California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



well as be in the best place for an orchard. 

 The house should be on high, healthy ground, 

 and every tree that is planted should be in the 

 best place for it. The good wife should be 

 consulted in every improvement that is con- 

 templated. They who together make a home 

 can best appreciate it, and will become at- 

 tached to it as every one who has a home 

 should be. The matter of 



IRKIOATI'ON 



is one which concerns many farmers. Is not 

 now a good time to take into consideration 

 the ways and means for irrigating the farm, 

 or at least some portion of it? Is it possible 

 for you, either alone or in connection with 

 your neighbors, to bring the waters of some 

 stream upon your farm iu the winter when 

 water is running to waste? We know of sev- 

 eral farms in this valley which might be made 

 to yield abundantly with winter flooding that 

 now are unprofitable from the lack of mois- 

 ture; and these same farms are so located that 

 they could easily be flooded in winter by a 

 little co-operation among the owners. 



Every farm should have an orchard and 

 garden. 



A WIND- MILL 



is something within the reach of almost any 

 one owning land. Where the prevailing 

 winds blow in opposite directions, as they do 

 in almost all our valleys situated between long 

 ranges of mountains in California, a station- 

 ary mill — that is, one without a turn table — is 

 good enough for all practical purposes, and 

 may be made at home. Let the frame be very 

 heavy and strong — made to stand. The shaft 

 can be either wood or iron. Make the fans 

 long enough to give several horse-power. 

 Bore one or two wells for large-sized pumps, 

 and let the mill run all the time. The water 

 can be stored in a tank, the bottom of which 

 is level \s-ith the ground, and run in furrows 

 over as large a surface as the supply will al- 

 low. A good mill and pump, running when- 

 ever the vrind blows, will irrigate several 

 acres, if economically handled. It is well to 

 have the mill so located that stock can be 

 watered in either of the fields where they are 

 allowed to run, with as little expense for 

 water pipe as possible. For house use there 

 should be a tank higher than the house, with 

 force pump to raise the water into it, by wind 

 power, and the same power should be utilized 

 to do churning, etc. Those who can afiford it 

 will find an extra wind-mill for this purpose, 

 with pipes running throiigh house and barn, 

 a most convenient thing. Why people in 

 the country cannot have things as convenient 

 as they do in the city is more than we pro- 

 pose to explain. 



There is much more that might be said 

 under this head which would appertain to 

 specialties, but the foregoing hints on general 

 principles we oflfer for what they may be 

 worth as suggestions merely. 



The farmer who toils for 40 years gathers 

 knowledge and experience costing more labor, 

 weariness and anxiety than the education of 

 any other professional man costs; and then 

 the avowedly professional man charges ten 

 times as much for his advice and work as the 

 farmer does; and in case of a dispute as to a 

 fee, professional men are called in to say 

 what is right, while the old farmer has to 

 abide by the professional decision whether it 

 be (or or against him. 



LETTER FROM OUR TRAVELING 

 AGENT. 



Eds. Calipoenia Aqkicitltcbist : The suc- 

 cess I have met with in a five-weeks canvass- 

 ing trip for your journal, the affable and 

 kindly spirit with which I was everywhere 

 received, especially by old subscribers, and 

 the grand prospects of the Aokicultubist in 

 the counties through which I have just trav- 

 eled, all incite me to give expression to a few 

 ideas picked up during my recent trip. Be- 

 ing well acquainted with the high character of 

 the Agkioulturist, I was confident from the 

 very beginning that it needed only a proper 

 representation, a simple unfolding or expla- 

 nation of its characteristics, to commend it to 

 all lovers of the good and pure. Need I say 

 that a discriminating public nobly responded 

 in support of the AoKicULXtrKisT, which they 

 unhesitatingly designate a champion of truth, 

 morality, temperance, and the farmers' move- 

 ment? 



A short visit to Washington Corners, Ala- 

 meda county, will reveal the most flattering 

 signs of prosperity. The crops in the vicinity 

 are good, when we take into consideration 

 the dryness of the season. A large and ele- 

 gant school house is being erected. A news- 

 paper, called the Alameda County Independent, 

 is published there, while Washington College 

 was never in a more prosperous condition 

 than now. 



Mission San Jose, and, in fact, the entire 

 country along the foot-hills, from Niles Sta- 

 tion to Warm Springs, can boast of excellent 

 crops. I visited Mr. Beard, at the Mission, 

 and obtained from that gentleman much in- 

 formation regarding Alameda county in gen- 

 eral, and Mission San Jose in particular. Mr. 

 Beard, besides a magnificent orchard of ap- 

 ples, peaches, pears, etc, and several hundred 

 acres under vines and grain, has about GOO 

 olive trees produced from cuttings 

 After experiment, he finds that the best 

 time to plant them is in the fall, and that cut- 

 tings from young trees are the best. They 

 commence to bear when about five years old, 

 and are in full bearing at eight. So well have 

 these trees throve that from one tree alone 

 120 pounds of olives were obtained. 



Mr. J. C. Palmer, of the Mission has a fine 

 vineyard of about 80 acres, all in excellent 

 condition, and promises to bear immensely. 

 The crops in the vicinity of Centreville, 

 Alvarado, Mt. Eden and Hayward are fine, 

 and will compare favorably with those of any 

 other portion of the State. A post-ofiice has 

 lately been established at Niles Station, some 

 new buildings are being erected, and the town 

 is fast developing. 



George Buttner, an old resident of Sunol 

 valley, has recently built a large and commo- 

 dious hotel at Sunol Station. The far- 

 mers along the valley are much pleased 

 with the prosperity of the crops, and may 

 compliment themselves on having one of the 

 finest agricultural valleys in the State. 



Livermore cannot boast of the fertile soil of 

 Hayward, Mission San Jose or Alvarado. A 

 gi'avelly soil predominates, and the crops this 

 season are at a serious discount. I visit<'d 

 the new coal mines, about eight miles from 

 Livermore, and have every reason to consider 



them a success. Already a shaft of 375 feet 

 has been sunk. The vein is about five feet 

 thick and of an indefinite length and width. 

 Eighteen men were at work, and an addition- 

 al force will be employed as soon as u new 

 steam engine is erected, which will probably 

 be in a few weeks. The coal is uf a bitumin- 

 ous quality, and is selling at $4 per ton at 

 the mine. Mr. Thomas Harris, a practical 

 collier. Is the superintendent. 



San Eamoan valley, including Pleasanton, 

 Dublin, Limerick, Danville, Alamo and Wal- 

 nut Creek, is one of the most fertile valleys 

 in the State. The crops are looking splendid. 

 The late rains, however, caused considerable 

 damage in throwing down portions of the 

 crops which were very heavy. The farmers 

 here are seriously discussing the propriety of 

 having a railroad through the valley, and ad- 

 vocate the scheme with much warmth. The 

 course taken by the Contra Costa Gazette in 

 disapj)roving of the enterprise is severely crit- 

 icized, and rumors are afloat that another 

 county paper devoted to the vast interests of 

 Contra Costa will soon be established. 



The crops from Altamont to the Mountain 

 House are a veritable blank. Several of the 

 farmers in this section have already taken 

 flight to a more congenial clime. Very little 

 of the animal creation greets the traveler, save 

 squirrels, lizards and owls. 



The country from the Mountain House to 

 Point of Timber is more prosperous, leaving, 

 however, ample room for improvement. 

 Point of Timber is a rich agi-icultural country, 

 well shaded with trees. The farmers in gen- 

 eral manifest evidences of much prosperity, 

 and have had a good three-fourths crop. 



About two miles from Point of Timber are 

 the salt springs which your correspondent 

 visited, and learned from several persons there 

 that these si^rings, for medicinal qualities,are 

 second to none in the State. There are, how- 

 ever, no accommodations for visitors, the ab- 

 sence of which will necessarily prevent many 

 from partaking of the advantages which, un- 

 der different management, might be enjoyed 

 by the health-seeking public. 



The country around Antioch is hiUy and 

 the soil rather barren, consequently the crops 

 are not like those of Eden Plains or Point of 

 Timber. The town itself is quiet, and people 

 complain that "money is scarce around that 

 quarter," and yet the Ageiculturist circulat- 

 ed as freely in that section as in more favored 

 districts. We hope that a better state of 

 things will soon be brought about, and that 

 the generous people of Antioch and vicinity 

 will have to build additional warehouses 

 wherein to store the produce of next year's 



crop. 



Passing Snmmersville and Nortonville — 

 cities of coal mines, steam engines, heat and 

 hills, we slide down into Mount Diablo valley, 

 one of the finest in California. Well shaded 

 with trees, UberaUy supplied with water, the 

 soil rich and adapted to raise almost all kinds 

 of fruit and vegetables, with many a fine 

 vineyard and farm house, and Diablo in the 

 distance, boldly and majestically looking 

 down from an eminence of over 3,000 feet, 

 we unhesitatingly say that the people of this 

 valley may justly feel proud of their situation. 

 And there is Clayton, the queen village of 



V 



