Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1915-11-03


and curious things to be seen there
and it is daily visited by many tour
lists, as it is on the main highway as
well as upon the railroad between San
Diego and Los Angeles.
Tremendous Bean Ranches.
Northward from Capisarno the road
reads back from sight of the ocean
and crosses great valleys of ranch
| land. devoted to the cultivation of
adaptable crops and the raising of
| horses and cattle One of the most
notable of the cultivated crops through
| that section is beans-mostly Lima
beans. which the salt air from the
ocean seems particularly favorable for.
Miles and miles of bean fields, stretch
! ing away upon either side of the high
wav. were covered with bean fields in
which the crop was being harvested
as we passed through, and in many
places they were being threshed and
! bagged as they were being gathered.
There has been no rain whatever on
this part of the coast during the en-
tire summer and all work can be pro-
ceeded with daily, without any conjec-
lures as to what the weather is going
to be tomorrow. The bean crop has
been a splendid one this year and of
also very good-from $5.25 to $500 per
cwt. In this stretch of country we
go through there is over one hundred
thousand acres devoted to bean cul-
ture alone. There are some tremen-
dously large ranches, the Irvine ranch
north of Capistrano having $4,000
acres and owning numerous ranch
houses, scattered over this tract, with
its consequent equipment of machin-
cry of every sort and great herd of
horses, mules and other stock, as well
as a great warehouse alongside the
railroad track on the ranch, for stor-
age and shipment of its product. A
portion of the tract is devoted to the
culture of citrus and deciduous fruits,
walnuts, alfalfa, etc. On this trip one
passes across the great ONen ranch,
part of an old Spanish grant which
has come down from one generation
to another, since the old days when
California belonged to Spain. 1t is
said that this ranch extends for al
most 40 miles along the shore of the
ocean and thence back for miles across
the valley and into the foothills of the
mountains.
Harvesting English WaInuts.
From Santa Anna, northward, one
passes by and through the great wal
nut section and at this time happened
to be when they were being harvested.
The crop seemed to be exceptionally
good this year, and we passed many
wagons with large racks on, piled
high with bags of walnuts on thei+
way to market. Their plenitude does
not appear to have any bearing upon
the price, however, for if one goes to
the store here to buy any of them he
has to pay just about the same price
that he would be charged back east,
and | even question whether one can
get as large and fine nuts here as
he can back there, for, like most pro-
ducts everywhere, the choicest seems
to be selected for shipment and the
cOmmoner quality put on sale in the
local markets.
Fruit Plentiful and Cheap.
Fruit of all kinds is very plentiful
here and that is one thing that seems
especially cheap. Other things which
enter into the cost of living appear to
cost just about the same as we are ac-
customed to paying in the east. The
finest muscat grapes, the big, sweet,
juicy fellows, are being sold at 21a to
8 cents a pound retail and they are so
fine that we have had them upon our
table every day since they first came
into market in August. The Tokay, a
trifle larger and pinker than the Mus
cat, although not so good, to my taste,
sell for about twice as much. The
tOothsome cantaloupe has been very
plentiful and low in price all summer
and fall, but is now on its final lap in
the race, while strawberries are still
plentiful and as fine as in early sum-