Dec. I, 1885,] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



413 



portion at least encroaches on the lowcountry to I 

 great exteut, and there is tlie place to grow rice, a 

 alliiile to the Hinteiiiie country. Go ilown to li'm- 

 teiine during the S3uth-\Ve,st mousaoii and see what 

 can be d.rae by the one tank of Ftoraborwewa, aud 

 then tlie turn along the bank of the Jlahavilligaiiga 

 anri see the immense voUime of the river, sivolleji and 

 muddy with the monsoon rains, witli its millions of 

 toiLs of fertilizing ;wiiter aud silt, flowing illy ami 

 uselessly to the sea, through a pircheil and dried-u[i 

 country, fever-stricken aud almo-ct uninhabited. 



Let tile .Taltna " T.itriot " picture to himseUt" the result 

 of one or two anicnts thrown across the bed of the 

 river, or one or two pumps at work, throwing this 

 fertilising water over the surrounding country, where 

 in places you might have level beds a mile in length. 

 There is the water, aad there is the soil ; what is 

 reiinired is the application and that is iu the hanils 

 of men. And it must not be forgotten that the ex- 

 posure, over a large surface of water on the ground, 

 h.as a corresponding etVeet on the climate in drawing 

 moisture from the clouds, and iu course of time alter- 

 ing the condition oil the dim ite Itself. In this portion 

 of the Oeutral Province there is room for exten.sion, 

 but this is evidently not what the " Patriot " is think- 

 ing about, he spealcs of the hillcountry, aud his con- 

 clusions are wrong.— O. E., Pallerakelly, 8th Sept- 

 enilitr. 1SS5. — Local " Times." 



♦ 



CALIFOKNIA. 



(TO THE EDITOB Or Tin-: " rifXD.") 

 Sir, — Seeing in your issue of May 9 a letter under 

 the above heading, signed by Mr. U, A. Vachell, 

 aud, boasting on my own part of some experience 

 in this State and iu the vino and fruit interest, 

 I orav(! space in your i)aper for a few words on 

 the subject, and to show that the inferences to be 

 drawn from the letter referred to are totally at 

 variance with the condition of things existing here. 

 With all due deference to the writer of this letter, 

 I do not agree with his statement to the clfect 

 that Callforul* oilers gooil opportunities to emigrants, 

 aud ultimately a competency from vine and fruit 

 culture; aud I wl'l endeavour to prove to you, by 

 figures and facts indisputable, that the business is 

 not what it is represeutcd to be. 



.Ml the accessible and ea-sily tillable land Iu local- 

 iiles suitable for vine culture has long since been 

 taken up, and held at prices that do not justify 

 reiutonable anticipations of a fail' return alone for 

 capital and labour, to say nothing of a conipctency. A 

 little land is still to be had in the foothills of the 

 Sierras, but some distance from market, aud everyone 

 netpiuuited with farming operations knows that a 

 hilly farm is a costly business. Some land is also 

 l^) \n: h;id in certaui parts of Soulhem California at 

 ri^Lsiinaliie figures, but next to useless withont irrig- 

 atiini — a costly alternative. 



The wi-itcr of the letter in question estimates profit 

 IK-r acic at £U0. Let me go in for a few details. 

 W'k will begin mtli cost of land at his figures, £3 

 an acre. At the usual distiiuce of 8 ft. apart each 

 way, (JSO vine cuttings will be required per acre. 

 These cuttings will cost 12s. per thousand. Prepar- 

 ation of ground by deep ploughing twice and harrowing, 

 then marking out and planting, after that careful 

 cultivation to keep <iown weeds, will cost £',i 10s. 

 an acre fur first year; for second year, ploughing 

 and constant cultivation, aud to destroy weeds, will 

 cost £1 4s. an acre; the same expenses for third 

 year; tin; fourth season from jilanting, the owner 

 may consider himself fortunate if he can gather li 

 ton per acre for first yield, and 3 tons thereafter as 

 an average crop; cultivation and pruning each follow- 

 ing year will cost not less than £1 IBs. an acre. 

 A friend of mine in the Napa Valley planted some 

 eighteen acres with Zinfandel vines; this was In the 

 spring of 1S81, aud in 18SI he gathered his first 

 crop, receiving' in round numbers 000 dels, or £120 

 for same. From this amount must be deducted — 

 cost of boxes, picking, and hauling two aud a half 



miles to the winery. The Ziufaudcl grapa (a cliiret 

 grape, by the way) fetohe.l the hi;,'hist price at the 

 winery that s.!a-)ju, £-S a ton. \Vit!i reginl to the 

 above return, I m.iy m.Mition tint one of the most 

 l)r.actical mju in the district oonsidorod it a very 

 fair oue for a first piekiig. The v.iluo of laud in 

 this Ciisa w.is £20 au acre, at the least. 



Truly, in some localities l.'trger returns are to be 

 obtained from cultivation of table grapos, but tho 

 nurki^t for this article is very limited, and the oust 

 of bjxing and freight to an Eastern m'U'ket, after 

 deduutiins for commissions, &e., is so considerable, 

 that little m.argin is left. The estimated wine yield 

 of this Stvte was some l-),l1{)a,(liJ0 gallons for 1881, 

 abj.it otjUiil to the demand. Taking into cousidor- 

 atiou the immense acreage of vine.y.irds that will 

 coran into benviug during the next three years, it 

 is estimated bv practical men that the wine yield 

 will at least reach 8D,O00.OOI) galloTis by ISSS; aud 

 where is this to be disposed oV? The Amerioans 

 are not consumers to the extent the French are . 

 aud again, C.alifornia wine has not been favourably 

 received iu Europe ; whether this is from prejudice 

 or not I am unable to say. Already the price for 

 wine grapes is on the decline. In tho season of 

 1883 the wine makers made; offers for the crop be- 

 fore it was ripe, the average price being £0, all 

 round, per ton. Last year, 188 1, matters were reversed, 

 for the wino m.akcrs formed a riug and dictateil their 

 own prices, the lowest figures being offered for 

 mission grapes, £t 12s. a ton, less a ilollar (4s. 2d.) 

 jier ton per degree of saccharine strength below a 

 fixed standard of 22°, the average being IS' obtained 

 by the usual test. 



In certain houses in Oalifornia, not.ably at Palace 

 Hotel in San Fiancisoo, if native; wine is called for, 

 you are informed that only the ]''rench article is kept. 

 Jiut it is generally well-known where this so-called 

 French wine comes from ; the " braml," tridy, is 

 French. 



Now as to the possibilities in the fruit Ijno 

 People in this State have grown almost cranky on 

 the question; the yield within tho uext three years 

 will be so enormous as to overch.arge the mark(;t, 

 and so fetch little or nothing. I wdl mention, by 

 way of illustration, one; Instance of a unrs(;ryman, 

 who disposed of 100,000 fruit trees this spring, anfl 

 in the .sjime town there were two others who bad a 

 fair share of busin(!ss. This wholesale planting is not 

 ccnifined to one locality ; It has been going on all over 

 the States? Where is it to end? With present sup- 

 plies the mai'ket is often glutted; and as for canning 

 and di.sposal eastward, the cost of same, adding heavy 

 freight charges ("for the railway monopolies h.ave the 

 Golden State by the throat), not forgetting also 

 that labour here is considerably clearer than in the 

 Ciisf; — where, by the way, a lot of fruit, is grown — 

 will not admit of making a fortune ; of ten the bianco 

 is on the other side. 



The vine business has been overdone before. About 

 nine years since vineyards were rooted up for this 

 very reason, and we shall liave the same thing over 

 again, all of which is quite charncleristic of the country, 

 and an insatiable love for the "alntighty dollar." To say 

 nothing of mildew, &e., phylloxera is making terrible 

 havoc with the vine, which will not stand above teui 

 or twelve years, under such conditions. Tho result 

 of planting resistant stock does not yet seem to l)av(! 

 been fully demonstrated. So anxious have people been 

 to embark in the vino and fruit business, that 

 mortgaging has been the order of the day. The 

 mortgages in one small county, Napa, represent nearly 

 three million dollars. Mortgages have been very 

 general on the whole of the Pacific Coast, and I 

 do not think it will be found that 10 jier cent of 

 the farms are free from inonmbrance. 



As for California being a favourable field for white 

 labour, Chinese are so very plentiful that white men 

 cannot compete! with them. They are pairl at the 

 rate of 4s. 2d. a, day; and 6d. a day will keep a 

 celestial, who is content with any kind of shelter. 



