

California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



are beiug made every year as the country im- 

 proves. 



All the strawberries are raised by Chinamen 

 on shares ; that is, they plant, cultivate, irri- 

 gate, pick the berries and pack them in the 

 chests ready for the market, for one-halt the 

 proceeds after deducting the cost of chests, 

 boxes, freights and commission for selliug. 

 The landholder furnishes the land, tools to 

 cultivate, water to irrieate and cheap little 

 houses for the Chinamen to live in, as his 

 part of the contract. These contracts are 

 made to extend for a number of years, the 

 Chinamen taking care of the strawberry 

 plantation the year round. Before planting 

 the ground is well pi-epared and nicely graded, 

 so that the water will pass evenly down the 

 rows betwene the plants, which are set in 

 rows tweuty-four inches and eighteen inches 

 ajjart alternately, and the plants one foot 

 apart in the rows. A little ditch is made in 

 the narrow space between the plants to irri- 

 gate them. The wider space is used as a 

 walk while picking the fruit or cultivating 

 the ground. 



In former years, when the railroad company 

 had a monopoly of the carrying trade be- 

 tween this valley and San Francisco, the fruit 

 men claimed that they had good cause for 

 complaint on account of high charges and 

 poor accommodations, which led to arrange- 

 ments that resulted in bringing the steamer 

 "Relief" to their relief, which now makes 

 regular trips between Alviso and the city. 

 Alviso, being located at the junction of the 

 Alviso slough with the Guadalupe river, 

 about three mUes from the bay of San Fran- 

 cisco, is a convenient and central point to re- 

 ceive the strawberries and asparagus fresh 

 from the field in the evening, to be delivered 

 at daylight the next morning in the San Fran- 

 cisco market. The steamer leaves Alviso 

 every evening at eight o'clock, Saturdaj's ex- 

 cepted, and returning leaves the city at nine 

 o'clock every morning, Sundays excepted. 

 The charge for strawberries per chest is 42 J^ 

 cents for freight and wharfage, the chest re- 

 turned free. The boat is also fitted up in 

 good stj'le to carry and accommodate passen- 

 gers, who can hardly fail, under the care and 

 attention of such gentlemen as. the captain of 

 the Relief and his officers, to enjoy a rirte on 

 the bay of San Francisco. The fare to the 

 city from Alviso is only 75 cents, and from 

 San Jose and Santa Clara $1.00. I mention 

 these facts particularly, as the running of this 

 boat is closely connected with the interests of 

 the fruit men of this vallej'. 



I interviewed or had reports from fifty 

 "patches," amounting in the aggregate to 

 1,110 acres, and estimating those I was una- 

 ble to see at 170 acres, which I think is rather 

 below than above the correct number, gives 

 us 1,280 acres within this artesian well region; 

 just two sections, and if all were planted to- 

 gether would make a solid strawberry patch 

 two miles in length by one in width. 



If it would be of interest to the readers of 

 the Press, I could give a list of the names 

 with the number of acres each had, but pre- 

 sume it would not be worth the space occu- 

 pied. Suffice to say, Mr. C. E. Wade has the 

 champion patch for size, 80 acres. James 

 Murphy, 60 acres ; William Boots and Judge 

 Thomas, .50 each ; Robert Syer, 45 ; J. John- 

 son 40 ; then eight patches have from .30 to 

 40 acres each ; eleven have from 20 to 30 

 acres ; 17 have from 10 to 20 acres each, and 

 only seven have less than ten acres each. 



I took note of IGS! acres in asparagUB, also 

 among the strawberry men. In this deep, 

 rich soil, with plenty of water, it does Rjilen- 

 didly ; and when San Francisco gets to be a 

 city of a million of people, this little region 

 I have been talking about can easily supi)ly 

 them with all the asparagus, strawberries and 

 cream, and other such nick-nacks that they 

 may want. 



It was very pleasant driving over smooth, 

 well-kept roads, among these bi-autiful Cali- 

 fornia homes ; all their gates standing wide 

 open, as if they were not afraid to have you 



drive in (I do hate getting down to open 

 gates). Some of the farmers here are on 

 new improvements, but many of them have 

 been here long enough to have nice, tasty 

 houses, surrounded with such a wealth of 

 beautiful trees, shrubs and tlowers, of fount- 

 ains of water and nice, smooth drives and 

 walks, as can only be found among the most 

 wealthy and aristocratic people in other coun- 

 tries. 



|)0uochold |lcirdiug» 



King and Queen. 



ri'HE happiest home I ever snw 

 ''^ Was where a womap reigned; 

 And yet the man himself was king, 

 Pray how was this attained? 



The wife, who seemed submission's Belf, 



And did her wifely part, 

 Queened it in an iniperiuus way 



Over her husband's heart. 



Her chosen throne was in his home, 



Her sceptre his dear will. 

 Her spotless robe and crown his love— 



We see the picture still. 



Tet like a iiug that held full sway, 



He guarded well his own. 

 And loved his palace home, made bright 



By love, and love alone. 



The children, by their mother led. 



Her bright example saw: 

 Obedience seemed an easy thing, 



And ■•father's word" was law. 



O, what a pleasant thing to see. 



Of all things to be seen, 

 A home where reigns with equal power 



A household king and queen! 



A Question of Reform. 



BY NELL TAN. 



Now while the public attention is being so 

 occupied with questions of reform for our 

 youth of both sexes, is it not worth while for 

 every parent to enquire, what is each one of 

 us doing for our own boys and girls, to ren- 

 der them free and independent beings ? Are 

 we teaching them, first of all, to understand 

 the laws of life and how to live healthfully ? 

 and along with our boasted civilization and 

 free educational system, to which is being en- 

 forced the compulsory education law, are we 

 giving these young people chances to learn 

 any trade or employment by which they can 

 earn anything towards their own support ? 



It may be there is freedom in the air we 

 breathe which causes the docile partner of 

 man to desire to compete with him in various 

 industries, and no longer sit contentedly, 

 with folded hands, waiting to be sought out 

 for a life companion to man. Her desire is 

 to learn some pursuit Ijy which she, too, may 

 earn the clothes she wears, when the brother 

 who is reared beside her is taught to rely 

 upon his own exertions for a livelihood iipon 

 arriving at maturity. Extend a helping hand 

 to each one of these sisters yearning for an 

 honest calling, and enlarge their sphere of 

 usefulness by providing schools of training, 

 where young women may olitain practical 

 knowledge of a kind not found in the ordi- 

 nary text-books of schools. We want fewer 

 teachers and more thorough-going business 

 men and women to prevail against the "hood- 

 lum element, ' ' now becoming so formidable in 

 our very midst. Even daughters of the 

 wealthy are heard to say they wish, from 

 their hearts, circumstances would admit of 

 their stepping into some congenial pursuit, so 

 that they need not go to " father " for every 

 cent they would spend. 



Parents who have the interest or their chil- 

 dren at heart sliould strive for a now order of 

 things, whereliy this system of comimlsory 

 education shall not be an actual loss, in any 

 way, to the poor(T classes. If, along with 

 book-learning, thi' young waifs were acquir- 

 ing the knowledge of the skillful use of tools 



in the workshop, two ends might be served 

 at one and the same time. Muscle exercise 

 would balance the brain power, one being a 

 rest for the other, while upon leaving school 

 the choice of a pursuit or trade would be so 

 arranged that the young person could at once 

 become a producer instead of only a con- 

 sumer — a worker rather than a drone. 



A Chat and a Lunch. 



BY ELISA E. ANTHONY. 



Editor Ageiccxtukist : — I have not kept 

 my promise of sending you an article every 

 month ; but a multiplicity of duties and 

 then a flying visit to San Francisco must be 

 my excuse, and I will endeavor to be more 

 regular in my visits to you in the future. 



I am not in the mood for sermonizing, nei- 

 ther for anything funny to-day, so will just 

 sit down for a few minutes chat with your 

 readers and contributors. 



Do you know, friends, that more of you 

 should contribute to our department of the 

 pajjer ? Now, don't say that you cannot; that 

 you are not used to writing for a paper, and 

 that you have nothing to write about. Every 

 one has to have a beginning, and why not you 

 as well as some one else ? Just imagine that 

 you are talking to your friends. Tell them 

 your opinions, your surroundings, facts and 

 fancies. Why, you will have more ideas 

 pouring into your mind than you can write 

 about at once, and you will have to write the 

 second time, and so on — every time it becomes 

 easier. 



Write easily and naturally, use short, sim- 

 ple words, and if you wish to write "The 

 house that Jack built," don't say instead, 

 " The domicile reared by daxlal Juan." 



We all have different ideas and thoughts, 

 and it would be a good plan to exchange the 

 same, would it not ? Our sex appear to take 

 but little interest in our department, and it 

 cannot be that they do not read it. Leave off 

 some of the ruffles on your new suit, Emma, 

 and write a short and pithy article to our pa- 

 per ; and you, Sarah, who have had such a 

 wide experience, contribute something to the 

 domestic department ; and I hope the hun- 

 dreds of intelUgcnt women, into whose homes 

 this paper makes monthly visits, freighted 

 with glad tidings, will consider themselves 

 addressed as well as the ones named. 



Jewell, Nell Van, I have not seen your 

 cheery articles lately ; what is the matter ? 

 I hope you have not forsaken us. What 

 would we do without those "Chats" and "Let 

 ters ?" 



My time is up and I will conclude ■with the 

 following recipes, hoping for some in return : 



VELVET CAKE. 



Whites of five eggs, two cups sugar, two 

 and one-fourth cups flour, one cup of milk, 

 three-fourths cup of butter, three-fourths 

 cup of corn-starch, essence lemon, two and 

 one-half tea-spoons yeast-powder. 



PUFF CAKE. 



Two cups of flour, two cups of sugar, one 

 cup of sweet milk, two ^ggs, two table-spoons 

 yeast powder. Add the milk last. 



INDIANA PUDDING. 



Two-thirds of a cup scalded corn-meal, one 

 cup of molasses, one-half cup of sugar, two 

 table-spoons of lard, cinnamon, milk, salt. 

 Bake an hour and a half. 



TO COOK DllIKU COD-FISH. 



Soak as large a piece as needed over bight. 

 In the morning wash it and dry with a cloth, 

 put lard in the frying-pan, roll the fish in 

 flour and fry till brown on both sides. 



Another way is to soak a jiiece, boil a few 

 minutes until tender, thou butter and put 

 cream on it. 



PINK COLORED ICINQ 

 Is made by adding a few drops of prepared 

 cochineal to the icing — more or less, accord- 

 ing to the shade recjuired. 



I Our lloniestic department is made up this 

 mouth, but we will allow these recipes under 

 the Household this time, and glad to get 

 them.] 



