The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-09-02

LII oHc vi ILL., uloC iCClcio W Ahp
Free Press from California | mentioned
German fruit grower whose wife had
spent her girlhood days in Blue Earth
city. | said in the letter that he had
one of the best orchards | mad seen in
the state and that he was a hard work
ing, intelligent man, who thoroughly
understood his business. He had forty
acres of land very we'll situated about
one mile from the Calavera river, and
just outside the area subject to floods.
In fact it was about an ideal farm.
about one half being orchard and the
other in pasture and fodder. His trees
were choice variety of peaches, april
cots, plums, English walnuts, etc. be-
sides small fruit of different kinds.
Well, my German friend sold out to
Vermonter just before we left Califor-
MIA for home, and the price he got is a
good criterion of the real value of
fruit land on the Pacific coast. If
there is any better land, or any as
good, in California as the San Joaquin,
pronounced San Walk-in) valley land
| neither saw nor head of it. j saw
quite little of the state myself and
talked with others who had lived IN
nearly every part of every Pacific
coast state, and all agreed that, TAX
ing all in all, the Stockton neighbor-
hood of the San Joaquin valley was
equal to any, and better than most
parts, for either general farming or
fruit growing. i, myself never saw
finer wheat and barley anywhere in
my whole life than there was between
Linden and Stockton. | was south of
, San Francisco for thirty five miles and
in the Santa Rosa district north of
that city, and up through the Sacra-
mento valley, and I don't believe /
saw single field of grain anywhere |
went that would yield one-half of that
in the country named.
Now Mr.. Frank Scnuettes, my friend
sold everything but household goods,
forty acres of land, span of horses
| two cows, about $50 chickens, pows
cultivators, two wagons, spraying ma
chine and all implements and tools for
$4,000. or the level of $3.50 an acre for
the land, throwing everything else in
| write this to show the folly of peo
pie paying cut-throat prices to LAND
| agent Sharks. | last saw Mr. Schuet
ties in the Stockton railroad station
the day left that city for Sacramento
also saw him at the Hiram John
son meeting the night before. He ant
his brother had bought fruit land il
Western Mexico. to which place he ant
family were going. Thus after =;
thirty years experience in fruit grow
ing in California. eleven years o
which was spent in the Los Angelo
district, he slips from under the ""be
nign' rule of the Allied Grape AM
Wine GroHers association of California
and the Southern Pacific railroad com
pany and goes to live in strang
land, among people different in race
| language and religion. 1t is about tim
Uncle Sam began to conserve" hi
citizens. for in losing the Schuettes Ii
) is losing of the best of them.
Waiting for the same train that
; was, and bound for the same place
Cacramento. i'll the Stockton station
were an old man and wife, original
from Ohio. but for over thirty year
residents OF the Baker City district
Oregon. They had recently sold 80
acre farm there for good roun
!. sum and were looking up new loca
ton. They had no fault to find wit
Oregon or its people, whatever, Onl
Eastern Oregon, where they had bee
living, was too cold in winter and til
. western part too wet for people alOn
in years as they were. The husban
: was seventy-six years old and wifi
maybe, half a dozen years younge
0 Think of it, you middle-aged old pei
pie, who are ready to throw up I'll
sponge" Here are man and wife bot
+ past the three score years and te
mark seeking location for a ne
q nest. They had been prospecting
the Fresno district, the greatest rails
grape country in the world, but cou
;. find nothing they wanted. In fac
, TIC Oiu pcOpIC uIu IOC like Iuc lOOf
!. of things down there at all. They sa
o the land was poor and the COUNT
o too droughty. They sized things I
e all right, for a hot, dry spell RUNE
). the crops few weeks afterward
k 'They had looked over the Sacramen
country before they went; to Fresl
r. and did not just like it, but mig
b buy il they could do no better. III;
n some relatives about twelve miles ca
le of Sacramento. Did not like Calife
e, MIA anyway, only its climate" Or
/; gon was fine state and the peot
TT were first-class. If it was not
IL cold in winter would rather live the
e. Might 90 back after all, etc. Did n
IT, want much land, too old to look aft
a big place. about forty acre fir,
IT, farm was what they were looking 70
L. SO the old man Informed me- We we
~ up to Sacramento i'll the same car a
~ stayed at the same hotel that mig
" A hearty, hale fellow, well-met so
:. SO it is needles TO say that / got
=. great deal of information from II
-, on Pacific coast farming and fru
growing. They were fine old coup
u modern DARBY and JOAN" he W
A a fresh look ing cOlruterlauce soft