SEMI - 7 'HOriC CALIFORNIA. 
TWENTY ACRES FOR FAMILY SUPPORT 
AND PROFIT. 
friand ii 
»bont 
e we will suppose that 
i pnrobuv a iwenty-an 
o build a librae ami to make 
» living, nod beiug unacquainted with this 
section and it* possibilities lie como* to % 
fur advice ami guidance His purse cm 
tains from three to five lliooxaml, anil In 
family consists of himself, wife and i 
three children, all 
H'ia preference is f 
a mixed general farming; so we accordingly 
make a selection as near a railroad, school 
hoose and market as poaaible, and Joule to it 
that the soil is easily worked, is free from al¬ 
kali and lias either water within ten or fiftecr 
feet of the surface, in which case nil iiriga 
tion it required—or that it lias iigmnl water 
right, cither in nr. artesian well 
ning stream. And for this aclerti 
not propose fo pay above forty dollars per 
Acre—probably thirty null ouy’il 
•Six or arveil hundred dollars will build 
him a comfortable, hard finished, little 
tape of five rooms, and two hundred dollars 
will furnish it nicely and buy his first in 
Ktnlmont of provisions. Two hundred fifi 
more will supply all necessary Outbuilding;, 
Kuril ns barn, corral, hen-house, pig pen, 
etc. One good horse with harness, a cow, 
tw.. dozen fowls, a couple of pig*, a plow, 
harrow, cultivator and other incidentals, 
will absorb two hundred more. 
Having become thus far saltled in his 
new home, ho is now ready for bust 
" , llui season of year willdet-rmina some¬ 
what his next move. Jf it b« in mids- 
he will irrigate, plow and raise « crop of 
potatoes and beans fur the winter market, 
if M be lad. fall or early winter, |,e will 
prepare his entire place, ton e probably an 
acre for alfalfa, and the same animint for 
house, bam and garde., room, for tree and 
vineyard pluming. The alfalfa patch for 
many reasons should be ns near the bam 
as Convenience will allow, and the family 
Ml II* k.lvh™ H.vIor 
two „„„ the ,|„c,„„„ I,,,,, 
imicli |„ u i ,|„|| (lp dl . v , t „j [p , in> . 
*". t« OR-ltnril, „„d ft,, 
of fruite .hill l„- „h^ rn , T |„. 
‘“I 1 »>ll purely a .outer of 
preference and opinion; aome would ail 
™“,“ » l»“ »U gr«|w>, .i'llhi 
would advise nil perns, «|,i|» „ ,|„ r i , ■ . , 
P 'o-il.lv .dvontl, «£ in * W, .IiBre’ re 
“l™' 1 ’ How 
• of tin* size, intended f ur a 
' * * n ‘**Ure of vineyard and otuhairf 
n-l other emditiuna might 
proportions. T<» gcfoui 
" not b 0 a ditrnuiSr.foci^r 
* *how„ that for raisins'the white 
Sultana and the Gordo Hlaiico, anil for 
wine and brandy the Mission, Zinfandol, 
Charhoncau, Blauo lilba and Burger have 
no superiors. Set six feel apart, the prefer¬ 
able distance on small places, an aero of 
ground will take twelve hundred vine*, 
and with proper cultivation the third year 
will witness n fow grapes, the fourth quite 
s crop, and the fifth u fair profit, with an 
increase in yield from that time forward. 
0 P'g . 
pork barrel full, the two cows will supply 
milk, cream, and butter for tlm family, the 
extra butter, together with the surplus of 
eggs, will help very largely on the grooery 
bill, and if one so desired, a good fat chicken 
might grace the dinner table three Jays in 
the week throughout the year. Tim garden, 
.. . * full capacity, will furnish 
month I 
if taxed to 
fresh vegetables every in 
iu the year; 
The increasing demand for California I and strawberries, blackberries, raspberries 
canned goods and other attending oondi 
lions would lead our enterprising friend to 
plant deciduous fruits almost to tlm entire 
i good or fmr lipalth. exclusion of citrus fruits. Twenty orange 
fruit raliiug instead of trees, half a* many lemon and a few lime 
trees would lie the extent of citrus tree 
planting. 'The remaining nine and a half 
acres would be devoted U> choice winter 
apples, such as White Pearnmin, Yellow 
Newtown Pippin, Yellow Uelllli 
Smith’s Cider and Skinner’s Seedlings, beat 
canning varieties of peaches, the Crawfords 
Lemon Cling, Heath Cling and Foster, and 
of peats largely the Bartlett and next winter 
Nellis, together with u few other fruits and 
variolic*, in order to have some product of 
the orchard ready for market and the table 
(luring every day or the year. Planted 
'••cnly foet apart this piece of ground will 
m something over one thoiixami trees; 
the pencil trees will bear fairly in two 
years, the third year will find them loaded; 
the apple and the pear trees will begin to 
bear with the third year, the fourth year 
will bring a few boxes, but it will require 
five year* from netting to see the trees 
bearing heavily. The planting of the 
vineyard and orchard, and preparing the 
garden and alfalfa patch, if accomplished in 1 at present prices 
one season would require the labor of an ■ 
"miner ‘”* ,ra m * n for a couple of months, at so ex¬ 
pense of fifty dollars. The cuttings for 
eight acres of vineyard, twelve hundred 
per acre, at live dollars per thousand would 
coM another fifty; one thousand deciduous 
tree* and fifty other tree*, including citrus 
and ornamental, would absorb at present 
prices about one hundred and fifty dollar* 
more. 
of the land, soil , 
demand 
Here ends the outgo of money unless a 
fence i« desired; which, in this country, 
owing to existing laws, can he easily 
Ji *r" ,, " d -'ii'. However, ..I., [„i» 
at home, and more secure, when his pH™ 
is surrounded by a good strong fo, lf . 0 or 
Cyprus hedge. Tim alfalfa patch/sown 
with twenty pound* of seed the first of 
Ward., prepared with irrigating ditches, 
” at, ' r •»»*• near the surface, will 
Vidd its first crop of hay the last of J lir .e, 
ami ii u good, thorough irrigation i» at once 
applied the second crop will be 
tt- scythe in live or six weeks, 
it will probably boar two m, 
before cool weather retards 
following April, hi 
ready for 
After that 
mro cutting* 
» growth; the 
will *co it ready 
’ W 'H yield its fon and 
» ot first‘data hay. This 
half or iwi 
«„J tw„ cow , green tend la, u.« 
poull., u...l » forkful U tb„ ,,fo 
J.f, wltlnh <k. »V -ill tlirive ,„J krep 
and other smalt fruit* which figure largely 
in the economy of tlm family support, 
should have their separate corner near by. 
The space between the trees for the first 
two or three years may grow three rows of 
potatoes, beans pop corn or any other 
low orap, without interfering with the 
general growth of the orchard. After that 
time the neach Iree* will bear, and then 
only the land among the apple and the 
pear tree* should be used fur such pur¬ 
poses. Glancing back and summing up 
the entire outlay so far, we find that our 
friend has paid out two thousand three 
hundred dollar*, and if he began with three 
thousand, after throwing two hundred 
more into tlm general expenses hp has five 
hundred dollars left with which to meet 
auy little demands that may present them¬ 
selves, 
By practicing a rigid economy, with this 
amount of coin on hand, and by following 
the conditions of cropping, the cows, pigs, 
poultry, alfalfa and the garden, as advised 
in this article, u comfortable living is as 
* 11 red from the start, and nn independence 
the near future. 
In five years from driving the first nail, 
present prices and a low estimate, the 
• mevard will pay fifty dollars per acre, and 
the thousand trees will yield one dollar per 
tiee, giving a gross income of one thousand 
four hundred dollars per year. This cer¬ 
tainly would satisfy any moderate ambition, 
and it necessary would support a servant in 
the kitchen, a mnn on the form and all the 
necessary luxuries to make a farmer’s home 
complete, 
I' rom the fifth year, however, the yield 
will increase until the maximum income, 
probably something over one hundred dol¬ 
lar* per acre, will he reached in tlm tenth 
year. Lven after that the vineyard will 
improve and will bear more prodigiously in 
a hundred year* than now, while the 
deciduous fniifo, on the other Imud will 
Ufol/'In <h ' VUy a V d rcc ‘ ui,,< 
With this «,ur task ik done, but before 
lenu.ig we wish to say that in writing this 
article it lias been our aim to underestimate 
rather than to exaggerate. We believe 
*5® ?P<*«n of may be reached 
wall the condition* mentioned, and if biiv- 
body should profit by reading tlm above, 
Mmr, our pen will have fulfilled the minion 
tor which it was employed. 
Sno.v," .ail a DiltolinUn, “jou may .»y 
h, l i°A ,le "° l ” ut I "' 1 n*iKl'U>r.| j 
havo l,,,l i„ v0 „, no.ghbure >. m-vor vu, 
T. 1. .. ■"«»« '"ii 
” r ” 7™ tpl't. “«J tod'lo, day t„„ „f ■. 
c#me home miBsmg.” J 
