California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



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give ghcki/aimfiill 

 $1.50 Per Ai^i-(urri. 



PtniLISHED MONTHLY BY THE 



CAL. AGRICULTUEISr PUB. 00. 



S. HAEEIS HEEEING, Editor. 



OFFICE:— Over the S.tii ,Tose Sa^-iiigs 

 Bank, Bnlbacli's Biiil(1iii<r, Saiila 

 Clara Street, near First, San Jose, 



RATES OF ADVERTISING: 



Per one Column 512 oo Per Mniitli 



" half Column Coo '* •' 



*' fourth Column 3 UO " " 



" eighth Column 2 00 " " 



" Bixteenth Column 100 " " 



B£7" "We are determined to adhere to our resolu- 

 tion to admit none but worthy business advertis- 

 ing in our columns, and to keep elear of patimt 

 medicine, liquor, and other advertisements of 

 doubtful influence. 



The large circulation, the desirable class of 

 readers, and the neat and convenient form, rend- 

 ers this Jouma[ a choice medium for reaching 

 the attention of the masses. 



Notice to Eastern Advertisers and 

 Advertising Agencies. 



itT" Hereafter no proposition for advertising 

 in this journal will be entertained without pay 

 in advance, Our published rates are the stand- 

 ard for all. I 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



The Santa Clara Valley Agricul- 



tiir.-il .Society will open its annunl fair the 

 first Jlonday in October, to continue during 

 the weeli— fi'om the 2d to tlie Ttli inclusive. 



Our Domestic Department is uot 



lillej tlii,s month. Evidently our prfictical 

 liouaekeeping coiiespondents are loo much 

 wilted by the hot term anil hnri-y of harvest, 

 in the kitchen, to talk or write much about it. 

 Wc shall expect them to make up next time. 



Contesting License.— The merchants 



of San JoBc have commenced to agitate the 

 fiuc^ition of contesting the constitutionality of 

 the merchandise license ta.v. Why do not 

 the fruit and vegetable producers .about San 

 Jose test the ordinance that prohibits farmers 

 from peddling their own products without 

 first taking out a license ? Has not a man in 

 this free country a right to dispose of Iiis pi-o- 

 ductions wherevei- he pleases, so long as he 

 does not trespass upon private property ? In 

 our opinion, the license upon retailing farm 

 products is not only an outrage npon Amen- 

 can freemen, but upon the conalitulion of the 

 United States. One that should not be toler 

 ateii by sensible men, i:or enduied by produc- 

 ci-fl. If the city needs reveinie let them raise 

 it ni n decent manner, by direct ta.\ upon per- 

 sons and property. The retail shop deiilci's 

 claim that such a tax is "necessary for their 

 protection." They ought not to be protected 

 I m such e.Ntortion as they constantly priiclice, 

 I and ifthcy cannot make a living on an o,,uai 

 I h.otuig at their business, let thein go at some- 

 f tiling el.se. Tbis is, or ought to be, a free 

 ' counlrv. 



Every season we find it necessary to 

 complain attout the w'asteful practice of burn- 

 ing straw or allowing it to' rot after the 

 thresher in the field. No farmer has a right 

 to thus destroy a valuable production. What 

 would you think of a man that would burn 

 his b.ay ? Yet straw is at least one-third as 

 v.alualile for stock feed. There would be none 

 too much straw for tlie stock this State should 

 keep, if it was all saved. If there is, why do 

 so many thousand head go hungry, and even 

 starve, every winter? 



Live stock breeding', anJ the rais- 

 ing and fattening of stock for market, is iilto- 

 gether the most profitable branch of farming. 

 No farm will run down under a proper sys- 

 tem of stock raising in connection with crop- 

 ping. The fanner who raises good stock, 

 utilizes the heavy products in feeding and 

 fattening, and markets at the proper age and 

 condition, is on the up grade of prosperity, 

 unless there is something radically wrong in 

 some otlicr management to overbalance the 

 good. The perfect fai-m is well stocked, 

 yields large annual crops, and grows richer 

 instead of poorer every year. 



Making and Saving.— it is easier 



for many jiersons to make money, or in other 

 words to accumulate property, tlian to keep 

 it. Saving does not always mean hoarding. 

 The farmer s,aves his earnings who properly 

 invests them in farm improvements — improve- 

 ments of real utility as well as real comfort. 

 To make every day's work and every calcu- 

 lation about work tell, is the main object, so 

 far as getting is concerned. To properly use 

 the means acquired so as to receive, in mate- 

 rial and progressive benefits, the utmostu.se, 

 and aid in further efforts to acquire, is, in our 

 opinion, the true way of saving. Never spend 

 a dollar foolishly, nor to gratify a bad habit 



Annual Loss, $15,000,000 ! This 



may look like a small sum to lose every year 

 by the wear and tear of silver coin in hand- 

 ling, but it is probably a correct estimate, 

 predicated upon tbe actual loss in weight. 

 The loss in gold is proportionally as large, or 

 larger. The wear, or loss on jiaper is nothing 

 at all compared with these figures. Values 

 are just as .surely .and reliably represented by 

 pledges founded upon the honor of the Nation 

 aud wealth of the people, as by gold, silver, 

 copper, iron, tin, or any other metal. Tbe 

 first cost of paper is but trilling, and it will 

 do equ.al service with greater convenience 

 and much less loss. 



Machinery and brains are ruling 



the world of industry to-day. IVlere brute 

 force is at a discount. It needs a guiding 

 power, a controling and .directing energy to 

 become valuable. Labor is ennobled only by 

 brains. The laboring man who works for 

 himself, and thinks, plans, calculates and 

 aims at excellence in all he does, can succeed 

 as well to-day, single-handed as ever before 

 only when his efforts are made in the I'Iglit 

 direction. A laborer needs soine'liing more 

 than a sickle to compete with a harvesting 

 machine— something dilferent from a mattock 

 to compete with a plow. But there are chan- 

 nels of industry open to all. While the larg- 

 er machine narrows the use of the smaller, it 

 does not close any iivenue of industry. As 

 the world advances new avenues are opened. 

 Surely if .man stands supreme, m.\n must lose 

 no value or prestige as man, but rather be- 

 the gainer, and count all the more in the .scale 

 of worth. Let inlelligent co-operation super- 

 sede monopoly, and manual labor will seek 

 its true level at the top of society. 



Ask Questions.— If you ilo not find 



the euljjict tn aled upon in your paper that 

 you are interested in or would like to gain in- 

 formation upon, ask questions. I'he Editor 

 is never moie pleased than to answer in- 

 quiries, or submit them to others. It niaktjs 

 a journal interesting to all, to each month 

 show an array of questions and answers, such 

 as are generally or specially interesting to 

 many readers. Ask questions upon whatever 

 pertains to your calling, and sec whether the 

 AGRicobTURisT is priictical enough to give, 

 or elicit, an intelligent answer. 



The Indian question is again agitat- 

 ing the public, as tin-liriive Custer's fate is 

 talked about. There arc two sides to the 

 question. Undoubtedly the trouble mainly 

 arises from the white man's breaking faith 

 with them. But there are two kinds of Indi- 

 ans, viz.: the tribes inclined to peace and the 

 thieving, murderous tribes. The, former are 

 seldom troublesome. Theysoou take up with 

 civilized ways and tbe simple arts of peace. 

 The latter are never at rest in jioace, aud in 

 war are remorseless in the e.xlrenie. Their 

 only virtues are treachery and destructive- 

 iiess. The warring tribes have from time im- 

 memorial been the terror of the peacable 

 tribes, and can never be tamed into decent 

 persons. Their natuie, like the rattlesnake's, 

 is to kill. They want to be prowling, steal- 

 ing and committing depredatims continually, 

 either upon good tribes of Indians or upon 

 white men. Two years' experience in the 

 Apache and Navajo coumries, where the 

 peacealile Pinios, Papagos, Zunis and I'uab- 

 los dwell, and w^iere tbe devilish Apacbe, 

 Navajo and Comanche tribes were continual- 

 ly at war with them, anil with us, plainly 

 showed to us the distinction between good 

 .and bad tribes of Indians. While we believe 

 in treating all Indians as well as po.ssible, and 

 advocate allowing the good tribes lands and 

 even citizenship, we believe tbe mean, mui- 

 derons tribes are entitled to no confidence, 

 and the sooner they are exterminated the 

 better for the rest of mankind. 



It 'will pay to read the new advertise- 

 ments on the second page of cover. 



Ho'w much better than a thief is a 

 man who takes advantage of conlidence to 

 defraud anether ? Is he not even meaner 

 than a thief? The thief a.sks no confidence, 

 but takes from you. moat likely, behind your 

 back. You may be materially injured by the 

 thief, but not morally outraged, as by tbe con- 

 fidence man. Now, we wish to make direct 

 application to such persons as take a paper 

 year after year with the intention of uot pay- 

 ing for the same, aud who finally discontinue 

 without paying for what they receive. We 

 can afford to say that we think sucii persons 

 meaner thau sneak-thieves. We have been 

 defrauded in tbis way by many persons, too. 

 Now, if there are any more such persons on 

 our list, they may make personal application 

 of this, get mad, and stop at once — take these 

 remarks as an excuse for stopping tliiur paper 

 wilhout paying before it runs any longer. It 

 costs money to run this journal, and we can- 

 not aflord to be imposed ujion. Wc are pei-- 

 fectly willing to send the Agkiculturist 

 without pay in advance where the subscriber 

 is accomodated by our so doing. It may not 

 always be convenient to pay fiu'a paper when 

 the year is up. We arc willing to trust. Wc 

 are niso willing to send the paper free for a 

 time, on trial, and like to do so, so as to intro- 

 duce it to new renders. What wo complain 

 of is, the deliberate meanness of the conli- 

 dence class, who are too contemptibly mean 

 to pay what they owe on a paper that they 

 have for a long time received. 



There is a prospect that Congress 

 will soon do sometliing, one way or the other, 

 with the Chinese question. A committee has 

 been appointed to visit this Coast to inquire 

 into the matter .and report. We hope tbe im- 

 migration of Chinese to this country will be 

 eifectually checked. 



The Wheat Question.— As we go to 



))re.ss the Grangers, some one hundred and 

 twenty representatives, are in session in San 

 Francisco for the purposes of discussing the 

 wheat problem, and to protect their own in- 

 tei-ests. With what result we do not yet 

 kuow. There seems a general disposition 

 among the farmers of this State to bold on a 

 while for better prices. The fruit-growers 

 are also in session. 



Comparative Value of Peas.— The 



following rejiort frt'iu Mr. H. Curtner, of 

 Harrisburg, Alameda county, who cultivates 

 over a hundred acres of peas for market each 

 season, will be of interest to some readers: 



Ei5. AGRicuLTnRiST: Agreeable to prom- 

 ise, I now report to you the result of trial of 

 a lot of peas obtained through you from the 

 Agricultural Department, Wasliington, D. C. 

 The Dwarf Bi'ancbing variety is very late 

 and useless as a market pea in this climate. 

 ■The Dwarf Blue Imperial grew well, but is 

 too Inte, and not so sweet as the Champion of 

 England, which we have found, from some 

 years' experience, te be our best pea. The 

 Caxton Alpiia is very early, but the plant is 

 weak. It is a shv bearer, and consequently 

 unprofitable. ' II. Curtner. 



Kindness to animals is a sentiment 

 that IS grounded deeply in the consciencious 

 nature of mau. Education may develop this 

 sentiment, and abuse may render it obtuse, 

 but the really good person feels a spontane- 

 ous affection and regard for the animals that 

 are placed within his power, especially for 

 such as ai-e subdued by kindness to man's 

 servitude. The article which appeared in 

 our June number, "Brute Animals Compared 

 with Man," by our friend Dr. Chittenden, 

 has been rea'd with profit by many. In this 

 issue, "Our Poor Relations," byfriend Ingra- 

 ham, will be found very ■ eep in thought and 

 instruction. Aside from the nobility of char- 

 acter shown by kindness to animals, and the 

 conscious enjoyment to both man and beast, 

 W'ho are inutually benefitted by every kind 

 act, there is profit — pecuniary profit — in be- 

 ing kind aitd considerate of the wants and 

 needs of such stock as are useful to labor and 

 as have a marketable value. 



In order to supply tlie increasing 

 demand, owing to our enlarged list of names, 

 wo are now publishing :i,500 co]iies of the 

 California Agricui.ti.'rist. This is 000 

 more than we starteil the present volnnie 

 with. We expect, and intend, to increase it 

 .'JOO more before J:iniiary, 1877. It circulates 

 ill every county in this State, and in all ngri- 

 cullural districts in Sevada, as well us gen- 

 erally over the Coast. Tbe paper has uot 

 less than 10,000 readers, as the copies are sel- 

 dom destroyed, and are very generally sent 

 abroad to friends, after families taking are 

 through reading them Not only is tbe typo- 

 grapliical appearance of the AdRIcui.ruRiST 

 elegant, but its contents is largely original. 

 It contains no objedional iulvertising or puf- 

 fing, and it aims to truly represent the honest 

 features of its locality, of its State, and of the 

 Pacific Coast. The AORicuLTrRisT is every 

 where respected, and for apiireciation we 

 leave it upon its own merits alone. 



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