LOOKING FOR A HOME IN THE KERN DELTA COLONIES. 



mentioned. Now, you know that in Illinois the 

 man who rents hay land obtains one-third of the 

 crop for harvesting it. In Kern county they 

 get five crops of hay each year from their irri- 

 gated lands, which is worth from $5 to $10 per 

 ton, and the land produces about two tons per 

 acre at each cutting. ' So you will see by leasing 

 hay land here and paying therefor from $4 to 

 $7 per acre that the first crop will bring enough 

 money to pay the lease and the other four crops 

 will be for profit after deducting expenses. This 

 land will produce from forty to sixty bushels of 

 wheat per acre though it was difficult for me to 

 believe at first that this statement was true, but 

 after such inquiry I failed to find a farmer who 

 doubted this statement. Peaches, prunes, apri- 

 cots, pears, etc. , do well here. All these will 

 pay expenses of cultivation the third year from 

 setting, and in this genial climate, where they 

 are never injured by frosts or severe winters, 

 they will bear from fifteen to twenty good crops 

 worth from $200 to $300 per acre. 



You are aware that in the eastern and north- 

 ern States a peach orchard does not commence 

 bearing before it is five years old and seldom 

 bears more than two full crops during its life. 

 This will explain to our friends why lands in 

 California sell for higher prices than land in 

 Illinois. The usual price for peach trees for 

 setting is 15 cents each, though in large quan- 

 tities they can be purchased for less money. 

 Many successful fruit growers in this State pro- 

 vide for drying their own fruit, as by so doing 

 they keep whatever profit there is in preparing 

 the fruit for market and can also hold it until 

 the price is satisfactory. This is an important 

 matter to understand when planting an orchard, 

 so that one can purchase the best varieties of 

 trees. For instance, if a man is going to plant 

 a peach orchard and intends to dry the fruit 

 himself, he should purchase from four to six 

 varieties of peach trees which ripen at different 

 times, say a week or ten days apart. The first 

 saving in this will be found in the fact that he 

 will need to invest only about one-fourth of the 



money in trays or boxes as he would if the fruit 

 should all ripen at one time. Then he will not 

 need to employ more than one-fourth as maay 

 hands to help care for the fruit as if he only 

 raised one variety, and can therefore hire hands 

 at a more reasonable rate than as if he needed 

 a large number of them for only a week or so 



WHAT LAND WILL EARN. 



I find that dried peaches vary in price from 

 5 to 15 cents a pound at the railroad stations, 

 depending on the amount of fruit raised in the 

 eastern States. You know that two good crops 

 in succession there is not a common occurrence, 

 so that when the crops in the East are light, or 

 almost a total failure, as this year, the profits 

 from growing fruit in California is enormous. 

 Dried peaches at 10 cents per pound here will 

 yield a profit to the grower varying from $150 

 to $200 per acre when the trees are five or six 

 years old. From interviews with fruit growers 

 who have farmed in Illinois I learn that they 

 would sooner raise peaches here and sell them 

 dried at 5 cents a pound than to raise corn in 

 Illinois and feed to hogs at 5 cents a pound. 

 The profits realized from growing prunes, apri- 

 cots and many other products in the San Joa- 

 quin valley is about the same, so far as I have 

 been able to learn, as those realized from 

 peaches. Now I have endeavored to investigate 

 quite thoroughly the value of lands in the various 

 parts of California, and the profits derived there- 

 from, and I am now thoroughly convinced that 

 Kern county offers the best inducements for our 

 people that can be found in California, and I 

 am pleased with almost the entire State. I 

 shall remain here until the middle of January 

 as I desire to attend the Mid Winter Fair be- 

 fore returning home, so if there is any further 

 information you desire please address me at San 

 Francisco, and I will endeavor to furnish the 

 desired information. 



With kindest regards to all, and hoping that 

 we may spend next winter on our Kern coumty 

 farms, I remain, very truly, 



AL. J. MILLER. 



