully devel-
| oped.
| The CamariIIo "hone," built in 1893.
IS two and a half stories in height and
| contains fifteen rooms, all spacious and
| elegantly furnished, especially the Office
| and library, parlor, sitting room and
| dining room. The latter three are all
connected by folding doors and alto
| gether make an immense suite of apart
| ments. There are electric lights in ev-
cry room, furnished by a system gener-
| ated on the premises, and each room Is
also supplied with hot and cold water.
1t is an imposing mansion that would be
creditable to the best resident streets of
| Los Angeles, and the genial proprietor
and his amiable wife are highly esteem
| ed by all who have the pleasure Of their
| acquaintance.
SHOWS Ell RIO NURSERY AND
| RANCH.
| Returning from Springville, the writer
stopped at III. K. Snow jr.'s, home near
| Ell Rio, in response go an invitation CIV
| en- some time ago to visit the place. Mr..
Snow is son of H. K. Snow, the well
| know fruit grower of Tustin, Orange
county, with whom the writer has been
acquainted for over sixteen years. Mrs
| Snow is the daughter of DR.. Wall of Tus-
| tin, whom the writer has also known for
l Mr Grn hos hna
very successful in his nursery business,
| hi patronage now extending all over
| Southern and central California and
| Arizona. He has in nursery at present
10000 one and two year old Eureka lem
on trees; 1000 olive plants one year old;
| 5000 apple trees one year old; 10000 wal
nut trees one and four years old; 10000
nursery trees of French prunes and
apricotA and 5000 Washington navel or
| ange trees one year old. Besides nurs-
cry stock he has sixty acres of walnut
| trees in one body nine years old, all
magnificent looking trees, between
| which were produced this season 1000
pounds of Lima beans. Eight acr"s of
| alfalfa will have produced this season
forty tons of hay. He has also fifty acres
| of seed Lima beans which sell at $2.25
| per Genital. Another walnut orchard has
| twenty acres, and a lemon orchard
| twenty acres of one year old trees There
| is also a nice looking six acre apple
orchard Of seven year ole trees, and still
another twenty acre walnut orchard of
ten year old trees. Five acres of pota-
toes complete the list of products of
this valuable ranch. Mr.. Snow is justly
tsproud Of his ranch, and although a
Young man he has already laid the
| foundation for a handsome fortune in
his immense nursery business supple
mented by other products. The home"
| is an attractive, substantially built
house of seven rooms, containing all
modern appointments and Is nicely fur
| nished