The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-10
IN A MUSTARD FIELD.
Said to BE the Only One in the United
States.

From the San Francisco Chronicle.
Lompoc, in Santa Barbara county, in
this state, grows mustard for the whole
country. The sauce piquart of a nation is
compressed in that one county, and in the
spring the fields of brilliant canary yellow
| and of brown are sights for tourist eyes,
as the pungent color of millions of mus
tard flowers is grateful to their nostrils.
In this region 1000 acres are cultivated
to the seed the industry employing about
200 farmers. No one employs himself ex-
clusively in cultivating the plant, because
of it's refusal to yield two successive crops
upon the same land. Accordingly the mus
tard raiser can only devote a part of his
farm TO it each season. The land from
which he harvested his crop this year
must next year be planted to beans or
barley, corn, pumpkins or beets Indeed,
results show that it pays to skip two years
in planting mustard and only turn the
soil to its use every third season. What
active principle there is in the soil that is
Withdrawn by this eXacting plant to the
lands impovershment has not yet been
determined. When it is solved however,
and the salt or other chemical necessary
to supply to the soil the extracted ingre-
dent is identified, undoubtedly the grow
ing of mustard will become a prominent
industry in California.
AT present it is a comparatively I'M
known industry, though mustard has been
raised in LonpOc valley for nearly eign-
teen years Attention was first drawn
TO the possibility of growing it by the
abundance of wild mustard on the hills
and in the valley sweeps through many
parts of Santa Barbara county.
The land selected for mustard growing
lies in the middle of the valley and along
the banks of the Santa Ynez river. The
Iaply oil
entirely without grit. Some mustard is
grown on a light, sandy loan, but the
heavier soil is preferable, as 1t not only
produces larger crops, but is not so feeble
after the crop is removed. Indicat tons of
rain are important, as 1t is almost use
less to sow mustard for growing during
dry winter. 1t requires plenty of water
and cool weather in the ripening and pod
filing season. 1t is for this reason that
the LomDOc district is so adapted to It's
growth; being close to the sea, 1t is Wis
tied during much of the year by heavy
fogs which roll in every night and pre-
cipitate little rains in themselves, besides
keeping the hot sun away from the land
and providing the GOODNESS so much re-
quired by the mustard.
The soil being selected it is broken up
Immediately after the first rain of the
season 1t is cultivated from time to time
to keep it open and to keep the weeds and
grass down until ABOUT the u
January when it is sown to brown, call
ed also Trieste, mustard. If it is proposed
to plant it to the yellow variety the sow
ing may be deferred until March.
The seed is sown broadcast, with the
hand. from three and one-half to four
pounds being distributed to the acre. 1t
is then narrowed in the ordinary way.
The mustard presents pretty sight while
growing, especially when young, and at
this stage it makes an excellent salad,
having a pleasant, pungent flavor. The
white variety is often soWn in England
for mustard greens, which are used in
Mace Of spinach, and is also used as food
for sheep after the turnip and rape crops
have proved failures, the plant being of
rapid growth and the provender fairly
noIrishing and good. The Lompoc crops,
however are never turned to these uses,
the ultimate product being the only
thing in view; as the brown variety pro-
duces the most per acre, more land is
grown to it than to the yellow.
The mustard stalk is straw colored,
growing from three to five feet in hight
and bearing its characteristic flowers. 1t
bears an oblong pod from an inch to sew
eral inches in length, and contains one
row of seeds. When the plant is mature
and the seeds are ripe, the hull of the pod
becomes dry and shell-like, and the stalk
is very brittle.
The harvesting is done with a self-rak-
ing reaper This cuts the stalks and
throws them up in lunches where they
are left to cure in the sun. the gathering
taking place in late summer. when the
foss have disappeared. When dry the
stalks are collected in header wagons and
are hauled to some central place, where
they are dumped upon large burlap
sheet 5Ox50 feet in size. Here the stalks
are run over by a large and heavy roller
drawn by two horses. These rollers are
of two patterns, one consisting of a,drum
about ten feet long and four feet high, re-
volving upon an axle fixed in a frame to