i8 



PACIFIC TRKE AND VINE 



PACIFIC TREE AND VINE 



NINETEENTH YEAR. 



The exponent of the frnit growing, 

 farming, stockraising, poultry keeping, 

 and home making interests of the Pacific 

 Coast. 



Issued Monthly at 

 IH South Market .St.. - - San Josp. 



Address all eonimnnicationa and reniittaii- 



Cf'S to 



PACIFIC TREE AND VINE, 



18 South Market Street SAN JOSE. CALIFORNIA 



FAYETTE MITCHELTREE, ■ - - Editor 

 JOHN ISAAC, - - Associate Editor 



PpIo Alto and also at San Francis- 

 co, hiit the editorial and press rooms 

 are located at the place first above 

 mentioned. 



pretty badly, there will be one of 

 the heaviest fruit crops we have 

 ever had. 



CONTRIBUTORS : 



Franklin Hichborn James Hague 



J C Williams B. T. McBain 



Edward Ehriiorn 



Subscription Price, One Year : : : 50c. 



Correspondence solicited on all matters 

 of interest pertaining to farm life or de- 

 velopment of the resources of this coast. 



Pacific Tree and Vine is published 

 monthly; subscribers not receiving their 

 paper promptly should give notice so 

 that the cause may be ascertained. 



Renewals. — The date printed with 

 your name on the paper or wrapper 

 should show to what time your ?iub- 

 scription is paid. Thus Jan d?> indicates 

 that payment has been received up to 

 January 1, 190.S; Feb 03 up to February 

 1, 1903; and so on. Some time is re"|uired 

 after receipt of money before the date, 

 which serves as arecei|)t,can be changed. 

 If you find or believe an error has been 

 made in the date notify this office at 

 once. 



PiscoNTiNUANCES. — A Subscriber wish- 

 ing to stop his paper must notify tlie 

 publisher and i)ay up all arrears, other- 

 wise he is responsible as Imig as tl;e 

 paper is sent. 



Change of Address. — A subscriber 

 wishing to have his address changed 

 should give both the old and the new 



address. 



MARCH, 1903. 



RiiAi) the special offer to TKKh: 

 AND ViNl'', subscribers. 



The l)usiiie-;s office and the ]ilafe 

 of publication of the Pacii'IC 'Pkick 

 AND ViNM is now at i8 vSouth Mar- 

 ket street, San Jose, in the building 

 formerly occupied by the Ilerahl. 

 A branch office is maintained at 



F. W. Taylor, who has been act- 

 ing chief of horticulture as well as 

 chief of agriculture for the ,St. Louis 

 lixposition, has been formally ap- 

 pointed to the head of both depart- 

 ments. Mr. Taylor is reported as 

 an expert in this direction, as well 

 as in exposition work. It was the 

 fond hope of California that J. A. 

 Filcher, Secretary of the State 

 Board of Trade, would have had the 

 appointment, as he should. Cali- 

 fornia is one of the leading horticul- 

 tural States ol the Union; her ex- 

 hibits at all international expositions 

 have been noticeable features there- 

 of, for which credit is due to Mr. 

 Filcher, who is in every way com- 

 petent for the position, for which he 

 had the endorsement of all the fruit 

 growers of the State and the confi- 

 dence of the entire people. It is 

 matter of great regret to our State 

 that our wishes in the matter have 

 not been considered by the manage- 

 ment of the exposition. 



At the present writing there is 

 every prospect of an enormous fruit 

 crop the coming season. Rains 

 have so far been abundant, with 

 every chance of later rains until 

 May. The ground which in this 

 .seciion has been gradually drained 

 of its water, until the water table 

 sunk b.'low the reach of the tree 

 roots, is being filled up, and abund- 

 ant moisture is assured to carry our 

 orchards through the summer. The 

 season has been an exceptionally 

 cool one. Too often trees are forced 

 in'o bloom in January and Febru- 

 ary b\' unseasonable hot weather, 

 and the later frosts destroy the hope 

 for a fruit crop This season all 

 fruit trees have remained dormant 

 until the present. There will be no 

 danger of blooming now until the 

 cold weather is jiast, an«l the fruit 

 crop will lie safe. Trees are loaded 

 with blossom buds, and unless the 

 unexpectetl happens, and happens 



The beet growers of the San 

 Juan Valley are complaining of the 

 prices paid th m by the Spreckles 

 sugar factory, and are endeavoring 

 to form a permanent organization 

 for the purpose of protecting them- 

 selves and getting a better price for 

 their products. "All the trafficwill 

 bear" is the rule, not alone of rail- 

 roads, but of all classes of business, 

 in fact, it is business — and this is 

 the rule which is being applied to 

 the beet farmers by the factories. 

 It has been ascertained for how 

 little beet farmers can or will work, 

 and they are gradually forced dow^n 

 to that level. The matter is in their 

 own hands. Without beets the fac- 

 tory could not run Millions of 

 capital invested would lie idle, and 

 the companies would soon be glad 

 to accede to any reasonable terms. 

 Land that will grow beets will grow 

 almost any other crop, with one- 

 tenth of the labor, and if beet grow- 

 ing at p-ices now paid is unprofit- 

 able there is no good reason for con- 

 tinuing in it We do not know 

 whether thecapital invested in the.se 

 works is getting any exorbitant re- 

 turns, but at a glance, in the trouble 

 between it and the growers, it ap- 

 pears that it is getting the long end 

 of the bargains 



Not before in the past twenty 

 years has there been such extensive 

 planting of vineyards as is now go- 

 ing on all over the State. In every 

 section adapted to grape growing, 

 whether for the table, raisins, or 

 wine, vineyards by hundreds of 

 acres are being set out, and the de- 

 mand for cuttings and rooted vines 

 is so great that nurserymen are hav- 

 ing difficult)' ill filling orders. This 

 condition is wholly due to good re- 

 turns fnim table grapes in sections 

 where tlie.N' can be profitably grown, 

 and the unustiall>- high prices paid 

 for wine grapes in the past three 

 years, during which time demand 

 and prices have steadily advanced, 



