The Snyder signal. (Snyder, Tex.) 1887-????, 1921-08-12

AS the winds blow here just like they
do In Texas and control the frost.
II the wind gets still at times In the
winter. II frosts, and in the early
spring very often catches the fruit.
So they study the currents and place
certain fruits in certain places TO
meet the varying flow of the wind.
But where they have extra good land
many plant the fruit they desire and
then depend on smudging. Some
fruit farms will look like an oil fleld
by the big oil tanks they have to
store crude oil for this work
In san Fernando Valley We saw
the largest olive farm in the world.
Up in San Bernardino We saw the
largest winery in the world. II used
TO produce the Virginia Dare wine;
it now makes grape juice. These wine
growers were awfully mad when pro
hibitlon was adopted. but inasmuch
as the grape juice demand and the
raisin demand have trebled. they are
now content TO let IL stand.
The walnut almost oyershadows
the citrous fruits, and / cannot say
Tor the life of me which is prettiest,
oranges or walnuts. The farmers
have all their fruit under different
selling associations, one for each
fruit. because the citurs men want
the best price for their products. and
the walnut, peach and apricot men
most for theirs II it were not for
cooperation Of the associations in
selling. the farmers would fail.
Farming outside OF fruits Is small
comparatively with Texas. Tho great
est commercial crop in any one thing
is lima beans They have 20 have
certain localities to grow in. the soil
must be good and they must be near
the coast. as they thrive best where
the fog from the ocean hangs lowest.
They are most grown in Ventura
county. north OF Los Angeles 20
miles
The other farming is mostly wheat.
oats and barley; very little corn and
less maize This year wheat oats
and barley have nearly been fail
are. for they have had a drouth over
all the country south OF Ventura. You
cannot imagine how little was pro-
lduced II was so short ii does not
make hay hardly and many places
are being pastured at Sl.00 per acre,
not enough to pay for the seed. or
one per cent OF the taxes. and there
fore the grain growers are hard hit.
Thousands are bankrupt. yet they
hold their ranches tenaciously. and
prices instead Of slumping from 1919
are inflated IL seems to mo to be
the hardest place for poor man in
the world; luxury on every hand, but
priced so high that an outsider can
not think of looking in.
We visited many factories, can
.neries. etc. and studied the fruit
growers chance with others Fruit
sells by the ton The canneries, or by
drafting plants, buy by the grade and
Judge the grade by size. The way they
ascertain the size is 10 pour the fruit
into a sieve. the mesh OF which is the
size OF the grade. All the understood
fruit is either profit to the cannery
or is sold much below the standard
price.
There. are two systems OF drying
fruit: one by the sun and another by
heated air. In the sun method they
place the fruit in long trays and lay
it out on grassy lawn. In the ny
drafted method it is placed in similar
trays which are then placed in racks
about ten deep. and then rolled into
a highly heated room wherein !
: takes IA hours TO make raisins, u
= ll2 hours to make dried peaches. apri
cots and apples. The pairing OF frui
is by box, not by the hour or day an'
the hands make from $3.50 to SS.5'
2 per day. A great many OF the EN-
ployes are Mexicans or Indians. Pack
ers are of a different class, the major
A ity being American.
i At one of the great Sunkist rae
tories | saw long row OF women
running from Is to ~ it looked Ike
and they looked like bunch OF ur
& unkist lemons.
Right here allow me to tell yo
that there is something here tina
A preys upon the mind some way OF Tn
southern Californian. There is nc
as much laughter here as on the de-
= erts OF the east or the farms OF TeXa