California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 





$1.50 Per A^^uI^. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE 



CAL. AGRICULTTOIST PUS. CO. 



S. HARRIS HERRrN'G, Editor. 



San Jose Office — Balbach's Building, 

 Santa Clara Street. 



San Francisco Bulnness Office ftcmpora- 

 ri7y>— 406 Market Street. 



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Per one Column §12 00 Per Month 



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IKT" We are determined to adhere to our reRolu- 

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 ing in our columnB, and to keep clear of patent 

 medicine, liquor, and other advertisements of 

 doubtful influence. 



The large circulation, the dcBirable class of 

 readers, and the neat and convenient form, rend- 

 ers this Journa[ a choice medium for reaching 

 the attention of the maBses. 



Notice to Eastern Advertisers and 

 Advertising Agencies. 



K?" Hereafter no proposition for advertiBing 

 in this journal will be entertained without pay 

 in advance. Our published rates are the stand- 

 ard for all.] 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Remember the poor publisher and 

 printer wlien you realize on your crops. 



The premiums we offer are chosen 

 liy experienced artists, and are not cheap- 

 jolin importations. Our arrangements cannot 

 be excelled by any for getting nor for giving 

 first-claes, cboice premiums to subscribers. 



The first rains generally catch a lot 

 of wheat belonging to some farmer Slack out 

 of doors nnsbeltered. It probably would if it 

 did't commence until Cbristnias. The pru- 

 dent man will not be caught out in the wet in 

 any such way. 



Poisoning Squirrels.— This is a good 



season to poison siiuirrels. They are raven- 

 ously fond of melons and fruit. Strychnine 

 put into these and placed within their reach 

 will slay tbem most completely. First bait 

 them vvitli melons or fruit not poisoned. Alter 

 their shyness is allayed give it to them good 

 and strong, and you will be gratilied with 

 success. Be sure that domestic animals arc 

 securely fenced away from tlie poison. 



Dry sowing does well enough in soil 

 which has never been plowed when too wet, 

 to that it lays in clods. The soil should crum- 

 ble nicely, or lay till it can be pulverized 

 when moist. Very weedy land should be al- 

 lowed to lay till the weeds start, then be 

 plowed under before sowing. Dry sowed 

 land should bo rolled as soon as the rains 

 soak the surface to crush all clods, then luir- 

 rowcd with a slanlingtooth harrow to loosen 

 llio surface before the grain gets six inches 

 high. 



Capital vs. Enterprise.— We often 



hear the remark that capital and capitalists 

 are ueeded to build up business and make 

 times lively. There never was a greater mis- 

 take, so far as the general prosperity is con- 

 cerned. Wherever capital controls, a few 

 get rich perhaps, but it is at the expense of 

 the masses. There must be deprivation and 

 poverty among the laboring people where 

 wealth commands labor through high interest 

 and low wagi^s. The more the common peo- 

 jile depend upon accumulated capital, and are 

 controlled by it, the greater will be the rates 

 of interest and the lower and more uncertain 

 the labor, both as to wages, opportunity to 

 work, and fptality of service. Go into a com- 

 munity where there are no rich men who live 

 upon other's earnings, where everyone is de 

 ]ieDding upon labor and enterprise for success, 

 and all are striving in a nearly equal race to 

 get on iu the world, and there you will find a 

 I'lace rapidly building up, wages good, work 

 plenty, and all soits of business nourishing. 

 Money will be plenty, because not hoarded. 

 When men count the interest on their money 

 they are penurious, exacting, hard, and any- 

 thing else but enterprising, as a rule. They 

 are not the tradesman's best customers, nor 

 the business man's supporters and friends. 

 They are drones, eating the best honey, pro- 

 ducing none. Their money is drawing the 

 life blood of labor; they are rich, and every- 

 body else is poor from paying tribute to their 

 wealth. In our condition of civilization, we 

 need capital, that is, money, of course. But 

 we do not need any number of rich persons 

 to control all the money and ride industry to 

 death. He who is the most independent of 

 capitalists, pays no interests, works for him- 

 self, and commands his own wages, is best 

 oil', everything else being equal. 



Good prices for wheat and ready 

 sales for cash woidd make good times in Cal- 

 ifornia. The present low prices and dull sales 

 make everything terribly hard. The merch- 

 ant and mechanic experience the effects of 

 the low prices even more than the farmers 

 themselves ; for it is itpon the money the far- 

 mer puts into circulation that they chiefly de- 

 pend We are told by dealers in San Jose 

 that for years there has been nothing like the 

 scarcity of circulating coin as at present. It 

 is not upon capitalists that they depend for 

 trade but upon the working people, who buy 

 when they have money to buy with. Every 

 merchant aitd storekeeper, and every me- 

 chanic and business man should join with the 

 farmer in word and action to break up the 

 wheat ring that is bearing down the wheat 

 market. The condition of crops in Europe 

 and America this year should justify at least 

 $■2 per cental for wheat in California, and we 

 think not less thau $2.25, and active demand. 

 The wheat ring that will either rule or ruin, 

 and ruin if it rules, keeps the price to near, 

 and below, $1..')0 per cental, and pays little 

 cash down at tliat. The farmer is at their 

 mercy, and everybody suffers. At least $10,- 

 OtlO,OnO are kept out of circulation, and $('>,. 

 000,000 are actually swindled out of our pro 

 ducers by the speculators. 



\\'hen our merchaiUs and mcc:hanic8 fully 

 realize what THEY are losing in allowing this 

 stupendous ring to conti'ol wheat matters, 

 they will in every way encourage and asf^ist 

 the farmers and Grangers iu breaking it up. 

 The very life ot trade ef all kinds depends on 

 the prosperity of producers. The money ob- 

 tained by them is soon put into circulation, 

 through merchants, mechanics and the labor- 

 ing masses. The wheat ring on this coast 

 must bo broken, or ruin will stare many a 

 worthy business enterprise iu the face, and 

 everyone will feel the general depression. 



Providing fuel for the year is now 



seasonable work. The rains will send you to 

 the fields. Haul your wood, prepare it for 

 the kitchen, and shelter it from the weather. 

 This is a matter of economy that pays in more 

 ways thau one. 



Use the Manure.— Now is the time 



to grther up all the manure about your yards 

 and stables and haul it upon the land. Dump 

 iu piles at convenient distances to be spread 

 upon the soil as soon as the first rains. Or it 

 may be spread at once and harrowed or 

 chiseled in upon volunteer grain land. It is 

 better to rot upon the soil one season in this 

 way thau to be jtlowed in at ouce. 



Make plans and calculations about 

 what fencing is needed, and haul your posts, 

 planks and pickets early. If yourwheat mar- 

 ket lies in the same direction, "kill two birds 

 with one stone" by bringing a load ou the re- 

 turn trip. The best and cheapest farm fence 

 in our valley is made of square, split redwood 

 pickets, driven firmly in the ground. Two 4- 

 inch boards are nailed upon them, one near 

 the center, and the other near the top, making 

 a handsome, strong and durable fence. 



have lately sent a full line ot their goods to 

 Philadelphia to show at the Centennial, and 

 propose establishing a house East for the 

 wholesaling of their goods. Not only will 

 they fan and manufacture into articles the 

 Angora fleeces and skins, but they will work 

 buckskins and such other v.aluable skins and 

 furs as can be obtained on this Coast. The 

 business, for Angora goods alone, is A most 

 promising one, and one which is of great ben- 

 efit to all breeders of the.se animals. As the 

 production of mohair increases, there is prom- 

 ise of a factory, or machinery in our woolen 

 mills, to work this beautiful production into 

 such cloths and fabrics as are iu demand all 

 over the world. 



Don't neglect to stack your straw. 

 It is a wicked waste to burn it or let it rot in 

 the rains when there are so many bead of 

 stock in the country that need it. If well 

 st.acked it will last good a dozen years, and 

 may eventually prove a bonanza iu some com- 

 ing dry season. Save it. After building a 

 stack and ridging it with a heavy scantling, 

 rake the roof down very thoroughly, and re- 

 rake until It will shed water perfectly. 



As a rule, our California farmers 

 make no use of the manure that accumulates 

 about the stables and yards. We know of a 

 farmer near San Jose that counts himself a 

 good farmer, who allows his neighbors— poor 

 fellows — to haul the manure from his jilace 

 onto their own, and is glad so easily to get 

 lid of it I We are glad to be able to say that 

 the men who use manure take the AOKICUL- 

 TnRiST, while he who gives it away "can't 

 afford to take so many papers — has no time to 

 read." 



The Angora Robe and Glove Com- 

 pany of San Jose are increasing their capital 

 stock and making preparations to go still more 

 extensively into the bdsiness. Their enter- 

 prise, though new and in some directions ex- 

 perimental, has proved a success financially 

 and otherwise. Their goods are now sold in 

 every county and in many principal stores in 

 the State. Their harvest gloves, manufac- 

 tured from goat skins, are pronounced by all 

 just the thing, and something much needed. 

 Their genuine black kids for ladies .and gen- 

 tlemen are in demand faster than they can be 

 made. Mr. Welch, the experienced dyer, 

 made a good hit on coloring kid skins. The 

 tanning prouess is also new and wonderful. 

 During a late visit wu saw a lighted match 

 touched to the tanning vat when an iiitlam- 

 mable gas that is evolved i uring the process 

 of tanning burst out from among the sub- 

 merged skins at a furious rate. The skins 

 tanned by this "fire jn'ocoss" are as soft and 

 pliable with the grain on as the softest buck- 

 skins are without a grain. The dyeing pro- 

 cess used in coloring the glossy fleeces for 

 robes, furs, etc., leaves the mohair as soft and 

 silky as possible. Any color or shade, from a 

 light beaver to a glossy black, is given the 

 fleeces— to suit the various tastes. The fur 

 gauntlets from line skins resemble the valua- 

 ble furs of various animals. The Comiiany 



Capital and Labor.— There should 



be no conflict between capital and labor. 

 There would be none were money shorne of 

 its power to extort enormous rates of interest. 

 Were money as much of a servant as labor is, 

 there could be no antagonism. While money 

 is king, and labor is its slave, there must and 

 will be antagonism. Man's sense of justice 

 and love of liberty must revolt against a con- 

 dition that degrades him because he is poor 

 and honest and works for a living. The na- 

 tural remedy for this unnatural condition of 

 the supremacy of wealth, is to make money 

 .so plenty, and rates of interest so low, that 

 everyone can command through honest labor 

 what he needs, without supporting others in 

 idleness. Should the people, through Govern, 

 ment, issue in abundance a standard money, 

 payable for all obligations, and protected 

 from speculation by stringent laws, and allow 

 individuals to draw it at low rates of interest, 

 upon pledges of their real property, to 

 an amount representing the same, money 

 would soon become so plenty, at cheap inter 

 est, that those who accumuhate money could 

 not extort a living from others. It would 

 place labor and enterprise where it ought to 

 be, and promote honesty by encouraging in- 

 dustry of every description. Idleness would 

 not be enforced for want of employment, nor 

 labor poorly paid for want of palronage and 

 from inability to meet payments of taxes, in- 

 terests and rents on the part of employers 

 Capital and labor would have no occasion to 

 be at war. An bouorable peace would be 

 est^iblished. The rich man and the poor man 

 could be friends without either making con- 

 cessions to the other. 



A BETTER 



FINANCIAL 

 NEEDED. 



SYSTEM 



fiflTD. Cal. Agkiccltukist: I have re- 

 1^ ceived several numbers of your 

 jjilx, jurual. Inclosed please find a 

 ^K postal order, and eontiuue the jour- 

 S]^ nal as long as that will pay. I am 

 taking several (eleven) papers and jour- 

 nals, and have asked several persons to 

 take the Aokicdltdeist. 



I notice an occasional article on fin- 

 ance, reconuiieuding the Amcricau .sys- 

 tem, that is, jiaper money that will pay 

 all debts, duos, duties, taxes, etc., and 

 that the (loveriimcnt won't repudiate for 

 customs, and which will always, there- 

 fore be at par; also be iutcrconveNible 

 into bonds drawing a small interest — at 

 the s.amo time doing away with the Na- 

 tional Banks. Of course, a few thous- 

 and bankers and inoney-Ionders will 

 howl, but millions of laboring people 

 will rejoice and bo made happy. Jloro 

 financial information should be circulat- 

 ed among the labcn-iiig classes. Even 

 farmers stand more in need of financial 

 than of agricultural information. 

 I'ltaluma, August, I87G. F. V. 



