Marble Hill press. (Marbel [sic] Hill, Mo.) 1881-1923, 1906-10-25
Marble Hin, Missouri, Thursday october Is, 1900.
California Letter.

fHo 49, hASV HSuNHDAJ oS'AlV WAHN $50.
an occasional shower since about the
middle Of September, which is some
drawback to prune drying, that isin full
swing, as most OF the prunes are dried
out in the open air In the sun and, Of
course, when rain comes up they usu-
ally catch II. The prune most gener-
ally grown here for curing known as
French prune, ripens rather late for our
season. There are few Of the "Robel
Do Sargent" prunes grown in the colo
ny. This is French prune also, and
ripens much earlier than the variety gen.
orally known as the aFrench" prune, and
/ am told sells higher in the market.
| have been picking French prunes late
ly where there are a few trees of the
Robel De Sargent prune that had been
picked by boys and many left. | pick
ed up off the ground 80 or 40 pounds Of
as nice cured prunes as one would want,
such as you would have to pay about 10
cents per pound for in Missouri. They
fell off on the ground and instead Of rot
ting as plums or prunes would in wet
climate, they simply cured up. A man
picking with me gathered up perhaps
30 pounds Of these cured prunes. 1t is
wonderful the amount Of sugar there is
in the prunes here. They are SO rich
and sweet one soon sickens on eating
the fresh fruit just from the tree. CAL
ifornia is great prune country, but a
grower here told me the other day that
he was emily getting SD ton for his
fresh prunes at the drying plant.
On last Monday the town OF Corning
took a vote on Incorporating the town,
which resulted in large majority in ia
vor of incorporating. The town claims
a population of about 1900, SO from now
on there will likely be faster growth and
than heretofore.
Well, some time ago / mentioned the
matter that ! was experimenting some
with pheasant-breedlng this season.
While have made. many mistakes in
my pheasant venture and sustained some
loss, am so we'll pleased with general
results expect to make pheasant breed
ing as something of business. Also
quail breeding. have now nine pheas-
ants about three months old-seven
females and two males-that look fine
and healthy. / also have five California
Blue Valley quails, more than half
grown, that were Matched and partly
raised by bantam hen. These birds
look healthy and strong and are "hal-
lowing" or piping some. would like
to have some Missouri Bob Whites to
keep them company. | have price list
from . New York pheasant and quail
BREEDER who sells California quail at $5
per pair, Bob Whites So; pheasants
from $3.50 to 500 per pair. He has
about twenty-five kinds of pheasants.
/ got letter short time ago from a
man at Santa Cruz, California, that sells
pheasants. He offers the Lady Amherst
pheasants at S25 pair, and cross be-
tween the Amherst and Golden for $40.
l have letter from pheasant breeder
at San Diego, California, dated Septem-
Der II. He says "after ten years pleas
ant amusement with pheasants, have
decided to change my fad and raise wild
ducks, hence offer you some good stock
at the following prices: English Ring
necks, full plumage, $40 per pair; Sill
yer $40; Golden S25; Lady Amherst S35;
Golden, 1906, S10." So you see from
these prices that one might be able to
get some profit out of the pheasant bus
iness, as we'll as "amusement." Aside
from chances to sell pheasants to people
that make "fad" of such things, there
is demand in large cities for pheasants
to eat-by rich people. One breeder in
New York state says there are 100000
pheasants imported from England each
year to feed rich people on.
The E. C. Horst company of Oakland,
California, who grow hops at Wheatland.
Sacramento, Tehama, Ukiah, ETC., are
advertising for 5000 hop pickers. Hop
growing is getting to be quite an indus
try in California, but unfortunately for
the poor laborers, most of the hops are
grown on rich bottom land, that grows a
fine crop of malaria as well as hops; but
the owners of these hop fields can live
in some healthy place and let their SER
wants or laborers cultivate and gather
the hops and the malaria, too. But.
doubtless, the main consideration of
these big hop growing companies, like
all corporations, is to make money and
not to particularly look after the health
of their hands. Quite lot of people
from here are picking hops for this COM
pany at their hop fields in this county.
Some making good wages, as high as
$3.50 a day, while others make but little.
Hop picking is something like cotton
picking, but few persons can make big
wages, either picking hops or cotton.
California papers say that the labor to
rebuild San Francisco will cost SITE, 600, :
OOO, and it is estimated it will take from
5 to 10 years. At the present time there
are about 80, 900 men at work and their
wages amount to Si08,O0O a day. Men
employed are divided something like
this: Laborers 1900, carpenters TO-
900, cement men i,i00, plumbers 1000,
hod carriers 1900, electricians 1000,
plasterers $50, masons $50, fathers 1UO,
shinglers 30, iron workers 250, team
sters 1900. Wages paid per day: Car
penters $3.50 to So, brick layers 81,
electricians S6 to 81, hod carriers $3.50 to
s., plasterers 81 to So, iron workers S.
to Sc, cement workers $3.50 to 81. ce-