PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 81 



joy to the countryman. He never fails to make the most of his oppor- 

 tunit}", and the stories he tells are only limited by his hearers' gulli- 

 bility. 



In this quest of knowledge it was learned that opinions are often of 

 great usefulness, advice almost never; because it has happened that 

 enthusiastic but unwary women have been led into wasting their sub- 

 stance on costly experiments, from which the men of the community 

 have derived great benefit without expense to themselves. 



In starting out to run a ranch one must be very certain as to finances. 

 It is a safe rule never to borrow money unless to put into the land upon 

 which it is borrowed. This is approved of by money-lenders, and gives 

 the person following it better financial standing. It is also well to 

 state that everything in perfect order helps .one's credit wonderfully. 

 The usual idea of a woman's farm is gates off the hinges and everything 

 run down. Such a ranch is not considered a valuable asset. Good 

 housekeeping habits are quite as important out-of-doors as im. 



This leads on to the hiring of laborers. A woman who has had 

 infinite experience with cooks and waitresses will find the same prob- 

 lems with orchard hands and stablemen. General inefficiency on the 

 one hand will be matched by lackadaisical methods on the other, and 

 the woman gifted with generalship will find ample opportunity for its 

 application. 



But whatever a new husbandwoman determines to do, if she is going 

 to get the benefit by observation of what others have done, she must use 

 reason and experiment in adapting the results to her own needs. 



There are scores of don'ts in the business of horticulture; they begin 

 with plowing and planting and lead through irrigation up to pruning 

 and harvesting; and the beginner will be almost sure to get things 

 wrong. Whether there is any text-book of sufficient scope available for 

 immediate use I know not. The university horticultural course may be 

 good, but it requires four years; the horticultural paper is often valuable, 

 but expert testimony from professionals is frequently worse than use- 

 less; so one is forced to fall back upon cultivation of judgment and the 

 development of native intelligence to steer one clear of pitfalls. 



The first three years spent at Ranchito del Fuerte were busy ones 

 indeed. Between sixteen and seventeen thousand plants and trees were 

 planted, most of them by a faithful old Chinese gardener called Jim. 

 The trees were chiefly walnuts, and should the rows be placed side by 

 side they would reach twenty-five miles. 



If there is one trait common to all Southern Californians it is certainly 

 satisfaction with one's own land. This is certainly true of the denizens 

 of Ranchito del Fuerte. This ranch lies on the southern slope of the 

 Puente Hills, once within sound of the breakers of the Pacific Ocean 



6 — F-GC 



