Ranch Life 123 



be burned off; and so forth — ad infinitum. And 

 above us hung the impending sword of uncertainty. 

 Our county had not then passed the experimental 

 stage. Speaking personally, I was always conscious 

 that no matter how hard we worked, that the har- 

 vest would be reaped by others : that they would 

 profit by our mistakes. 



Of the many mistakes that we made, it is pain- 

 ful but expedient to speak. We planted vineyards 

 and were compelled to plough them up when they 

 came into bearing, because we had chosen varieties 

 ill-adapted to our particular soil ; we (I speak now 

 of my brother and myself) planted orchards of 

 prunes and apricots and apples and pears ; and 

 they came to nought because we lacked the special 

 knowledge that is now the inheritance of the 

 Western horticulturist; we tried to breed fine 

 fowls, prize pigs, fast trotters, and we failed, not 

 because we lacked intelligence or energy or pa- 

 tience, but because we did n't know how, as a child 

 would say. 



And we attempted to do too much, as our neigh- 

 bours did. To use a homely expression, salted and 

 peppered to suit the Western palate : " We bit off 

 more 'n we could chew." 



Upon the ordinary ranch, of course, mixed farm- 

 ing has become a necessity. In early days, you 

 seldom found milk or cream upon the tables of the 

 big rancheros. The wheat farmer bought his vege- 

 tables, his hams and bacon, his eggs, his fruit, his 

 Thanksgiving turkey, — everything that was con- 

 sumed in his house. This policy was justified then 

 by the price of wheat ; it can be justified no longer. 



