USA > California > California of the South: Being a Complete Guide Book to Southern California > Part 24
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COMPARATIVE VALUATION OF LANDS.
have yielded the largest quantity of cheap wines have been most cruelly tried ; L'Herault, for example, after yielding one sixth of the entire production of France, has witnessed the almost complete disappearance of its vines. So, after the many improvements in the methods of cultivating the vine, the use of insecticides, submersion, the planting of American stocks, the production that has steadily diminished since 1870, has declined from 1,636,800,000 gallons to 792,- 000,000 gallons. From that fatal year France has been tributary to her neighbors, which have been spared of the scourge, and compelled to ask of them at each vintage the complement of wine for her own consumption. The total of the imports during these fourteen years in question is not less than 939,770,799 gallons, of which 666,282,654 gal- lons come from Spain, and 173,390,224 gallons from Italy.
"Let us calculate the sum necessary to balance our account for these enormous quantities of wine. The hec- tolitre (26.40 gallons) which, taking the official figures, is worth an average of 41.75 francs ($8.35), or about 32} cents per gallon ; valuing the franc at 20 cents, we reach the enormous figure of $296,238,306, of which $242,- 397,544.60 corresponds to Spain, and $54,840,762 corre- sponds to Italy. The last four years alone have cost us $238,670,179. Together with this prodigious consumption of wine, we must not omit to point out the importations of raisins intended for the manufacturing of wine. Of these we have purchased on an average, for the past three years, more than 132,000,000 pounds. Here we have $5,000,000 per annum to add to the above deficit. At this rate, Spain, Italy, and Greece have nothing else to do but to profit by the position they are placed in by our commercial treaties, before which we have merely to submit."
The paper further states that, during the year 1883, it is estimated that 49,400 acres have been replanted with American vines.
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
During the year 1886 Italy sold to France about 49,000- 000 gallons, and Spain, in exact numbers, furnished France 168,379,316 gallons of wine. From these figures one can realize the amount of money there is in the cultivation of the grape, and at the same time realize that the vine indus- try of California is in its infancy. What her future will be rests with the enterprise of her people.
Oranges.
Unimproved land for the cultivation of the orange can be purchased at $200 to 8500 per acre ; improved land with trees sells at 8500 to $1,500 per acre, according to the age of the tree and location of the grove. The estimated cost for an acre of ten-year-old orange-trees is $1,000 per acre. An acre of land will support seventy-five ten-year-old trees, and yield $200 to $500 worth of fruit per year. The num- ber of orange-trees in the county of Los Angeles in the year 1878 was 103,500, and for the year 1886, 729,000. If the producer receives a dollar net profit on each box of oranges, it will pay. The different producers in Southern California realize all the way from $150 to $400 net per acre on their groves. Estimating the lowest net profit at $200 per acre, the owner of ten acres will realize more with less labor and trouble, than if he were the possessor of a two or three hundred acre farm in the East.
Deciduous Fruits.
If the orchardist has an orchard of apple, pear, plum, peach, or apricot trees, and they are planted seventy to the acre, after the trees are eight years old he may reasonably expect 200 pounds to the tree, which would make 14,000 pounds to the acre. At the low estimate of three quarters of a cent per pound he would realize $105 per acre.
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COMPARATIVE VALUATION OF LANDS.
Figs.
But of all the fruits grown in California the fig has, perhaps, the greatest future, and Southern California should at least supply the demand of the United States. The best varieties to be grown are the white varieties, as we receive vast quantities annually from foreign countries which should be produced in California. There would be no limit to the amount of figs that can be sold at good prices, when dried in a manner to compare with the imported. The imports into the United States in the year 1884 for this one fruit was 7,945,977 pounds.
The Olive.
An authority on olives says : "Cuttings taken from bearing trees, and planted where they are to remain, will pay expenses of cultivation the third year. Ten acres will support a family the fourth year, and ever afterward be a source of rich revenue. Olive-trees in San Diego County have produced at a crop from $100 to $150 per tree. The olive has become an article of universal consumption. Its oil is indispensable in medicine and surgery, and is largely used in the manufacture of fine woolen goods. There is no limit to the demand for it. Olive-culture offers condi- tions peculiarly adapted to Southern California. It re- quires a warm, dry land, and will not flourish in moist soil. Trees are now growing in San Diego County that at eight years old produced 2,000 gallons of olives to the acre. The European standard is eight gallons of olives to one gallon of oil, which gives a product of 250 gallons of oil per acre. The oil sells readily at $5 per gallon, which gives an income $1,250 an acre for the best eight-year-old trees. The net income from such a crop would be not less than $1,000 per acre, and with good care the crop is large and sure from year to year for a century.
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
"In Italy, Spain, and the south of France there are 8,000,000 acres devoted to olive growing, and about 160,- 000,000 gallons of oil are produced annually. That made in France-in great part from American cotton-seed- amounts to $100,000,000 annually ; of this 500,000 gallons are brought into our country, upon which a duty of half a million dollars or more is handed over to the United States Government.
"There are about a thousand acres in olives in Califor- nia, upon which there are 63,027 bearing trees. In Califor- nia the average number of olive-trees per acre is about 100. The fruit is gathered usually from November to January, or later. When picked, the olives are divided into grades, and will average seventy-five cents per gallon in value, and are usually put up in barrels. The best are worth $1.25 per gallon. If made into oil the olives are crushed thor- oughly and pressed. Water is then added, when they are again pressed and a second quality made. They are pressed a third time, make a third quality, and a fourth grade is also made. In Italy the residue is pressed into bricks and used for fuel, but in California this is unnecessary. The oil is worth about $5 per gallon, and the receipts from a California olive-grove have several times reached as high as $2,000 per acre. But with a yield of 200 gallons per acre (which is a small amount), valued at $5 per gallon, the re- turns from each acre would amount to $1,000. In Italy, occasional cold years blast the crop, and in some instances destroy the trees, but in California loss from this source would be improbable. In the interior of California they should also also be free from the ravages of insect pests or diseases. And when attacked the trees may be cut back to the stump, from which will shoot a new and healthy growth. In France it is calculated that about 1,250 gallons may be produced each year from an acre. In California, with a more even climate and a more fertile soil, the yield is much larger."
325
COMPARATIVE VALUATION OF LANDS.
Profit on Forest-Trees.
A prominent producer of .Los Angeles, California, gives the following statement regarding profits on forest-trees in Los Angeles County : " Now, as the profit to be derived from planting forest-trees is the most important question of any to one who desires to plant a forest, I will commence at the beginning by supposing that an individual wishes to plant, say, sixty acres. This would take 26,100 plants.
26,100 eucalyptus-plants, at $10 per thousand. $261 00
Planting them out
175 00
Plowing the land from eight to ten inches 150 00
Harrowing and pulverizing 40 00
Man to cultivate and care for, six months 360 00
End of first year's work $986 00
"The second year will require a man eight months, at $60 per month, including team and board, which would amount to $480. After that there would not be any ex- pense to amount to anything. Total amount the first year, in round numbers, $1,000 ; the second year, $500. I have made liberal allowance. Having had experience, I am pre- pared to say that these are the outside figures. If the trees are well taken care of when a year old they ought to aver- age twelve to fifteen feet in height, and the second year thirty feet, and when five years old will pay a handsome profit. There being 435 trees to the acre, eight trees when five years old will make a cord of stove-wood, worth $9 per cord, which will cost half this sum to have it prepared for and delivered to the consumers, leaving a net profit of $243 to the acre, or $48.60 net per acre per annum for each year of the five ; and in five years after there will be as much or more wood as at the first cutting. It is quite pos- sible that this timber will be used for various purposes in the near future that will make it still more profitable. It will be readily seen that after the first planting there will
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
not be any expense, as all that is ever required, after the timber is removed, is to take off some of the sprouts. There is no reason why one planting will not last for 50 or 100 years, and pay interest on a value of $500 per acre. The best time to plant in this country is February or March."
The above trees referred to are the red- and blue-gum trees ; 25,000 red-gum (Eucalyptus) trees pay twenty per cent per annum on the investment as fuel-producers.
The walnut-tree does not bear before it is six years old. A ten-year-old walnut-tree bears a hundred pounds of nuts, which can readily be sold at six to ten cents per pound, making six to ten dollars for the crop from one tree, and as twenty-five trees can be planted to the acre the yield will be $150 to $250 per year. In older trees the yield, of course, is larger and the profits greater.
It must be taken into consideration that in the cultiva- tion of these delicate and valuable plants and trees, more skill and intelligence are required than in producing the ordinary farm-products.
In comparing these estimates of land values and what can be produced, and the possibilities of this district of our country, it would seem that there is still room for many of those in the far East who are contemplating the effects of the next " strike," or the sad results of a " corner " in any one of the principal food-products which constitute the actual necessities of life, who with industry and economy could build homes for themselves in Southern California, and in reasonable time witness the fulfillment of the Divine prophecy that, "they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree."
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TREES, SHRUBS, AND WILD FLOWERS.
TREES, SHRUBS, AND WILD FLOWERS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
BY MRS. JEANNE C. CARR, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.
ALL the efforts of art in landscape-gardening seem tri- fling to one familiar with Nature's wild parks and gardens in this land of surprises.
.
The effect of the early rains upon the warm and gener- ous soil is magical. The pale-faced Eastern visitor and the native Californian alike respond to the joyous excitement of the resurrection of spring, which suddenly transforms every dusty roadside and dry canon into a flowery dell or verdant carpet, so rich in its materials and combinations as to afford endless studies in color and form.
The commencement of the vernal year varies greatly, but Christmas nearly always finds the earth thickly furred with the starry mats of "Filere," with young grass and clover, and from the first rain to the end of April the floral display increases, until, at its height, distinct bands of color, blue or orange, may be traced in the landscape for many miles.
" No numbers have counted my tallies, No tribes my house can fill ; I sit by the shining fount of life, And pour the deluge still ";
seems ever the song of Nature where her sunshine and flower-gold have been bestowed in such lavish abundance.
On no part of the Pacific coast has the soil been sown. so thickly with natural forage-plants. The immense fields of wild oats found growing upon Catalina and other sea- islands are described as marvelous, and the forests of mus- tard "trees" along the old stage-roads of the southern
-
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counties were equally worthy of such description as may be found in the pages of " Ramona."
Luscious Alfileria crowded the neglected nooks and cor- ners of the old ranches with its rank herbage, and long after every leaf and blade had shriveled in the summer heats the abundant oily seeds of the burr-clover furnish nourish- ment for flocks and herds.
The flowers which contribute most to Nature's topiary work are annuals, which have here an unlimited range, and long season of bloom.
The seeding of these natural parterres has been so ex- quisitely adjusted that even the salt-marshes and sea-beaches have their full share of composite-gold, abronia-purples, and crystalline creepers with longer names.
In February the advance-guard of the poppy family (Eschscholtzia Californica) is observed taking possession of old furrows in fields and orchards, its graceful leaves bright with the morning dew. Two weeks later rank patches, with open, bright-yellow flowers, appear in com- pany with blue Nemophilas, nodding cream-cups, purple Calendrinias, and yellow violets, which have bronze linings and delicate penciling of black lines upon their petals.
Daily, the poppy-gold deepens into orange. "Shoot- ing-stars " (Dodecatheons), the only "cowslips pale " that we have in America, cover the moist banks. Whitlavias hang their purple bells. White "forget-me-nots" exhale their delicate odor. The painted cup dons its uniform of scarlet and green, and as one bright token succeeds another, we realize that spring has come to stay.
But not for many weeks shall we reach the summit of the floral year, when, perchance, after a walk or ride through miles of poppies, in a bath of color so vivid, and still fur- ther intensified by the satiny sheen of the flowers that the senses are intoxicated with its splendor, we touch an island of blue larkspur or lupine with a sense of relief and rest.
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TREES, SHRUBS, AND WILD FLOWERS.
South California is lupine and larkspur, as well as poppy land, for of the first we have in the State twenty-three, and of the second eleven, well-defined species.
Here we miss the great yellow lupine, which near San Francisco grows into a superb bush, rivaling the laburnum, but we have a representation which gives us every shade of violet, purest blue, purple, and pink. Delphiniums are more beautiful still, the splendid cardinale which often grows ten feet in height, fairly illuminates the sides of cañons in late summer.
With these arrive the numerous Pentstemons, each more lovely than the last ; some tall and slender, with rows of coral or pure scarlet bells depending from slender stalks, others purple, covering the beds of gravelly-streams with royal grace. A fine yellow Pentstemon is found near San Diego ; Pentstemon cordifolius is a favorite trailer in our gardens.
The Mimulus family is equally brilliant and well-repre- sented. Here, too, is Castilleia, the painter's brush or In- dian plume, identical with that of the East. Another closely allied family, the Orthocarpi, with eighteen species, all Californian, make an aftermath of blossoms, and linger into autumn. That every Eastern heart keep true to its early loves, Lobelia splendens brings to us the scent of meadows and the memory of summer rains.
A very large proportion of our most showy plants are Composite, represented by one hundred and twenty-four genera and about five hundred species. In this group are found the magnificent thistles, sunflowers, and the myriad blooming Leptosyne gigantea of Guadaloupe Island. . Some, like the genus Actinolepis, keep their heads well wrapped in silver wool, and the dandelion is here more lovely in seed than in flower.
All through the months of March, April, and May, plants of Layia platyglossa are scattered over the ground
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
as thickly as star-dust in the sky. The children call it "tidy-tips," each golden petal being daintily fringed with white. It is nearly always found associated with the moss- like Gilia dianthoides, the most charming member of a family distinguished for modest graces.
One member only, Ipomopsis elegans, is found in East- ern gardens : here we have forty-six species, enough to make a brilliant flower-show of themselves.
Four Nemophilas, nine Collinsias, four Clarkias, Ery- threa (the Indian's quinine), which appears in crowded companies, and two fragrant wall-flowers are among the next arrivals. Then come a troop of mints and balms, be- loved of bees, and bearing good gifts to man.
Linking spring to summer, the Mariposas now begin to wave a welcome to the lily family. Of all wild names this surely is the most appropriate. Mariposa is the Indian word for butterfly, and butterfly-like, these flowers are poised upon their delicate stems, each cup a chalice, and every petal irised at its heart.
There are pure white, yellow, purple, lavender, and one bright-scarlet mariposa in Southern California. Blue ones are only found in the northern counties. The State is rich in lilies. Lilium Washingtonium ranges from Oregon to the Mexican line, always choosing high altitudes and the company of pine-trees. Parry's lily adorns the marshes. Humboldt's, the grandest of all, must be looked for in open glades of the Sierra Madre foot-hills.
Out of many Californian Fritillarias, only one belongs to the south.
Thus far we have considered the lilies of the field and forest. But when one sees "Our Lord's Candlestick," the stately Yucca,* where He has placed it among the gray
* Yucca Baccata, and Yucca Whippleyi are magnificent species, scat- tered in great abundance in the foot-hills.
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TREES, SHRUBS, AND WILD FLOWERS.
bowlders, the spiritual significance of the command is felt in its full force. "They toil not," but live above our life where the wild bee takes part in the praise service rung by
7 :
The Yucca.
their myriad bells, and the mountain-quail rears her brood in safety among their guardian bayonets. All through their long season of bloom the miracle of their beauty lasts ; it is autumn here when the "king of the lilies" is no more seen upon the hills.
The shrubs of Southern California seem to require new terms for their description. We have tree and bush pop- pies ; Dendromicons, like the European broom, in their rush- like leaves and stems ; Romneyas, with large white flowers of the size of magnolias, with the same golden mass of
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
stamens in the center of each flower-cup. These are late bloomers.
Scarlet lobelias, salmon-colored Mimulus, purple Hibiscus, silver-leaved Amorphas, the white-blossomed "Oso berry," Spircas, and twelve species of wild roses.
Later still the heather of the uplands, Adenostoma, is in full flower, also Heteromales, or Californian holly, bearing heavy crops of scarlet berries from Christmas to Easter. Rhododendron Occidentale, a most superb evergreen shrub, is found in the mountains, and fully equals the Himalayan members of this high-born family.
Conspicuous among the shrubs are Ribis speciosum, a scarlet gooseberry with flowers like fuchsias ; Fremontia Californica, which often grows twenty feet high, with abundant bright-yellow flowers ; and Pickeringia montana, of a royal purple, a shy mountaineer, much desired, yet dif- ficult of cultivation. One Ceanothus, found as a shrub or small, round-headed tree, is densely covered with deep-blue flowers ; its wood is of a rich-garnet color, much sought after for inlaying. A type of faithfulness, a tiny shrub, blooms through every month in the year, Zeuschneria, the "humming-bird's trumpet." It associates with our pretti- est climbers, makes a mat over which the clematis covers the steepest banks, and the Pentstemon hangs its curtains of polished green.
It is natural to avoid the Cacti, but what glimpse even of Southern California would be complete without a look at these weird children of the dust and the deserts ?
One species of Cereus deserves cultivation for its whole- some, abundant fruit ; Opuntia rutila, for its rich purple flowers. A collection of Cacti is always an interesting study ; nevertheless, we cheerfully turn from them to the Lepto- synes, the ice-plants, and Abronias of the beaches, which .cover with bloom and fragrance long stretches of otherwise barren coasts.
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TREES, SHRUBS, AND WILD FLOWERS.
Fan-Palm Tree.
That the foresting of Southern California is unimpor- tant compared with that of the northern portion of the State, goes without saying. Nevertheless, on the southern spurs of the great snowy range are many of the crops which the Sierras yield ; noble pines and snow plants, Douglas firs, Coulter pines with enormous cones, and a few species like the Torrey pine not found elsewhere. The oaks are numerous, majestic, and have given to this section an expres- sion of comfort and domesticity, which accounts for the passionate attachment of the early and later settlers. An oak-tree shade being almost the only shelter required dur- ing so many months of the year, a single massive tree
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
has not unfrequently become the nucleus of a town or village.
Quercus agrifolia, one of the black oaks, has often a spread of branches covering one hundred and fifty feet.
Century-Plant in Bloom.
The Mexican "Roble," Quercus lobata, is one of the grand- est trees and forms natural parks of great extent. Quercus chrysolepis, the Californian live-oak, is very widely dis- tributed. A shrub in the mountainous regions, it grows to
335
TREES, SHRUBS, AND WILD FLOWERS.
an immense tree in the valleys, and especially along the water-courses. Quercus Wislizeni also varies from a low shrub to a monarch of the glade ; it has the darkest and" most polished foliage of any of its tribe.
The natural distribution of these trees into parks has contributed greatly to enhance the beauty of the country. These are quite common along the coast in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties, making a journey after the spring rains one of the most delightful experiences of the tourist.
The sycamore is here emphatically the artist's tree ; at maturity often one hundred feet high, and taking a great variety of curves and deviations from its medial line of growth, it offers the most original studies at all seasons. Michaux measured some sycamore-boles on the Muskingum River which were from thirty-six to forty-seven feet in cir- cumference ; in Santiago Canon, Los Angeles County, there is one which measures twenty-nine feet and seven inches. Near Cucumungo, a group is growing apparently upon the prostrate body of a parent tree, making a sylvan temple of the noblest proportions.
Populus Fremontii, Fremont's namesake, the California cottonwood, is another tree of rapid growth which adorns the banks of streams. It is valuable for street-planting, provided that only the male trees are selected ; the female trees shed a profusion of their "cotton," which adheres to whatever it touches, and this has hitherto been an objection to its use.
The California walnut is a vigorous grower wherever there is moisture, and one of the most desirable shade-trees. It is found from sixty to seventy feet high, and from two to four feet in diameter. The flavor of the nut is superior to the walnut of commerce, but the sweetness is guarded by a shell of uncommon hardness.
The regal California Bay or laurel-tree is not found in
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
abundance, nor does it reach its normal size, but in nearly every mountain canon one may gather its fragrant leaves `from suckers which have grown up around large stumps, showing that "the Mexicans " understood the value of it as fuel.
Rubber-Tree and Pampas-Grass.
So great a number of forest and other useful trees are now acclimated in Southern California, that where wood may be grown as cheaply as wheat, the importance of pre- serving native growths may be overlooked. In cultivation we find over one hundred Australian trees and shrubs, fifty from Japan and China, and probably an equal number
337
PETROLEUM AND ASPHALTUM.
from Europe, while the rubber-tree, the palm-tree, and the century-plant add to the picturesque effect of the landscape. And so rapid is the growth of these strangers to the soil, that even in middle life one may plant in hope to see
"The spiry firs extend their lengthened ranks, And violets blossom on the sunny banks"
of his own garden.
PETROLEUM AND ASPHALTUM IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
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