THE PACIFIC FRUIT GROWER. 
St 
ELWOOD COOPER. 
T he subject of this sketch is a man who is is inseperablv 
connected with the history of the marvelous horticultural 
developments which have, in recent years, brought fame and 
wealth to our chosen land. For the following article and the 
portrait which accompanies it, we are indebted to that ably 
edited and always readable journal, the Press and Horticulturist, 
of Riverside : 
A pleasant drive of thirteen miles out from Santa Barbara, 
over splendid roads, brings one to Elhvood, the famous ranch 
and home of Ellwood Cooper, the president of the State Board 
of Horticulture, consisting of 2,000 acres extending from 
low water mark of the Pacific ocean back to the highest ele- 
vation on the sloping hills. Four hundred acres of this ranch 
are devoted to fruits, prominent among which is the olive, tliere 
being seven thousand olive trees on the place from one to four 
years old. Mr. Cooper commenced planting the olive in 1872, 
and is the pioneer in that Industry in the State. Others have 
followed his lead extensively in the planting and cultivation of 
the olive, for which that section was peculiarly adapted. It 
has been demonstrated bv Mr. 
Cooper to be one of the most 
protltable trees to be grown, not 
only for the oil, but also for the 
preserved fruit. 
In addition to his olive indus- 
try the ranch contains twelve 
thousand five hundred almond 
trees, four thousand English 
walnuts, and over one thousand 
fruit trees, comprising almost 
ife-ery variety of fruit grown 
irom the femperate zone to the 
tropics. The ranch is sheltered 
by eucalyptus trees placed on 
. the boundary line, which arj a 
great protection to the fruit ti jcs 
and considerably modify the 
climate. They number o\er 
150,000 trees compri.sing twei.ty- 
five varieties of the eucalvplus 
genus. 
In addition to his fruit indus- 
try, Mr. Cooper has many hun- 
dred acres devoted to grain ajid 
grazing, and has a herd of 150 
Jersey cattle from which he sup- 
plies butter to Santa Barbara 
and San Francisco. ELUVOOD COOVKR. President n 
I-verything on this ranch is a monument to the capabilities 
of the climate, aided by a perfect state of cultivation. The 
.Marquis of Lome, in an article in the Touih's Comf>uuiou on the 
subject of “Opportunities for young men in America,” thus 
refers to Mr. Cooper: 
“ Ihe second is a gentleman who has a magnificent farm on 
the Pacific, and has shown that California can produce better , 
olive oil than France, Spain, or Italy; grapes as good as any 
man can desire; English walnuts and European almonds, in 
crops whereof the old countries hardly ever dream; oranges, 
lemons, and Japanese persimmons, with other fruits and crops 
too numerous to mention; and all hedged from the gentle sea- 
winds by belts and bands of Australian eucalypti, which grow\s ' 
in ten years to loo feet. But such a Paradise is not for the 
beginner, who must make his money before he indulges in so 
many broad acres.” i 
M e have been thus particular in describing “ Ellwood,” as it ' 
is not only a model ranch, showing what intelligent cultivation j 
can do in this sunny clime, but because the proprietor is one of 
the most prominent horticulturists in the State, and what he has 
done in a few vears others may do. 
Ellwood Cooper was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in i8;q: went to Phila'delphia when quite a youth and 
engaged in a store to learn the ways of mercantile and city busi- 
ness life, where, after one years’ experience, he joined an 
importing and .shipping house, which was his original aim. In 
1S55 he engaged with an East India firm as head clerk, and 
moved to Port au Prince, St. Domingo, where he lived for ten 
years, being made a partner in the house after the first vear. 
^lis arduous duties and the debilitating heat undermined his 
health and compelled him to leave and go north to Xew York, 
where he connected himself with a house doing an extensi%-e 
business, having vessels trading with many different countries, 
and builiiing sliips as well as running a line of steamboats. 
This sort of slavery was not congenial, especially after ten 
years in the beautiful warm climate of the West Indies, unfitting 
him to endure the inclement weather of the Atlantic seaboard 
cities, and in 1S70 he cut loose from mercantile life, and buving 
his present home, before starting, came to California and com- 
menced a new life at the age of 
qi, in thi:. Eldorado of the coast, 
laying the foundation for the 
beautiful “Ellwood” ranch, 
joining with enthusiasm in the 
work of tree planting, fruit rais- 
ing, sheep husbandry, and cattle 
growing. 
Having a son and two daugh- 
ters who needed better educa- 
tional facilities than were offered 
at "that time, he founded the 
Santa Barbara College, for fit- 
ting pupils for the .State I'niver- 
sity. 
Mr. Cooper has been a con- 
stant contributor to the luipers, 
and is the author of three books : 
“Report of trade with statistics, 
between L’nited States and Santa 
Domingo,” “Fruit Cuiturc and 
Eucahptus Trees,” am! “Treat- 
ise on Olive Culture.” 
llis first erfort in trying to 
arouse the attention of fruit 
growers to the danger of insect 
I pests was in 1S75, “rui he has 
the State hoard of irnrticnUure. worker in that 
field ever since. He has been a 
n.o-rai.er ol the Stiite Dotmi of Horticulture since its first iucep- 
t.ou, uud iu ,883 wos elected President of the lionrd, office 
he still holds. 
Bone Manure for Fruit Trees. 
eiuaihs lint in taking up trees trom soil ivliere Itones liavi 
root's “on “ 'V“' o*' >'’>-■ 
toots completely enveloped in masses ot fibre.'’ Hoare, in his 
dll.', omof “» ltn-ge bone, whicli ivas 
dn„ out nl a vine |)order, was covered witli a network of fibres 
inside .ind out, and the roots, instead of passing into tlie soil 
"."'.Hh’.rJr of tL bol;e hacl turiie 
I O ® passed inside.” Limllev savs that snnerDlios 
phate ot lime “ greatly facilitates the emiiisioii of roofs by imwlv 
transplanted trees.” Clear hone dust is an eseelS miinuri 
■ind nothing is needed with it to make a perfect fertiliser but a 
Let nTh°* German potash salts or wood ashes' 
Uiera carefubv'' °t 
Jon nal - P«setwed and made mto mam,re.-[Plantcrs> 
