Fruit Fanning for Profit in California. 27 



hope of finding somethiag whereby I can make a little over and 

 above a living, but I am at last obliged to say that the fruit in- 

 dustry, as depicted by Californian Boards of Trade, etc., is a 

 totally different thing to the reality. 



I do not wish to dishearten young fellows like myself from 

 coming here, to see, anyhow; bat I willingly give my year's 

 experience to any fellow-countryman for what it is worth. 



Hoping you may think this worth while iaserting in your paper 

 in as prominent a place as you think proper, 



Believe me yours truly, 



A. G. C. 



San Jose, Aug. 30th. 



Messrs. Barmby and TVadham, replying to the condemnation of 

 fruit ranching in California by ''A. G. C," say they agree with 

 him on these two points: — That Californian Boards of Trade and 

 Californian agents undoubtedly exaggerate and mislead in their 

 pamphlets; that young fellows should not leave good appoint- 

 ments in England to seek their fortunes in California. 



But, though unscrupulous and profit-seeking agents and sanguine 

 settler-seeking Boards of Trade do paint the picture all too rosy, 

 it does not follow that it is not rosy at all. And though there 

 are thousands of lucky young men with good appointments in 

 England, how many thousands are without appointments, and 

 without brains to fill them were the appointments offered ? 



Not that we claim that fruit farming is a pursuit to be learnt in 

 a moment, or unnecessary to be learnt at all. Indeed, one great 

 source of disappointment lies in the prevailing idea that any one 

 can grow fruit in California, and young Englishmen who have 

 never done a stroke of honest work in their lives sail gaily for 

 this promised land with the idea that they have only to place 

 their trees in the ground, sit by while they grow, and triumphantly 

 gather a fortune from them. 



Though recognizing that we should be comparative failures on 

 an English farm, we felt that we should be invaluable on a Cali- 

 fornian one, and we find that such is the idea of most young 

 English gentlemen. We have now learnt that Californian fruit 

 farming is a very skilful and delicate affair indeed, and thus we 

 always advise those going out to fruit farm to for once put aside 



