The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1899-08-02
In CALIFORNIA.
Party of Morgantown People
Have a Nice Time.
shown all Over the State Wonderful
Resources Of that Favored Region
Charming Hospitality Met with on
Every Side-Hints and Helps for the
People Of West Virginia

4
Director and Mrs. James H. Stew.
art and Prof. B. III. Hite of this place
who have been West for a month
have returned home. They had a
delightful trip and saw many places
and things of absorbing interest.
From the time that the party left
Morgantown until their return they
enjoyed every mile of the journey.
. They went out over the B. and O. to
Chicago and there took the Union
Pacific and Denver and Rio Grande
for California. The return was made
by way of Tacoma and the Northern
Pacific and opportunity was afforded
to take in all of the points of inter
est in the western part Of this great
country.
Director Stewart was seen this
morning and asked about his trip.
He stated that California was rev.
citation. The people were energetic
and hustling. Their hospitality was
ideal. In everything they tried to
impress on their visitors the great
opportunities placed before the world
in their state and as result they
have built up an empire in itself If
the people of this state had forty per
cent of the hustle of these people we
would be far in advance of the place
we are now
The meeting OF the American AS
sociation of Agricultural Colleges
and Experiment Stations was held
in Los Angeles and lasted for three
days. These sessions were very in
teresting and profitable. None Of
our representatives presented any
papers but they took part in num-
journment of this meeting the party
left for a tour of the state as the
guests of the state board of trade,
the board of trade of San Francisco
and of the various railroad compa-
MES They spent month looking
over the wonderful resources of the
state which in itself was great
source of establishment to the party.
The state extends along the coast
in line almost as long as the en-
tire eastern coast of the United
States. Everything is on gigantic
scale. The manufacturing plants,
the farm work, every thing was gi
gantic.
AS an illustration of the methods
in farming the manner of cutting
wheat will be interesting There
| the wheat harvest lasts for sixty
days. The grain IS selectedrso that
it will not thrash out by the wind
and it stands uninjured until it can
be cut
Then it is cut, threshed and sack
ed at the same time Thirty mules
were hitched to the machine which
takes some time on the fields two
hours to make the circuit 1t cuts
from fourteen to eighteen feet ac-
cording to the size Of the machine.
1t cuts, threshes and sacks the
wheat. The sacks are dumped over
board and lie there for days or un-
til it is convenient to pick them up.
There is no rain, no dew or anything
to spoil it and it keeps perfectly.
Eight hundred bushels are sacked
in this manner in one day by means
of this machine.
No one thinks of touching the
wheat and it is allowed to remain
undisturbed until the owner is ready
to put it into the large elevators
where it remains until ready to be
marketed A wheat thief would be
dealt with summarily in case one
started to ply his trade.
The vineyards of the state were
among the many interesting things
inspected. In one place the rail
road ran for ten miles through vine
yards owned by one firm. The vines
were not placed on arbors like we
have them but each fall they are
trimmed down close to the ground
and the grapes grow right on the
ground. There is nothing to mildcw
them and the manner of raising
them which would be great failure
in this country is very successful
with the prevailing climatic condi-
ton.
The firm mentioned above has
very large winery. One of the watts
contained five hundred thousand
gallons and the concern makes three
million gallon of the seductive grape
juice annually This wine is of very |
fine quality and can be made and |
marketed very cheaply. Millions of
dollars are invested in it and the i'm
portance of the industry can hardly |
be estimated. All over the grape
section of the state can be seen
these huge wineries and they turn
out millions of gallons.
The raisin industry was another
of the mammoth interests Of the state
that surprised the visitors. Here
were other figures running up into the |
hundreds of thousands and millions.
AT one station in the raisin belt seven
thousand car loads of raisins were
shipped last year. This will give an
idea of the magnitude of the indus
try.
The apricot factories employing
hundreds and in some cases thousands
of hands were visited. The olive in
dustry was very great one and thou
sands of bottles of olives and gallons
of oil were turned out every year.
These olives are of excellent quality
and are preferable in many respects
to the foreign bands.
Another thing that struck the par
ty was the mighty groves OF oranges,
figs, lemons and similar tropical
fruits. In one place the owner Of
grove had IA very fine plantation and
the ground on which his trees grew
was full Of gold. \ man could pan
out in day from three 10 five dollars.
1t certainly seemed that he had more
than his share of the good things of
this earth.
The climate Of the state is very diff |
fercnr from what we have. The air |
is cool even in the sGilmer time and |
an over coat is not out Of place on the |
streets before ten in the morning and |
after three In the afternoon. One OF
the peculiar things about it is that it
is very much warmer in the sun than
in the shade. The streets OF San
Francisco are paved with asphalt and
on the sunnyside OF the street this is
very soft and the heel sinks in it maxi
ing delightful walking. On the shady |
side il is very hard and uncOmfOrta- |