38 



would not tlieu bring more than ten to fifteen dollars per acre. One of these orchards* 

 that of the late George Rediield, containing sixteen acres planted to fruit, together 

 with twenty-five acres of scrubby oalc, full of grubs, sold in lh'67 for §10,000 cash. An- 

 other, that of the late Kev. William JI. Fc'ny, of Grand Haven, sold in 1868, for 

 §13,000, and a portion of another, belonging to Colonel William M. Ferry at Ferrys- 

 burg, sold this year for §500 an acre. 



The -wild lands in the vicinity of these orchards vary in price from §50 to $200 au 

 acre, as shown by actual sales. High laud luiar navigable Avater, along the banks of 

 Grand River, or near the little lakes, is the most esteemed, and, although live or six 

 years ago it would not sell at §10 au acre, now cominauds §r)0 to §75, and even §100 

 an acre. 



There is, however, plenty of land equally good for producing peaches, two or three 

 miles from navigation, which can be bought at from five to ten dollars per acre, and it 

 is rapidly settling up. Tliis land, prior to the fruit period, and even two or three 

 years agb could not be sold at any price, and was considered burdensome on account 

 of taxes. 



The character of the people who are removing to this region to engage in fruit cul- 

 ture is good — mostly men over forty years of age removing from the interior of the 

 State, or from Wisconsin, Illinois, Incliana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, 

 Massachusetts, England, and Germany. . They are peojile of more than ordinary in- 

 telligence, seeking occupation congenial with a refined and cultivated taste. 



The annexed table presents an estimate of the principal fruit products shipped from 

 ports of this region in 1869 : 



The values of shipments are given as follows : Apples, at 80 cents per bushel, §113,392 ; 



teaches, at 85 cents per basket, §638,885 50 ; pears, at §1 per basket, §3,754 ; plums, at 

 1 per basket, §490; cherries, at §1 per basket, §630; quinces, at §1 per basket, 

 §446 ; grapes, at 10 cents per pound, .§7,110 ; blackberries, at 10 cents per quart, §134,632 40 ; 

 raspberries, at 12 cents per quart, §50,617 44 ; strawberries, at 10 cents per quart, §12,737 20; 

 370 bushels cranberries, at §4 per bushel, §1,480; 146 baskets tomatoes, at 75 ceuts,§110 50; 

 G60 barrels cider, at §4, §2,640— total, §966,925 04. 



TEA CULTURE IN CALIFOENIA. 



Herr Sclmell, the manajsjer of the experimental farm in El Dorado 

 County, California, where the Japanese colonists are engaging in tea 

 culture and the raising of other products hitherto peculiar to their ovm 

 country, expresses himself as convinced that as good tea can be pro- 

 duced in California as is grown in China or Japan. He claims that 

 there is but one species of tea known, the Thea Sinensis. Those 

 plants described by botanists under the names T. Bohea, T. Viriclis, 

 T. tStricta, &c., being only varieties of the T. iSinensis, produced by 

 different modes of cultivation and geogTax)hical distribution. Dr. "Vou 



