California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



(I from all winds and from very hot sun- 

 I shine. When the sun is hottest a thin 

 muslin curtain should shelter the plants 

 f from its raj's. Hanging baskets that are 

 ' filled with delicate jilauts should never 

 9 ^be hung out under the piazza, where 

 drafts of wind can dash the foliage about. 

 Many beautiful baskets are ruined by 

 such carelessness, and no one need ex- 

 pect success with plants unless they are 

 sheltered from the winds. California is 

 a windy country anyway, and there are 

 more plants annually spoiled by the 

 winds than by all other causes combined. 

 Piazzas where jjlants are to be grown 

 should have one or both ends enclosed, 

 so as to give the plants shelter. Gar- 

 dens, w-hen laid out, should be so en- 

 closed that the prevailing winds will be 

 broken, otherwise many plants will jjer- 

 ish and none will flourish satisfactorily. 

 This is a matter of much importance — 

 one which we would particularly imjiress 

 upon the minds of all, as few seem to 

 realize how severely most plants sufl'er if 

 exposed to winds. Any one who will be 

 careful can be successful in rearing and 

 keeping in beaiitiful luxuriance any 

 plant they may fancy, if they will but 

 observe a few common sense principles 

 and humor the jjlants with aft'ectionate 

 consideration for their wants. The real- 

 ly successful and enthusiastic lover and 

 cultivator of plants almost seems to cre- 

 ate a bond of sympathy between herself 

 and her pets that amounts to and is, an 

 uuderstaudiug of what they need, and 

 insures attention to their wants. But 

 there is no more mystery abrut the busi- 

 ness of growing fine jilants than there is 

 about growing potatoes. Each plant is 

 adapted to certain conditions, either 

 through its natural habits before culti- 

 vated by man, or through the habits it 

 has acquired since man has cultivated it. 

 For instance, we have just stated that 

 as hardy a plant as the rose naturally is, 

 it can be made too tender to endure ordi- 

 nary out of door treatment by being nur- 

 tured in the greenhouse. The same 

 jiriuciple will apjjly to all plants, al- 

 though there are extremes of tenderness 

 and hardiness beyond which they can- 

 not succeed. The hardy condition tends 

 toward a more stunted, small leaved and 

 closer branching habit, while the tender 

 plant has larger, thinner leaves, softer 

 wood and comes more rapidly to matu- 

 rity. The thousands of varieties of ge- 

 raniums, fuschias, verbenas, etc., that 

 have been ptoduced under culture, show 

 how i^oteut is the power of adaptation, 

 when man understandingly works for a 

 given result. 



The condition under which a plant 

 may live is not always the condition 

 under which it will become the most at- 

 tractive. Success in the culture of fine 

 plants means hUjhcst develnptnent as well 

 as healthy growth, although healthy 

 growth is alwaj-s necessary to perfect 

 deqeltjpment. There are always certain 

 conditions best suited to development in 

 any given directieu. But we will defer 

 further talk about general princiiiles for 

 the present, although there are many 

 important things to be considered. 



FKOSTY NIGUTB. 



The recent frosts have been rather se- 

 vere on tender plants that were not shel- 

 tered. We have noticed that some 

 persons who have left their plants un- 

 protected hav(! thrown water on them iu 

 the miu-uiug to draw the frost out with- 

 out its killing the plants, as is the case 

 whore the sun stiikes upon the frozen 

 plants. If the water is not thrown on 

 until the temperature rises above the 

 freezing point, it will do this, but if 

 put on very early in the morning it will 

 freeze all the harder. The water will 

 turn to ice unless applied (.'Very few 



minutes until the temperature rises. We 

 have known of plants being killed out- 

 right by throwing on a dash of water 

 which was allowed to freeze. 



It is cheaper to cover plants from the 

 frost than to buy new ones and wait for 

 them to grow. Many grand clusters of 

 calla lilies have been cut down, in San 

 Jose, by frost, through careless neglect. 



PLANTIKG SEEDS. 



The surface soil is better adapted to 

 the germination of seeds than that which 

 is thrown up from below by the sjiade or 

 plow. It should be finely pulverized, 

 whether in beds out of doors or iu boxes. 

 "To secure germination, the essentials 

 are a proper degree of moisture, heat 

 and covering. The most usual hind- 

 ranees are, that the earth dries down be- 

 neath the seed after growth has begun, 

 and that a crust, through which the ten- 

 der sprouts are unable to push their way, 

 forms over the delicate seeds. Hence 

 they should bo given a covering that is 

 porous and light, so that it will retain 

 moisture and not bake and form such a 

 crust." The earth upon which the seeds 

 are planted should be settled down by 

 sprinkling, or be slightly pressed down 

 on the surface; then, after dropping the 

 seeds, cover with leaf mould or sawdust 

 and sand mixed, or rotted spent hops, or 

 old manure sifted tine and mixed with 

 sand, or sand mixed with light soil will 

 do. Any covering that will pack down 

 closely and bake when dry is not fit to 

 cover seeds. "Generally, the covering 

 should not be more than eight times the 

 the thickness of the seed, and is best ap- 

 plied by sifting. This covering should 

 be kept moist, but not wet, till the deli- 

 cate little plants have come through. 

 The moisture is best retained by spread- 

 ing a newspaper over the surface and 

 keeping it down with sticks or stones for 

 two or three days." 



The illustration this month is of an 

 elegant bronze flower stand. This can 

 be kept in-doors at the window, or be 

 rolled on its casters out upon the porch 

 when the weather is favorable. A stand 

 of this kind, holding a variety of elegant 

 plants and vines, and a glass globe con- 

 taining gold-fish, is certainly something 

 to be desired, and almost anyone can get 

 or make something like it. A stand of 

 which this is a picture can be seen at 

 Mr. Mitchell's Floral Depot, San Jo.se. 



mi polder. 



PUBLIC LANDS IN CALIFORNIA. 



I 



ijVfi-F men with families who are hunting 

 for something to do would secure 

 for themselves 100 acres of land al- 

 vj^ most anywhere in the State, they 

 Kg would find something to do for 

 themselves independently, and could 

 easily make a living, while improving 

 their home in comfort and value, with 

 reference to a competence. The man 

 who secures a homestead of laud, places 

 himself outside of fluctuations in values 

 and trades. He is not dependent upon 

 others' business and wages, but within 

 his own little holding is a king. There 

 is no way in which a man can more 

 surely secure himself and his family 

 above want. For the information 

 of such persons as are looking out 

 for land we select this article frimi the 

 San Francisco diulktin. Wo frequently 

 get letters asking for just such advice : 

 In this State there are ten land dis- 

 tricts, tho offices of which are located 

 as follows: Eureka, Shasta, Susanville, 

 Marysville, Sacramento, San Francisco, 



Yisalia, Independence and Los Angeles. 

 In all these offices, or in any of them, 

 tho immigrant can tiud more or less laud 

 that is subject to homestead and pre- 

 emi^tion; and although it is true that the 

 large valley tracts have been taken, yet 

 along the foothills in the mountains it is 

 not dilEcult for the home seeker to find 

 f ud locate a 160-acre farm that in the 

 Eastern States would be considered very 

 valuable. There is land to be had in 

 the following counties by the immigrant 

 or home seeker: Kern, Fresno, Tulare, 

 and in the counties of San Diego and 

 Los Angeles, while in the northern part 

 of the State there is much good land. 

 The valleys of this State will raise cereals 

 for the world as well as for a home pop- 

 ulation. A recent survey made of the 

 La Poresimo Eancho, iu Los Angeles 

 countj', ten miles from Lompoc, gave to 

 the United States out of this one rancho 

 20,000 acres of fine farming lands. This 

 was a siDecial survej', made by the United 

 States Surveyor-General's office of this 

 city. 



The Southern CaUfoniian, published at 

 Bakersfield, in Kern county, makes the 

 following statement: 



Some of the best lands in Kern County 

 are yet ojaen to settlement. The lands 

 in townshii) 29 s. r. 27 e., township 29 

 s. r. 26 e., lying west of the river, are 

 mostly very favorably located, and some 

 recent settlers there are constructing a 

 ditch from Kern river. The surveyor 

 has been at work in these towushii^s for 

 many days past, accommodating a num- 

 ber of new families, who have made 

 their way in wagons from the North. 

 There is room for thousands of settlers 

 in these two townships alone. Bakers- 

 field is situated on the east side of Town- 

 ship 29 south, Range 27 east, so that the 

 outer limit of the two townships will be 

 but twelve miles from this place. Por- 

 tions of sections 18, 25, 30 and 32 have 

 been appilied for within a short time 

 past, but according to the testimony of 

 Mr. McCord and Mr. McCaffrey, who 

 have settled there, the lands remaining 

 are equally good, and are well worth the 

 attention of families seeking for good 

 homes. There is a fair supply of tim- 

 ber on each section, and abundant water 

 to be obtained from the river, which ruus 

 through the townships. 



As a general thing too little efi'ort is 

 given to search for such locations by 

 new comers. It is found more conve- 

 nient to buy out some settler already es- 

 tablishad at from ten to twenty dollars 

 per acre. We kuosv of 160-acre farms 

 having been sold for $2,000 by specu- 

 lating settlers, who have never made the 

 least imiirovement, and who have man- 

 aged to secure other claims, within a few 

 miles, at Government price. 



We hope this notice will bo read only 

 by bona fide settlers, to whom we will 

 cheerfully give all the information need- 

 ed to make locations, which to some ex- 

 tent can be done without the expense of 

 a surveyor. 



SOLDIERS' HOMESTEAD 

 CLAIMS. 



The matter has beeu agitated before 

 our State Legislature to petition Con- 

 gress to prevent any persons from spec- 

 ulating in public lands with soldier 

 homestead warrants. This is a move in 

 the right direction, although late in the 

 day. We would like to soo a bill so 

 framed that nime but actual settlers can 

 buy Government lands under any con- 

 sideration, and then only in limited 

 ipiaiitities and only when ho holds no 

 (ilher lands. Ever}' scheme of land war- 

 rants, whether granted to the State, to 



school funds or what not, has been got- 

 ten up by land sharks to be used for 

 their own aggrandizement, and have 

 beeu so used. It should be made a 

 crime against our country for one per- 

 son or corporation to attempt to get 

 more than a limited amount of Govern- 

 ment lands; and that limit should be 

 placed low enough to allow actual set- 

 tlers a show for years to come. We are 

 not one to endorse the principle that 

 capitalists should have the right to more 

 land than anybody else. The land should 

 be for the people, sacred to the settler, 

 above the reach of inordinate specula- 

 tion. Were land monopoly impossible, 

 there would be thousands of homes in 

 California to-day where there are hun- 

 dreds. The whole community would be 

 better ofl'. Capital would seek invest- 

 ment in industrial channels, and less 

 idleness and distress would naturally re- 

 sult. As it now is, a poor man is virtu- 

 ally fenced out of the country. Before 

 one can get a farm, he must give some- 

 body the savings of from ten to thirty 

 or more years' labor — somebody who has 

 never added one cent to its value in 

 many cases. Quite as often the desira- 

 ble lands are held to be rented; and the 

 rental, one year with another, would 

 make a hard-working man a poor slave 

 to tho landlord. 



It is best that some of the terrible 

 evils incorporated into our civilization 

 should be remedied in a civil manner, 

 before an oppressed and long-sufl'ering 

 people become desperate beyond such 

 control. That land monopoly, iu all its 

 forms, is one of the most serious mat- 

 ters that our country needs to consider 

 and to correct, we are well, and too well, 

 satisfied. In the patriotic and heroic 

 days of the Roman repubUc, he was an 

 enemy to his country who desired more 

 land than he himself could use. But 

 the power that conquered the world fin- 

 ally crumbled through land monopoly. 

 The Senate granted away the land and 

 slavery usurped the labor of a once free 

 people. Virtue vanished; men decayed; 

 patriotism perished, and Rome was no 

 more. May such history not repeat it- 

 self in our proud land. 



Railroad Gi'.axts vs. Settleks Claims. 

 — We are glad to notice that Congress is 

 considesiug the the rights of the settlers 

 who, in several states, have been ousted 

 by railroad grants. Every honest Ameri- 

 can believes that our pre-emtion laws 

 were intended to protect actual settlers; 

 and that no grant should be allowed to 

 interfere with such rights. It is to be 

 hoped that the settler will yet find pro- 

 tection against schemers of every grade. 

 But as long as greedy capital has the 

 power, and dishonesty rules, there is 

 little use in hoping. 



Every civilized nation in the world 

 will take part iu the Centennial Expo- 

 sitiou. The Commission have determined 

 to close it on tho Sabbath — that is on 

 Sunday, the Sabbath of the Christians. 

 If they close on the Sabbath of every na- 

 tion reiiresented there- -aud why should 

 the nations be shocked in their moral 

 sense by a failure to do so? — it will al- 

 ways be closed. For the (ireeks they 

 will close it on Monday; for the I'ersians 

 on Tuesday : for tho .\ssyrians on Wed- 

 nesday ; for the Egyptians on Thursday; 

 for the Turks, the' Arabs, and all Mo- 

 hammedan nations on Friday; for tho 

 Jews aud Seventh-day Baptists on 

 Saturday, and for us Christians they 

 will dose it on Sunday, and open the 

 beer-garden for ns. — Louisinlle Courier 

 Joiirmil. 



