Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-07-13
BACK ON A VISIT.

x BACK ON A VISIT.
Mr.. W. Frank Smith, who left the
Bethany section Of York county for
Southern California in 1893, and who
has since been a resident Of the San
Joaquin valley, arrived In Yorkville on
Thursday on a visit to relatives and
friends. He called at THE ENQUIRER
office Thursday afternoon, and the re-
porter had quite an interesting talk
with him.
Mr.. Smiths present home is Fowler,
Fresno county, in that portion Of the
state that was so glowingly described
by Railroad Commissioner Wilburn on
his return from San Francisco recently,
and he has for the past eight years
been engaged principally In fruit and
honey raising. He went to California
originally solely on account Of his
health, and in addition to being very
much benefited in this respect he has
been quite prosperous.
IT am probably more interested In
grape growing than in another one
thing" said Mr.. Smith in answer to a
question. I'VE send out lots Of raisins
from our section. The raisin Is made
principally from the muscat grape. 1t
Is a white grape, or rather cream color
ed, when ripe. The average price Is
about four cents pound at the pack
ing houses and the average yield per
acre in our neighborhood Is about one
ton, although in some sections they get
two tons.
1.-The biggest part of the work in rail-
sin making Is the picking and drying:
The picking has to be done within a
few days just at the proper time and
the drying requires from eight to ten
days to four or five weeks, the period
depending altogether on the seasons.
Raisins are injured If they get wet, and
depreciate' in value a cent a pound.
You've seen raisins with raw sugar on
them. Well. that sugar is the result
of the wetting, and the raisins are Of
inferior quality"
Moisture for crops in Mr.. Smiths
country is supplied entirely by irriga-
ton. There is no rain except during
the winter. The last rain Of the spring
falls about the first Of June and the
first rain Of the fall comes in the latter
part of September, sometimes not until
November. The trouble Of the raisin
crop depends principally upon the time
of the fall rain, just as In this country
so much depends upon the first killing
frost.
Mr.. Smith did not have a great deal
to say about his honey, except that he
expressed himself as having been very
much interested in the write-up Of Mr..
H. c. Simpson, the Catawba Junction
Eee-man, in THE ENQUIRER about two
years ago. He was impressed with the
fact that Mr.. Simpson evidently knows
his business. And Mr.. Simpson is
considerably ahead Of us at this time,
he remarked, "for we have not yet been
able to take any honey this season. It
is not time with us yet however, as our
honey does not come on until later in
the year. In this country it Is great
trouble with the bee-man to keep his
bees from starving in the winter, while
with us the trying season Is during two
or three months Of the summer, be-
tween blooming of the fruit trees and
the ripening Of alfalfa"
Mr.. Smith gave an interesting and
instructive description Of the irrigation
systems in Fresno county, and also told
about the comparative value of Chi
nese, japanese, hobo and Negro labor.
He says the Chinese and the Japanese
make the best laborers but the white
are uneasy for fear the Japs might
eventually overrun the country. There
is tax in some quarters Of the repeal
of the Chinese exclusion act but the
people of California are not willing for
anything Of the kind. The farming and
fruit growing element Is very we'll sat-
isfied to keep all the Chinese and Jap
anese they now have; but they do not
want any more.
Il had a report today" remarked the
reporter, 'of case where York coun-
ty farmer sowed four bushels Of wheat
on eight acres and harvested 160 BUSH
els. Can you beat that in your San
Joaquin yalley?"
THAT is good, and I do not know
that we can beat it," said Mr.. Smith.
Il don't SOW much wheat. / had one
crop that 1 believe would have turned
out that way: but I made hay OF 1t.
That reminds me. I was very much In
terested in the doubts Of Mr.. John
Plaxco a few weeks ago as to whether
he should risk cutting his wheat in the
doe stage and making hay of 1t. l
could have told him to cut. Most Of
fine hay that sells readily at from So
to SO a ton, and as we get from three
to four tons to the acre, we consider it
pays better than threshing. The fact
is wheat and alfalfa are our principal
hay crops"
Struck with the comparatively low
price that Mr.. Smith put on hay, the
reporter asked him several questions
that brought out the information that
hay does not sell for nearly as high a
price in his country as here. He knows
nothing of Timothy hay; but says that
wheat cut in the doe stage is equal to
the best meadow hay with the added
value Of the grain.
Mr.. Smith will remain in this Sec
ton for about six weeks, spending most
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