The record-union., 1899-05-01
Agriculture
and
rticulture.

30 olu horticulture dI
OF thes great interests of the Pacific
Coast. Persons who like to know the
days doings in these great fields of in
dustry Will find news in the following
items:
FRUIT PROSPECTS FOR THE YEAR
chico Record: The LIST of May is at
nahu ana In the usual course of events
the danger from drouth, frosts and
north winds is over and past for the
season, and the fruit grower can now
pegln TO estimate the value of the COM
Ing crop with a great degree of GER
tainty.
The apricot crop of the State is fail
ufe. Not enough of them will be placed
on the market to half supply the local
demand. Cherries also are a failure,
and that, too, in every part of the State.
A few orchards will mature a crop;
more of them, half a crop, and still
a greater number will not yield enough
10 pay for the caring for the orchard.
Pears and prunes are also a complete
failure, not only in one part of the
State, but all over it, 1t is true that
here and there an orchard will bring
forth a, good crop, while others will give
part of one, yet over 80 per cent. of
the orchards are complete failures.
This leaves the peach crop alone to
meet the requirements usually met by
the whole list of deciduous fruits. For
tunately this crop is most abundant,
especially in that part of the State north
of the Tehachapi Mountains and will
comprise nine-tenths of the green and
dried fruits shipped out of this State
this year. AS there is an almost en-
tire failure of this fruit this year in the
East, and as the crop of other years
has been largely consumed, it follows
that peaches, whether green or dried,
Will command as high figures as has
been reached during the past fifteen
wears, and blessed is the man or woman
who has such an orchard to bank on.
A}ready the State has been traversed in
search of this fruit and every orchard
possible is being bought up, the fruit
being taken on the trees.
Cinnamon in this vicinity who have
been accustomed to lease orchards say
that it is almost impossible to get an
orchardist to listen to any price they
may offer for his crop at the present
time
AN ORANGE CLEAN UP.
The Los Angeles Fruit World says
There are not to-day over 1000 cars of
oranges, all kinds (not including Valen-
cias), in the State Three more weeks
of heavy shipments like the present
week Will about clean up the orange
crop, with struggling cars to go. This
rate Of shipment will not be kept up.
There will be sure to be declines in the
East if it does. After the heavy offer
ings of the last three weeks, the trade
in the Eastern cities is stocked up. Ev
Snr~y-c ic hoo -tr
the fruit is forced on them, it will be
done SO at a reduction.
A NEW MOUNTAIN ROAD.
Mountain Echo: For several years
the Echo has suggested the possibility
and the adyisability of constructing g.
read across the rocky ridge on the
jackson road, on the high ground, and
the abandonment of the present canal,
wrongly called a road, which has been
used for years past. Others of our citi.
zens have also been imbued with this
idea, and among these are Supervisors
]. T. Clifton and NJ. Brinn. These gem
tlemen, with other members of the
Board of Supervisors, are now strongly
considering the advisa bility of building
the road on these lines, and on Sunday
last Supervisors -Dwyer, Brinn and
Clifton Went over and inspected the
road and the adjacent land, with a view
of ascertaining somewhat of the nature
of the work. which would be required
1t would be necessary, perhaps, to ac-
quire by purchase a few feet alongside
the present roadway from the Werner,
Newman and Morrow properties. But
this amount Of land would not cost
great deal, while it would be a great
benefit to the county in the matter of
saving money on the building of
suitable and lasting road across the
rocky ridge"
WATER FOR THE SOUTH.
The Fallbrook correspondent of the
Los Angeles Times says that solu-
ton of the all-important water problem
Is about to be reached by the people of
the Faubrook country. George Chaffey
the founder of Ontario the capitalist
and engineer, who has been identified
with numerous irrigation and colonial
ton enterprises in Southern California
and Australia, has outlined a project
to supply plenty of water He has
taken an option on the Paula and Te-
mecula ranches, with all their water
rights and a good reservoir site in Mig
ger Valley, about nine miles east of Te-
mecula and twenty-one miles northeast
of Fallbrook. This reservoir site has
watershed of about $50 square miles
which is about seven times larger than
the watershed of the Bear Valley sys-
tenn A dam is to be constructed at the
head of Niger Canyon to a hight of
$50 feet, which will form a reservoir
with holding capacity of enough wa
ter to, furnish 1900 inches under a four
inch pressure for a period of six
months. 1t is proposed to limit the
amount of water to be taken from the
reservoir in any one season to one third
of that amount-2, 800 inches-thus Civ
ing a three years supply from the res
ervoir when full. without any rainfall
as the water continually flowing in will
be sufficient to equal the loss by evap-
Grafton and seepage.
MANTON'S FINE PROSPECTS.
Red Bluff News: horticultural Com
missioner r. w. Coates returned from
Manton and neighboring country re-
Gently where he has been making a very
careful inspection of the fruit trees in
that section He says that the Manton-
csc have the best prospects for big
fruit crop this year that they ever had
They have taken unusual precautions
to cleanse their trees from all pests
with the result that the trees of this
portion of the country look better than
they do anywhere else. Every orchard
list has taken a. careful interest in the
welfare Of his trees and the country
looks clean. neat and we'll kept All