252 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



October, 1905 



famous, but the feature of this ranch that possibly has at- 

 tracted the most attention is its stock, its horses, as here 

 have been bred some of the fastest horses in the world, 

 whose sires and dams are familiar in the world of sport, 

 and where large and extensive stables are filled with famous 

 horses that are daily exercised over the great track near the 

 ranch house, and from which racers and winners have gone 

 out all over the country for many years. 



At Santa Anita the entire story of the farmer in southern 

 California is exemplified, as almost every factor that appeals 

 to the farmer is here, with all the esthetic features that are 

 produced by luxuriant foliage and splendid forests, mesas 

 and mountains. Here is demonstrated the benefits of irriga- 

 tion that has reclaimed all southern California. Water is 

 piped down from the mountain streams of the Santa Anita 

 Canon, that leads up into the Sierra Madre, and introduced 

 to the various groves of citrus fruits here, running in long 

 parallel lines or filling great squares about the roots of trees. 



There is a succession of crops on this ranch, due to the 

 complete elimination of winter. The winter crops are the 

 citrus fruits. They have been growing during the summer 

 under the care of the irrigator, and by Christmas are being 

 picked, the groves filled with Chinamen and Mexicans, who, 

 with canvas bags and clippers, go from tree to tree, pick the 

 fruit, or rather cut it, and send it to the packing house, where 

 it is washed, scoured, graded, wrapped in tissue and packed. 

 The grading is done by the washers, who, after cleaning the 

 fruit, place it on an incline, each orange passing into the 

 tube of its own size and so on into a large box, the grading 

 being mechanical and perfect. From here the fruit goes to 

 the packers, and is then ready for shipping in the specially 

 devised cars of the three transcontinental lines that cross 

 the ranch. By early spring the oranges are all picked. 

 The gangs of Chinamen have cut down the acres of grape- 

 vines, which now resemble rows of black stumps, down 

 through which the cultivators are driven to keep out the 

 weeds, while fleet grey- 

 hounds are used to kill the 

 jack rabbits. In early 

 spring the vineyards leave 

 out, and in a short time the 

 walnut grove is a mass of 

 green, and the almond and 

 pomegranate and various 

 fruit trees of the East — 

 peach, prune, apricot, 

 plum, pear and many more 

 — the men, the farmers or 

 ranchers passing from the 

 care of one crop to the 

 other. 



The climate is so mild 

 that many of the vege- 

 tables grow all winter, and 

 in sheltered places the 

 strawberry. In May the 

 loquat is ripe and the crop 

 of guavas has been gath- 

 ered. In July apricots 

 and peaches are ready 

 for market. The hay crop, 

 which was planted be- 

 fore Christmas, depending 

 upon the first rain, was 

 cut in April or May, and 

 all over the ranch great 

 piles of barley and oat hay 

 tell an interesting story. 

 The winter on this ranch 

 would seem like a cool 



The Eucalyptus Drive and the Approach to the Ranch Home 



summer to an Eastern farmer. There is no laying up of 

 wood for winter. A frost sufficient to kill tomatoes, or 

 heliotrope if protected by the eaves, is rare, and winter glides 

 imperceptibly into summer. The mountains, rising to an 

 altitude of six thousand feet back of the ranch, are green, 

 but the poppy fields, the acres of flowers that mark the 

 winter, are gone, and the land in the open is gray, and tall 

 columns of dust can be seen rising down the valley. The 

 summer days are dry, not sultry, and there is no rain from 

 May until November. The ranch is watered by means of 

 irrigation. The soil is given just what it needs, no more. 

 Rains in summer are detrimental; the grapes do not require 

 it, and it would ruin the dried fruit industry. Tons of fruit 

 are shipped, much of it dried. The heat is not as disagree- 

 able as that in any city of the East. Sunstroke is unknown, 

 thunderstorms rare. I doubt if any portion of this entire 

 ranch of fifteen thousand acres has been struck by lightning 

 in many years. There are few if any high winds. Tor- 

 nadoes and cyclones are unknown; indeed, as far as disagree- 

 able features are concerned, farming in the San Gabriel Val- 

 ley, California, has none of them when compared to other 

 regions. 



As summer merges into autumn the grapes ripen and the 

 vintage is on. Indians appear from somewhere, and great 

 squads of men of various nationalities enter the vineyards 

 and cut the grapes, which are taken to the press. Then 

 there are olives and a variety of fruits which are mere 

 incidents of this great farm, which in some way produces 

 nearly every flower, fruit or vegetable that grows anywhere. 

 Bananas are seen side by side with apples, the pomegranate 

 and the palm. Little wonder that the farmer of the East 

 is coming to California. The prospect is an inviting one 

 — an open winter and no snow nor frost. The doom of the 

 great California ranches lies in the coming of the Eastern 

 farmer. The large ranches are being cut and divided, sold 

 by ten and fifty acres, and the San Gabriel Valley and south- 

 ern California will in time 

 be one vast series of farms 

 on which are raised the 

 products of the civilized 

 world. 



This will cause many 

 important changes in Cali- 

 fornia life and California 

 scenery. The human as- 

 pects of California are of 

 engrossing interest in their 

 distinct individuality and 

 in their complete difference 

 with the characteristics of 

 the East. The farmer with 

 Eastern ideas and methods 

 must translate them into 

 the characteristics of Cali- 

 fornia before he can win 

 success in the great fertile 

 land on the Pacific coast. 

 This is the first lesson to be 

 learned by every settler, 

 and it must be learned 

 quickly, or only failure fol- 

 lows. The adjustment of 

 the Eastern farmer to Cal- 

 ifornia conditions will 

 doubtless follow quickly 

 enough, but an extended 

 immigration from the East 

 must greatly change the 

 face of things in the far 

 West. 



