River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-08-20
CALIFORNIA LETTER.

space recently, and. SO now want
to write about California in summer
and other things. You have for
years been told to your uneasipess
of the winter being so genial-but
the summer was left largely to be
imagined as being fearfully hot and
something to be dreaded. Mr.. Pear
man had often said that he preferred
the summer to the winters but then
| thought che is Californian and
trains himself to see only the best
things" But having now spent two
winters and within about month of
two summers, l agree with him,
that the climate from April to Oc-
tober within twenty miles of the
coast in Southern California is TO be
preferred to the winters or rainy
season. We keep our thermometer
in the screen-porch which is on the
northwest corner of the house, and
the highest l have seen the Their
mometer is IS degrees go to-day
in the afternoon. II runs from 48
in the morning to 78 at midday.
About eleven O'Clock the trade wind
from the southwest begins to blow
and often reaches an eight mile rate,
occasionally higher. About tour
o'clock it begins to grow cooler and
it is but little time until the even
ings are as cool as in the Black
Hills. The church may be hot in
the morning but in the evening it is
always cool. 1t is, in fact, too cool
to hold out-of-door evening meet
ings in this region. But we
are only six miles from the ocean
and having lived in several sections
of the country, l would give Orange
County, west of line running north
and south through Santa Ana, the
credit of being the most comfortable
place to live in from weather con-
ditions that can possibly be found.
AS soon as we get on higher ground
the heat increases. Seven miles
south at Huntington Beach we have
just spent two weeks at camp-meet-
ing in tent city with a degree of
comfort difficult to be understood.
And yet we have as many colds as
| people do elsewhere.
This is the fruit season and just
now strawberries, and raspberrles
are at their height, while Logan
berries and b1ackberries are becom-
ing less. This is the natural home
of the blackberry. Apricots have
been great crop but they are nearly
gone and plums of many fine varie-
ties are just beginning to ripen as
are also the figs, and by the way,
only the apple is a more servicable
fruit than the fig. For preserves,
jam or pickles, it easily claims first
place. The peaches and pears are
just beginning to smile on us as are
St. Cuthbert apples. Here is fruit
to your liking and not very dear.
Then melons-musk or water-mel-
ons by the million. If one wishes a
fruit diet il is possible here and l
have never seen place where a
vegetarian can live so we'll and so
cheaply as in California. A family
with four or five acres of land, a cow
and chickens, can live better here
than any where else l have been.
This is no lazy mans country, but
keep the hoe busy and there is
something from the earth on the
table every one of the twelve months
of the year. do not wonder that
more old soldiers are coming into
Southern California than anywhere
elsa pension, COW, 400 chickens,
a garden, hoe-and there is no
need to forage.
Last year was very hard on the
celery raisers as nearly 5000 acres
dill not pay for cutting, SO this year
only 5000 acres are being planted
and the other $500 have been largely
planted to beets and Lima Beans,
with occasionally pat ch Of alfalfa.
Senator Clark Of Montana owns a
beet-sugar factory only seven miles
! from here and has this week begun
operations. 1t will make about
1, 100, 900 pounds of sugar The rail-
road is now hauling about twelve
carloads of beets through here every
day but will soon put on a sugar
beet extra" The land within
three miles of this nine mile section
of the Southern Pacific will give
that road about 5000 carloads OF
celery, beets, onions, potatoes and
hay as the result of intensive farm
ing. What could be raised in st.
Croix and Pierce counties by the
4 same kind of care, no one can COM