A start in life. A journey across America. Fruit farming in California

AMERICAN SURVEYS.

According to the American surveys the country is arranged in squares, as shown on all the maps. A "section" is a square mile, or 640 acres. A "township" is 36 sections, i.e., six miles on each of its four sides.

A quarter section is 160 acres, and the lands are so arranged that a roadway is reserved around each quarter section 60 feet wide, and the land for such roadway is taken from each side, so that each owner has to contribute 30 feet to such road, and, of course, he has the benefit of the frontage to it. A 20 acre lot would be an eighth of a quarter section. On some of the lots for sale at "British Colony," are one or two houses and some buildings. These may be purchased thus: One house and buildings, 1,000 dollars; another house and buildings, 1,000 dollars; another house and buildings (N.E.), 600 dollars; but if one purchaser bought four lots of 20 acres, each adjoining so that one house and buildings should come near the centre, then such house and buildings would be given in.

SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE OF FRUIT CULTURE.

Few settlers would have the requisite special knowledge of Fruit culture without some instruction, and, therefore, the owners of the land have engaged the services of Professor Eisen, at a fixed salary, so that all settlers on their lands may have the benefit of the Professor's instruction, free of charge. Professor Eisen is well known as a specialist in horticulture in California. He has just published a book on the raisin industry in California, which may be seen at our offices. The culture of grapes for raisins, and plums for prunes, would be remarkably successful on the lands for sale.

CANNED FRUITS.

Wholesale buyers come round the country to buy the Fruit crops while on the trees. An enormous trade is done in America in canned Fruits; the hotels, steamers, railway cars, and private families use them largely at all meals, and America itself seems to be a sufficient market for ages to come for all the Fruit and vegetables its State of California can produce.

ESTIMATES.

How to start with a capital of 20,000 dols.

Leaving a balance of 2,585 dols. for first payment of land, or for other improvements and unforeseen expenses.

Profit the fourth year should be about 4,000 to 5000 dols. at the lowest.

How to start with a capital of 10,000 dols., i.e., say £2,000.

PROFITS.

This clear after expenses have been deducted. The farmer can take care of 20 acres himself, with occasional help. With 40 acres he requires one man more, his son or hired help.

The first three years he will only make his living ordinarily so; after that time he will make money. Poultry, and vegetables should, during the first year pay for all expenses at least, and in many instances leave a large surplus. All this depends upon the capacity of the settler. With good land such as this 100 dollars or more could be made from vegetables the first season by a capable and experienced man. At least it has been done repeatedly.

If poultry is properly cared for, a family will make its living by selling eggs and chickens until the trees come in bearing.

How to start with a capital of 8,000 dols., i.e., say £1,600.

The fourth and fifth years there should be a gross profit of at least 2,650 dols. a year, enough to pay for the balance due on land.

How to start with, a capital of 5,000 dols., i.e., say £1,000.

What some people have started with, and come out all right.

But ordinarily, this is too little, as the planting of the land cannot be proceeded with at once, and work must be procured among the neighbours, etc.

The estimates, were furnished us by Professor Eisen, who remarked that, probably, in giving estimates all persons would vary somewhat, but these, and other estimates which he gave, are really more than estimates, because they are the actual results of past experiences.

PROFESSOR EISEN'S OPINION.

Received January 20th, 1891.

Professor Eisen writes:—"I am of opinion that these lands (British Colony, Merced) are amongst the very best in the State for raisins; still, as I explained to you, I do not advise any one to put his whole interest in the raisin industry, as the market for this Fruit is limited. For other dried fruit, especially for prunes (French plums), apricots, peaches, and nectarines, the market is practically unlimited, and as our population increases yearly 1,500,000 people, it will be seen that our markets must extend as well, even after we have driven all foreign Fruits out of our home markets. As regards the adaptability of the land of British Colony for various Fruits, I can say that they are especially adapted to the prune (French plums) and peaches for drying and canning, olives for olive oil and pickling; also for oranges. You can see how the orange thrives in the city of Merced and surroundings, or in localities exactly like those of British Colony lands, and there can be no doubt that oranges and lemons will prove very profitable in British Colony. Olives will especially do well there. The British Colony lands I consider as exceptionally rich and fertile, and there are few, if any, equal to them in this State or anywhere else."

PRICE OF FRUIT TREES.

The prices in California of young Fruit trees for planting, for the season 1890-91, are given as follows:—

WHEN FRUIT TREES PAY.

The Fruit trees enumerated above would begin to bear the second year, but only the fourth year would they bear any considerable amount; the fifth and sixth years they would come into good bearing, and should then yield a profit of, say, from 100 to 350 dollars per acre. At seven years the orchard should be in full bearing, and never yield less than 150, and, possibly, 450 dollars per acre. Instances have been known when prunes, peaches, and pears have produced from 750 to 1,500 dollars per acre clear profit.

POSITION OF A SETTLER.

The position of a settler, then, is that for the first three years he cannot depend upon his crop of Fruit to maintain him, but must either have sufficient capital to support him during that time, or else earn his living in some other way. To be idle, and live on capital, would not, of course, suit any man who meant to succeed, and therefore he would fill up his time in cultivating garden and poultry produce, for which there is always a demand, or in getting some occasional employment.

COST OF BOARD AND LODGING.

At Merced railway station is a very large hotel, and the cost of board and lodging for emigrants is only 25 dollars, i.e., say, £5 per month; to usual visitors it is 60 dollars a month.

RAISIN CULTURE.

The Pacific Rural Press, referring to the raisin vineyards in the San Joaquin Valley, California, states:—

"What is especially interesting to the home-seeker in connection with this information, is the fact that everyone of these vineyardists is prosperous. No other horticultural industry is so profitable as the culture of the raisin grape, in no other is the work so pleasant, and no other yields a return so quickly."

An acre of Muscat vines in full bearing will yield from two to three tons of grapes on good heavy soil. At 5-1/2 cents a pound in the sweat-box, this means from 225 to 325 dollars per acre, gross. Numerous instances are known, however, where the yield of an acre of Muscats amounted to as much as 450 dollars, this being the result of careful cultivation and favourable circumstances. Some grapes are borne on the vines when they are one-year old, while two-year old's have been known to bear a crop. At three years the vines pay the expenses and interest on the money invested, and at four years from planting they bring the first large paying crop.

The Merced Argus says of raisin culture:—

"One of the great charms of raisin culture is the extreme simplicity of its operations. WHAT CAN BE MORE SIMPLE than to pick a bunch of Muscat grapes from the vine, and lay it on the ground. In six days the bunch of grapes, without being meanwhile touched, has assumed the appearance of a bunch of raisins, and has flattened out as if it had been pressed. It is then carefully turned over, so as to expose the underside to the direct action of the sun. In eight days more it is a perfect bunch of raisins, and no act of man can improve it even in appearance. All the operations of fancy packing are so simple, that a child may learn them in a day. A single acre of raisin vines in a Merced Colony lot means handfuls of bright, golden double eagles to the bright-eyed children of the Merced farmer in the near future.

Harper's Magazine for January, 1891, contains an article on California, which all persons interested in that State would do well to read. I extract a few statements:—

IRRIGATION.

"A piece of land at Riverside, below the flow of water, was worth 300 dollars an acre. Contiguous to it was another piece not irrigated, which would not sell for 50 dollars an acre. By bringing water to it, it would quickly sell for 300 dollars, thus adding 250 dollars to its value. As the estimate at River side is that one inch of water will irrigate five acres of Fruit land, five times 250 dollars would be 1,250 dollars per inch, at which price water for irrigation has actually been sold at Riverside.

"The standard of measurement of water in Southern California is the miner's inch under four inches pressure, or the amount that will flow through an inch-square opening under a pressure of four inches measured from the surface of the water in the conduit to the centre of the opening through which it flows. This is nine gallons a minute, or, as it is figured, 1,728 cubic feet or 12,960 gallons in 24 hours, and 1/50 of a cubic foot a second. This flow would cover 10 acres about 18 inches deep in a year; that is, it would give the land the equivalent of 18 inches of rain, distributed exactly when and where it was needed, none being wasted, and more serviceable than 50 inches of rainfall as it generally comes. This, with the natural rainfall, is sufficient for citrous Fruits and for corn and alfalfa, in soil not too sandy, and it is too much for grapes and all deciduous fruits.

"But irrigation, in order to be successful, must be intelligently applied. In unskilful hands it may work more damage than benefit. Mr. Theodore S. Van Dyke, who may always be quoted with confidence, says that the ground should never he flooded; that water must not touch the plant or tree, or come near enough to make the soil bake around it; and that it should be let in in small streams for two or three days, and not in large streams for a few hours.

OLIVE CULTURE.

"The growth of the olive is to be, it seems to me, one of the leading and most permanent industries of Southern California. It will give us, what it is nearly impossible to buy now, pure olive oil, in place of the cotton seed and lard mixture in general use. It is a most wholesome and palatable article of food. Those whose chief experience of the olive is the large, coarse, and not agreeable Spanish variety, used only as an appetizer, know little of the value of the best varieties as food, nutritious as meat, and always delicious. Good bread and a dish of pickled olives make an excellent meal. A mature olive grove in good bearing is a fortune. I feel sure that within 25 years this will be one of the most profitable industries of California, and that the demand for pure oil and edible fruit in the United States will drive out the adulterated and inferior present commercial products."

SPECIAL OPENINGS.

There are now at Merced special openings for a nurseryman and a dairyman; the latter would be by growing alfalfa (lucerne) and raising poultry for at present the Merced people often have to get poultry and eggs from San Francisco, 150 miles off.

POTATO GROWING.

A settler might make a really good return out of potatoes while his Fruit trees are maturing, which is a food more in use in America than in England. Potatoes are not only served at luncheon and dinner, but also at breakfast everywhere, and, if every settler planted his land with potatoes, there would be no fear of overstocking the market.

Mr. Eisen states that potatoes yield from 50 to 400 sacks to the acre, and sell at prices varying from 90 cents to 2 dollars per sack. If only 50 sacks were grown to the acre, it would show a scarce year, when prices would range higher, but the crop is never a failure in California. Two crops can be grown in a year; the first crop is planted at the end of February, if warm, or else in March, or indeed any time till the middle of May, and dug three months after; the second crop is planted in August or September, and dug three months after.

To put in the potatoes a settler would need the help of a labourer, to whom he would have to give one dollar per day and his board, or, if the labourer be a Chinaman, one dollar and a quarter per day without his board.

If the potatoes occupied ten acres, and they produced say 200 sacks to the acre, and fetched 1 dollar per sack, that would yield 2,000 dollars, or for the two crops 4,000 dollars, or, say, £800. This sounds a large sum, but the land is exceedingly rich, as may be seen from the samples I have brought back, and large results may be expected from it if properly worked, for, of course, in any undertaking the result depends upon the way it is worked.

The following paragraph is from an important paper or periodical of 20 pages, known as the Pacific Rural Press, of December 13th, 1890, and although the crop it mentions was not grown in California, it shows at least what can be done on good ground:—

"Nearly 1,000 bushels of potatoes, or, to be exact, 974 bushels and 48 pounds, have been grown on one acre of land in Johnson County, Wyoming, the past season. This crop wins the first prize of several hundred dollars offered by the American Agriculturist for the largest yield of potatoes on one exact acre. It was grown on virgin soil without manure or fertilizer, but the land was rich in potash, and the copious irrigation was of water also rich in saline material. There were 22,800 hills on one acre, and 1,560 pounds of sets, containing one, two, and three eyes, were planted of the early Vermont and Manhattan varieties. The profit on the crop on this first prize acre was 714 dollars, exclusive of 500 dollars in prizes."

Thus, this one acre would have produced £142 worth of potatoes. I do not mention it as an example of what a settler may or may not do at Merced, but as the land at Merced which I am offering for sale is of the richest quality, rich results may certainly be expected.

COST OF GOODS, &c., AT MERCED.

One of my clients recently visited England with his family, and says that one can live cheaper at Merced than in England.

The cost of a twelve-roomed house is 3,000 to 4,000 dollars, according to finish, i.e., from £600 to £800. Most of the houses are built of wood, and such a house could be built in twenty to thirty days, if necessary.

Stabling for two horses, with room for buggy, wagon, harness, and hay, would cost 250 dollars or £50.

A ten-roomed house would cost from 2,500 to 3,500 dollars, according to finish.

An eight-roomed house would cost from 2,000 to 2,500 dollars.

A six roomed house would cost about 2,000 dollars.

A four-roomed house would cost about 1,200 dollars.

Live poultry cost about 6 dollars per dozen.

Cows, 25 to 50 dollars each. Horses, 75 to 150 dollars each. Sheep, 3 to 4 dollars each.

Cultivators cost from 7 to 15 dollars each. Ploughs and harrows about the same price. A riding cultivator, 45 to 50 dollars. Pruning shears, 3 dollars.

Day labour costs 1 dollar per day and board; but, in harvest time, 1-1/2 dollar per day and board.

Carpenters, 2-1/2 dollars per day, sometimes with and sometimes without board.

Fencing costs 500 dollars (i.e., £100) a mile. To fence a 20-acre lot would cost 350 dollars (i.e., £70); but if the eight forming the quarter section joined together, it would cost each about 130 dollars (i.e., £26). The fence would be a 6-inch board at bottom, then 30 inches of wire netting to keep out rabbits, then another 6-inch board and a barbed wire at top.

Firewood costs 6 to 7 dollars a cord of hard wood, or 5 to 6 dollars of willow wood; a cord of wood is 4-ft. by 4-ft. by 8-ft.

TAKE CLOTHING AND BRIC-A-BRAC.

All kinds of clothing are dear. A good suit would cost £7 to £8, or, if ready made, £5. Settlers should therefore take with them plenty of clothes, sufficient, say, to last for five years, including boots, blankets, linen, etc.; also bric-a-brac, and anything to add cheerfulness and refinement to the home, but they should not take furniture nor animals. Guns they might take, but not tools nor implements.

SEA PASSAGE FROM ENGLAND.

Steamships run from Liverpool and Southampton at the following rates:—

1.—Cunard Company's Line. Liverpool to New York. During the summer months—

During the winter months—

The third-class passengers are provided with a free ticket from London to Liverpool.

2.—Inman Line. Liverpool to New York—

The third class includes a free ticket from London to Liverpool.

3.—The "White Star" Line. Liverpool to New York

The third class passengers are provided with a free ticket from London to Liverpool, and free tickets, if required, from New York to Boston or Philadelphia.

4.—North German Lloyd Company. Southampton to New York—

5.—The American Line. Liverpool to New York—

Steamers leave Southampton, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Queenstown, thus being convenient respectively for passengers from the north or south of England, from Scotland, or from Ireland.

Steamers run from this country to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, or Baltimore, but New York is the best port for Merced.

THE LAND JOURNEY FROM NEW YORK TO MERCED, CALIFORNIA.

Copy of Letter from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.

"Our fares from New York to Merced, viâ New Orleans, are:—1st class, unlimited, £19 19s. 0d.; limited, £18 4s. 7d.; 2nd class, £12 8s. 4d.; 3rd class, £12 2s. 9d., all rail; £11 1s. 11d. by steamer to New Orleans, and thence rail, food, and sleeping berth on steamer included. The charges for sleeping car berths are:—1st class, 22 dollars; 2nd class from New Orleans, 3 dollars. There are no 2nd class sleepers to New Orleans, except on the fortnightly excursion trains from Cincinnati, leaving that city January 7th and 21st, February 4th and 18th; March 4th and 18th; April 8th and 22nd, etc. The charge from Cincinnati is 4 dollars 50 cents. Third class passengers can travel in 2nd class sleepers upon payment of the usual charge. The fares from New Orleans to principal Californian points, including Merced, are:—1st class, unlimited, £14. 1s. 3d.; 2nd class, £8. 17s. 1d.; 3rd class, none. Sleeping cars—1st class, 13 dollars; 2nd class, 3 dollars.

Tickets may be obtained through Messrs, DOWSETT and Co., 3, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, direct from Liverpool to California, or any other State en route.

ANALYSIS OF MERCED SOILS.

Having fitted up a portion of one of my offices with all the requisites for carrying out quantitative analyses of surface soils, I requested Professor Lobley, F.G.S., etc., to analyse the four samples of soils which I brought with me from Merced.

A general analysis of four samples of soil from Merced, California, has given the following results:—

The organic matter is available for plant growth.

The inorganic matter, soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid, is (with the exception of the alumina it may contain) composed of fertilising material. The substances found in the soluble inorganic matter of soils are lime, magnesia, alumina, silica, phosphoric acid, oxide of iron, oxide of manganese, potash and soda. The insoluble mineral matter is nearly all silica. There is very little clayey matter in any of the soils—not more than about five per cent. All the soils are remarkably free from stones or pebbles, or even coarse sand.

From the above it will be seen that these soils, while possessing a large amount of matter available for plant growth, are exceedingly friable, and would be very easily worked. They would absorb heat quickly, and from their porosity would require little drainage, and so would be both warm and dry soils, and form fertile land suitable for almost all kinds of agricultural and horticultural produce.