Agriculturist 



ik£9iD 



E^.m'wm s^^oiPK oroijri^iirj^ia 



Vol. 7— No. a} 



SAN JOSE, CAL., AUGUST, 1876. 



JSuBscaiPTiON Pbice, $1.50 a Year. 

 1 Siugle CopleB, 15 Cents. 



SAN JOSE FURNITURE MANU 

 FACTORY. 



Among the leading manufacturing en- 

 terprises on tliis Coast, and deserving of 

 the success with which it has met, is the 

 San Jose Furniture Manufactory. The 

 Company, of which Mr. J. S. Ueuuett is 

 the present head, was organized in Aug- 

 ust, 1874, only two j'ears ago this mouth. 

 Mr. Bennett, who is a thorough mechan- 

 ic and hard-working business man, and 

 who had been engaged in the practical 

 work of furniture business for twenty 

 years in the East, brought with him to 



fatigablo pluck and enterprise can but 

 win, even against strong opposition. 



The factory, with still more and newer 

 machinery, is now located on St. .John 

 street, between First and Market streets, 

 and consists of two stories — engine and 

 machinery below, and workshop aljove. 

 All work is done by niachiu<'ry except 

 "setting up." The warehouse, uphols- 

 tery department and furnishing rooms 

 occupy a large building erected for the 

 purpose and located on First street, em- 

 bracing Nos. 224 and 22G. 



The firm employs from 20 to 3f) hands. 

 The amount of furniture turned out by 



and is now {owned by Dr. Spencer, of 

 this city, for his fine new residence on 

 Third street. Several kinds of wootl, 

 including California lavirel, are used in 

 its construction. 



By the way, the experiments of Mr. 

 Bennett with various kinds of California 

 timber, if written out, would be valua- 

 ble. Ho finds that but few kinds of 

 wood on this Coast are well suited to 

 furniture making. The finer woods 

 are only fit as veneering, as they warp 

 and check badly used singly, lledwood 

 is not fit for furniture. It splits and 

 splinters easily, and shrinks badly. The 



Altogether, this manufactory is a 

 credit to San Jose and to California, and 

 has proved to bo not only a success as a 

 business, but a convenience to old set- 

 tlers and new-comers alike who desire 

 good articles of furuituie at reasonable 

 figures. 



ELEGANT FURNITURE SET- 



this Coast the latest and most improved 

 machinery for the manufacture of furni- 

 ture. The first ye.ir this was jjut up in 

 the building occupied by the planing 

 mill on Fourth and San Fernando 

 streets. The greatest ditficultyin the 

 start was experienced in obtaining skilled 

 and reliable workmen, although the com- 

 petition combined to break the enter- 

 prise down was only conquered by hard 

 work anil constant attention to the de- 

 tails of business. Wo have seen Mr. 

 Bennett with one hand in a sling from 

 being disabled in the machinery, doing 

 the work of two workmen, besides su- 

 perintending the business. Such inde- 



Manufactared by the San Jose Furnitare Itlaikufacturin^f Co. 



Orpcron cedar is a wood that 



this manufactory, from the raw material, 

 is perfectly astonishing, while the qual- 

 ity of their work will compare favorably 

 with the best made in any Eastern man- 

 ufactory 



regon cedar is a wood that neither be likelv 

 "arps nor splits, and is used largely as a 

 'oundation in cheap, substantial furni- 

 •ure But the black walnut is the prin- 

 all. ilr. Bennett 



ure, 

 eipal wood used, after 



The elegant chamber set — the bedstead j hopes to see the time when the Eastern 



and dressing case bureau — here illus- 

 srated will give the reader some idea of 

 the elegance of the work turned out at 

 this establishment. This set was de- 

 signed and made by the San Jose Furni- 

 niture Manufacturing Company. It was 

 on exhibition last fall at the Santa Clara 

 Valley Agricultural Fair, where, of 

 course, it took a premium over every- 

 thing else. It has since been purchased. 



FARMING VS. PLODDING. 



Wo were lately talking with a farmer 

 from Southern California abont the 

 prosperity of farmers generally in that 

 section, and particularly about the farm- 

 ers in the best corn gi-owing districts. 

 He told us that they were generally 

 "hard-up" for money. Many of them 

 were carrying mortgages that were bound 

 to crush them with increasing interest. 

 Corn and barley, after freights and com- 

 missions are out, average about 75 cents 

 a hundred, and those who work hard 

 and sell such crops are not in any sense 

 prosperous. We inquired if there were 

 no farmers who keep stock and feed 

 their crops instead of selling at such 

 rates. He replied that there are a few 

 who keep hogs and other stock, make 

 pork, and that, irithoul ezceplion, they 

 were doing well and several had already 

 got rich in the business. Ho said that 

 the corn regions could supply California 

 with pork if the land was properly culti- 

 vated and the crops used in this way. 

 Alfalfa, barley and com upon such soil 

 will raise and feed an immense number 

 of swine to the hundred acres. 



Now why is it that so many farmers 

 are too stupid to study their own inter- 

 ests and are contented to slave away at 

 the hardest kind of work year 

 after year without making 

 anything but a poor living, 

 and often less than that, when 

 by adopting the right system, 

 and intelligently working to 

 make the best of their oppor- 

 ^^i tunities, they could soon be 

 independent and have every- 

 thing they want. Our all- 

 . HKAT farmers belong to this 

 -^ame stupid class. They 

 ^••eni willing slaves to a 

 thoughtless drudgery that 

 i.cpps them poor. Few such 

 iiou tjike or read agricultural 

 jiapers. They "know too 

 much about farming now," 

 to take their own word for it. 

 The fact is, they don't under- 

 stand the first principles of 

 farming, not one in fifty of 

 them, if they did, they would 

 to practice something better 

 than the one-crop system. They would 

 go to farming. 



trees will be cultivated on this Coast ex 

 teusively. As the various kinds of trees 

 now cultivated become of size for use, 

 he designs giving them a trial. 



The sales department of this establish- ' 

 ment is conducted by Mr. A. G. Bennett, i 

 brother of the manager, who has had 

 many years' experience in the furniture 

 business in New York and the Eastern 

 States. 



What constitutes a State? 

 Not bigh-raised battlements or labor'd mound. 



Thick wall or moated gate: 

 Not cities proud, with spires and turrets 

 crowned ; 



Not bay.i and broad-armed ports. 

 Where, laughing at the storm, rich na^nesride; 



Nut starr'd and spangled courts, 

 Where low.browen baseness waf's perfume to 



pride. 

 No: Men! high-minded Men! 

 Men who their duties know; 

 But know their, higbts, and, knowing, dasb 



ilAISTAISl 



— [Selected. 



