History of Placer county, California, Part 58

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 558

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From the time of his arrival until 1868 he was engaged in teaming over the mountains, and did a thriving business. In the last-named year he bought the place upon which he now resides. The place comprises an area of thirty acres, at the time of the purchase of the uninviting red hills and rocky ridges found in the suburbs of Auburn. Here he has made his home and reared his family, prospering from well directed industry, showing the wealth of the foot-bill lands, so often spurned by those seeking bomes, and so forbidding in their natural state. The accompanying sketch shows the wilderness transformed into the garden.

Mr. Bernhard has made horticulture a success, and as a wine grower and brandy maker ranks among the first. As a silkeulturist he is one of the pioneers of an industry which is destined to rank among the noblest. most important, and most profitable of Cali fornia. Of the experimental trials, however. it is doubtful whether to Mr. or Mrs. Bernhard the high- est honors belong. While having successfully estab lished his vineyard and orchards, in the winter of 1872 he entered upon the trial of silk culture. first Netting out 1,000 mulberry trees and in the spring of that year attempted the raising of silk worms. In this attempt he failed. as all his worms died. In 1873 he renewed the effort, purchasing one ounce of eggs ,

of the French Annual variety from Messrs. Muller & Gelette, of Nevada, from which grew between 30,000 and 40,000 worms, and from these he produced but about six pounds of silk. The paucity of the product was caused by want of food for the worms. The trees were planted in a dry locality and cultivated without irrigation, the determination on the part of Mr. Bern- hard being to make the experiment most thorough. The second trial was not a total failure, as the worms lived to make cocoons, which, though small, were sufficient to preserve the seed and bring a small return. The experience, too, was worth much. The third year, 1874, Mr. and Mrs. Bernhard were better prepared to conduct the work. About 1,000,000 worms were hatched, and the trees had grown thrifty, affording abundant food. The worms lived and grew, made large cocoons producing 100 pounds of silk, worth $10.00 a pound. The time from the hatching of the worm until the cocoon was ready for the market was about seven weeks. during which the labor of attendance was all done by Mrs. Bern- hard and her three or four children, besides attend- ing to their household duties.

Of Mr. Bernhard's place the Placer Herald of June 14, 1873, gives the following description as it was at that early stage of its development :-

Last Wednesday we made a visit to the premises of Mr. B. Bernhard, mainly for the purpose of seeing his silk-worms, and observing the mode of feeding and caring for them; but seeing so much on all sides strikingly illustrative of what honest industry can accomplish on the apparently forbidding hills, and in the nninviting hollows of this section of the country, we were induced to extend our observations. Mr. Bernhard's farm, which is located on one of the bills immediately adjoining Auburn, consists of about thirty acres, all told.

Leaving the silk-worms we were invited into the wine cellar, which, though not small, was so com- pletely filled with barrels and tanks, which we were informed were all full, that we could hardly get around. Next we were shown into the brandy house, which was also filled with full barrels of the very best quality of brandy. Next we took a stroll through the vineyard, whence all this storehouse of wine and brandy was produced, and to view this com- paratively small field with its burdens of growing fruit caused us to marvel that the hand of man, when rightly applied, could, in so short a time, accomplish so much. This small field of thirty acres is surrounded by thousands of other aeres equally as good by nature, but while the outside presents an almost arid appearance, within this inclosure Mr. Bernhard has, besides 1,000 mulberry trees, 850 large bearing fruit trees. of various kinds: one-half aere of blackberries completely loaded down with the nearly grown fruit; a nice vegetable garden, contain- ing a great variety of fresh vegetables; and 17.000 fine. thrifty grape vines, nearly all bearing, though promising this year a lighter yield than usual, owing partly to the late frosts, and to the visitation of the army worm.

Mr. Bernhard is at present engaged in excavating for a new wine cellar, to be twenty-four by sixty four feet in extent, the building to be two stories high, built of rock, and connected with the old cellar

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by a tunnel. All this, and even more than we have described is the result of a few years labor. When Mr. Bernhard bought this place it had no significance in an agricultural point of view, and without any capital but his hands he has made it what we have described. and we fear we have not done justice, and he assures us he has never went in debt a dollar,com- paratively. We give this to show what the country is capable of producing; for this place possesses no natural advantages that are not possessed by nearly any tract of the same size for miles around.

The wine cellar referred to above was completed in the fall of 1874, and was regarded, ifnot the best, at least the second best in Placer County, The walls are of stone, well set in the best of mortar. The building is two stories high, and being on a side bill the main entrance to the two stories is on a level with the ground, thus obviating the necessity of lifting or climbing stairs in stowing away his pro- duets in either department. The basement is large and will hold many thousand gallons of wine. The fine property, with comfortable residence and pleas- ant surroundings, as will be seen in the illustration, is all derived from the red knoll, in the foot-hills, and a few years of frugal industry. With such capabilities of country, and such products the rich "mining" county of Placer can never be worked out.

PRODUCTIONS OF THE GRANITE HILLS.

The Placer Herald of January 17, 1880, gave the following review of the character and the produc- tions of the granite hills constituting a portion of the foot-hill region of the county :-

"The granite hills, which lie between Roseville and the beginning of the State, a short distance west of Newcastle, include about 60,000 acres. The soil is feldspar and potash, holding thirty per cent. of feldspar, and is only two feet deep. The surface is quite rough, and in most instances the land bas to be cleared and cleaned. Each acre contains rock sufficient to make a fence and bushes and small trees enough if carefully put away for one year's fuel. The average Californian will burn this fuel on the ground. The whole section is exceedingly pictur- esque to the eye of an artist, but very forbidding to the eye of a farmer. Six years ago this section of Placer County was considered valuable only for marries and random mining. A few planted fruit trees twenty years ago in the ravines, but no one at that time thought of cultivating the hills.

Six years ago Dr. Frey went to Newcastle for his health, and selected a warty granite nob, on account of the view, which was superb. He dug up the chaparral and removed the bowlders, making a heavy fortification around his twelve-acre lot and planted fruit trees. Three years ago his work began to tell what could be produced, and people began to think that the granite hills might be utilized. But even three years ago the land was purchasable for a mere song; since that time the land has been in great demand. And now let the story be told about

this wonderful transformation what the granite hills will and will not produce. beginning with a fail- ure. because all true success begins in that way. These hills do not produce the best apples, and the reason is obvious. The trees grow and make wood continuously. and hence have no strength to put flavor and tartness into the fruit. The ground is too warm and the climate is too genial for that fruit. Hungarian prunes grow luxuriantly and produce profitable results in seven years. The fruit is better than the imported article. Date palms prosper equally well. The peach trees reach their prime in five or six years, and the old trees planted by the miner- show that careful trimming will continue their pro ductiveness for twenty-five years. The crop from good varieties is always profitable. Dr. Frey's peaches are very large, and a box seven inches deep holds two strata of peaches; the best varieties grown on the hills being $2.00 a box, when the valley peaches bring only 73 cents. The Sacramento Val- ley, however, sends to market the earliest peaches. An acre of peach trees of good variety will, if prop- erly cared for, bring regularly $500 at lowest prices. Mr. Silva this year obtained for the crop of three peach trees four years old, and not over nine feet high, 823.00. One tree twenty years old yielded a single crop that brought $53.00. All agree that peach orchards require but little irrigation and labor.

The banana tree grows luxuriantly, but needs pro- tection from the severest frosts. Dr. Frey has one tree three years old that has never been housed against the weather. No fruit has yet been produced. and we cannot anticipate its quality. The pine apple grows well, but nothing in the way of good fruit is expected. The orange trees defy the gentle frosts of the granite hills, and grow like weeds. Dr. Frey has an orange orchard seven years old. and the trees fairly groan with heavy loads of large oranges. There are now twenty or thirty thousand orange trees in the granite hills. The fruit ripens one month earlier than the Los Angeles oranges, and the quality is unsurpassed. The lemon and citron flourish exceedingly well, but the former is inferior to the Sicily lemon, though equal to any other in quality. The defeet may be caused by budding. The almond tree is a triumphant success, both as to productiveness and quality; one tree nine years old is fifteen feet high, with a branching top that has a circumference of at least twenty feet. Italian chestnuts aro raised with great ease: they bear pr) fusely and bring fifty cents a pound: one is not charmed with the taste; the Eastern variety does not do well. The black walnut is a perfect snecess, and the European variety also. The filbert does not prosper, though the wild hazel grows luxuriantly. The large black cherry tree grows to an enormous size, and produces the best possible cherry in great abundance. In one cherry orchard the trees only nine years old were twenty-five feet high and the trunk eight inches in diameter. The crop bring-

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regularly twenty-five or thirty cents per pound. The quince bush produces large fruit and heavy crops, which are sold at five cents a pound. The pear crop is very large, and always in demand. The pomegranate reaches unusual perfection, but has no commercial value as yet. An excellent wine is made from the fruit, and it is delicious when made into sherbet. The granite hills apricots are prolific and good, and there is always a demand for them. The nectarines are magnificent and much sought after. The fig-tree is at present a nuisance on account of its productiveness. It will obtain a value as soon as some one hits upon a method of curing. In that event, the United States can be supplied with figs by the foot-bills. No attention has been given to this subject for the reason that the sources of money making are already so numerons. Red. white, and black currants flourish and produce abundantly.

The berries of the foot-hills demand special atten- tion. The production is enormous, and they sell for one-third more than valley berries. The granite hill strawberries are widely known for their superior size and flavor. One acre of strawberries will, if carefully watched and cultivated, make a return of between $1,700 and $1,800, with prices ranging from six and ten cents per pound. Very few, however, give the required attention, and hence fail, as a rule, to attain the highest success. The average return for average work is never less than $300 to one acre. There are some varieties that bear every month in the year, and the granite hills gardener need never be without ripe, fresh strawberries. Now and then when cultivators grow slack in toil, the vines make a very poor return. It is questionable whether or not the foothills can ever supply the demand for straw- berries, as no one chooses to eat the valley strawber- ries when those of the foothills can be procured at moderate prices. The raspberries are prolific and highly flavored, but unfortunately for the granite hills, the Santa Clara Valley, near the main market, keeps down the prices and renders the crop unprofitable. A little more vim might, however, succeed in utiliz- ing the raspberries, by making them into jam and juice for summer drinks. The granite hills farmers raise blackberries on the waste corners, and secure a return of from $500 to $700 per acre, with prices at five and fifteen cents. The foot-hill grape is the pride of the table. The product per acre is enor- mous, while the labor required is not very consider- able. The common Mission grape sells for $17.00 and $18.00 per ton. But little has been done in the way of raisin making, for the reason that the crop pays too well when sold for table use. Mr. Kaiser, near Pino, makes a wine that has a great reputation. Others produce good wine that sells well in Eastern markets. Enough has been made to show that very fine wine can be produced. Few, however, if any, have planted the vines best adapted to wine-making, and much of the wine beretofore made was pressed from several varieties mixed. Wine making, though

a success as to quality in the foot-hills, will not be extensively made as long as the grapes ean be read. ily sold at paying prices. A denser population will be needed to make wine-making a great industry.

The reader will notice in the resume that farmers of the lower foot-hills of Placer County have planted and successfully raised nearly every kind of fruit. As a rule, these trees are quite young and not yet sufficiently mature to produce their best results, though they have done well in every sense of the term. In view of these facts, it is hardly necessary to say that the garden vegetables are easily produced. The common potato of that region is not the very best, though it is as good as that of the lower valley. The sweet potato is smaller, but about as good as that raised in the valley. Sugar or sweet table corn of very fine quality is raised, but not sent to market. As everywhere else in California, the sweet corn has to fight for its life against the worm. Hardly a single ear can be found free from this devouring pest. Five or six crops may be raised every season. Green peas on Christmas never surprise the granite bills farmers-the luxury has become a very common- place affair. Ripe tomatoes are taken from the vines throughout the winter. The various melons are good, but not exceptionally so. All the common vegetables grow exceedingly well, and make hand- some returns in cash. All the flowering plants and vines grow like weeds, and floral adornments are in easy reach of everybody without expense. Vegeta- tion is rarely affected with blight of any kind. Peach trees are sometimes injured by the curl-leaf, and occasionally a fruit tree ceases to bear for a season without, so far as the eye can see, just cause. But, as a rule, all kinds of crops are regular.

Few farming countries are so happily provided with markets as the foot-hills of Placer County. The fruit is in demand in the valley or coast cities, and in the mountain towns, the State of Nevada, the Territories and the Western States. These extense markets can never be overstocked by early fruits and vegetables. In fact, all early products of the foot-bills will always have an unfailing market, and their energies will be taxed to supply the wants of the 20,000,000 of the northern States, who will never cease to purchase such articles when they can be had. Foot-hill farming is therefore among the assured things of the future. Foot-hill farmers have a eer- tain measure of independence in other matters. They do not raise much horse feed, though they can easily do so, and would if the ground was not more valuable for other purposes. Those who succeed in reclaiming say 160 acres ean raise grain and bay on a few acres-that will make them independent of the valley in that respect.

So far the granite hills have been spoken of in general terms, though reference has been made especially to the country about Newcastle, as fairly illustrative of the section. Let there be now cited a single case and not an exceptional one, to show what

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one diligent man can do with these rough hills. In 1854, a man located on 160 acres near Newcastle without a dollar. He succeeded in borrowing $1,400 to put on the land, on which he paid 23 per cent per month or 30 per cent per annum, $420 per year. He obtained the patent in 1865, after he had paid over $4,000 in interest. He has had twenty acres under cultivation for several years, and they are well covered with frnit-bearing trees. He is now out of debt, owns a good house that cost $3,000 and has money besides.

If the reader will analyze this case, foot up the amount of interest paid and the cost of living, he will see that the man has made quite a fortune out of twenty acres. But it must be remembered that hard work and irrigation are absolutely essential to success in this kind of farming. Water will cost about $100 a year and work will cost a large amount of patience. No idler, no speculative philosopher need expect to make his salt in the foot-hills. Such men will do better by going East; certainly they cannot do worse. In fact, there is no longer room in California for lazy people. Even industrious muscle without a few hundred dollars will make but slow progress. The land in the vicinity of New- castle is all taken up, and it is no easy matter to obtain land even at high prices. Land that was not worth a cent three years ago, is now held as high as $100 an acre. In 1878, Mr. Silva sold forty acres of improved land, and received for a portion of it $100 an acre, for the remainder $175. This is a demon- stration of stupendous progress in three years, and the people about Newcastle stand on the great high- way of the continent a living, withering rebuke to all idlers, a vigorous encouragement to all industrious people. Time has not sufficed to ascertain how many farms there are about Newcastle, but it may be said the farms are all small. Some farmers live comfortably on two or three acres, doing all their own work. To illustrate more completely the success of the small farms of the granite hills, the following transcript from the books of the railroad and express agents at Newcastle are given :-

Fruit and vegetables shipped from Newcastle by rail and express from May 1 to December 1, 1878 :--

May. $ 55,645

June

157,940

July .

271,172

August

343,487

September.

192,876

October

131,319

November

16,049

December

5,777

Total for eight months 1,170,091

The account for 1879 at this writing, November, is not made up, but the above-named agents say that the shipments for this year have been consider- able over one-half more than last year, as reported above. Add the lowest estimate of the increase and

it will be seen that there has been shipped from one office (there are five offices from which shipments are made in the granite hills) in seven months, 1,755,436 pounds of fruit and vegetables. The head men of the fruit association say that these shipments would average at least four cents per pound.

The small farms about Newcastle have then marketed, beside what they have used in the last seven months, $70,217.20 worth of products. As to the amount shipped from the other four centers and railroad offices, the sum total must be immense. Let the reader bear in mind that these stupendous results have been achieved within three or four years. Notice the facts also that these results have been accomplished by poor men, who were compelled to pay exorbitant interest for every dollar they borrowed. There is no parallel to this in the history of agriculture, either in California or elsewhere. And grand benefits to California from these people may be counted on. Their children may be hardy, intelligent and quick-witted, and they will enrich our population by their superior qualities.

The immediate future of these cultivated granite hills is exceedingly attractive. Very pretty houses and elegant grounds may already be found. But in three or four years the people will have money to spare, and then they will adorn their homes and farm4. Let it be prophesied here, that in less than ten years the granite hills in Placer will be celebrated for their beauty, as they have heretofore been notorious for their ugliness. As stated there are about 60,000 acres of this granite land. In the article cannot now be given the number of acres unoccupied and unclaimed, but assurance is given that the whole region is as good as that about New- castle, and that many thousands of acres may be obtained at some little distance from the railroad. At the furthest point the granite lands are not more than twelve miles from the railway. Men who know say that some of this land can be procured at Government prices. Some belongs to the railroad and can be obtained at very low prices. Water can be obtained from ditch companies, money can be borrowed, and labor and money can redeem every acre of this land.

COTTON CULTURE.

In 1861, Mr. Dnehstein, residing at Gold Ilill, tried the cultivation of cotton in his garden at that place, and succeeded beyond his expectations. A gentle- man familiar with the culture of the famous plant in South Carolina and Mississippi, regarded the product of Mr. Duchstein as equal to the best upland of those States. From one stalk taken as a sample, were over forty pods of matured cotton, the staple being a trifle shorter than the best Mississippi upland, but the seeds were only one-half the usual size.

ALFALFA. OR CHILI CLOVER.

Alfalfa was introduced in California by Gov. John Bigler, who, while Minister to Chili in 1857-61,

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HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

forwarded the seed to this State with strong recom- mendations for its use. In 1872. Governor Walkup reports experimenting upon its cultivation in Auburn. meeting with great success, and others tried it in various parts of the county.

ANGORA GOATS.

Capt. Edward Shirland is awarded the honor of introducing the business of raising the Angora goat in Placer County. The first arrivals of these animals is not reported, but in 1872 we find Captain Shirland the possessor of between 1,500 and 2,000 graded Angoras, varying from full-blood to half-breeds. In July of that year he imported by rail from the East, seventy-five thorough breds, there being thirty-five bucks and thirty-nine does, some of the bucks being valued at $250 each.

AGRICULTURE IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Placer County, extending as it does from the plains of the Sacramento Valley on the west, to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada on the east, is topograph- ically classified as divided into plain, foot-hill and mountain regions. These divisions blend into each other so that no positive line of demarkation can be drawn. The western border of the county has an elevation of about 55 feet. Roseville is usually regarded as in the plain, with an elevation of 163 feet. and Rocklin in the foot hills four miles east, with an elevation of 219 feet. Lincoln and Sheridan are on the plain, but within two or three miles eastward the foot-hills are manifest. The foot-hill region is usually regarded as extending to between 2.000 and 2500 fret of elevation, or on the Central Pacific Railroad from Roseville to Colfax, a distance of thirty six miles; beyond are the mountains in their majesty, rent in precipitous canons, clad with tower- ing pines and subject to the deep shows of winter. Below the line of 2.500 feet is the region of gentle seasons. although the shows sometimes extend much lower, and there the growth of the most delicate fruits bas become the chief resource of the husband-

The mountain region from an elevation of 2,000 to 1.000 feet is subject to snow and frost in winter and spring. though while the shows are deeper. the cold 's not as severe as in the northern States cast of the Rocky Mountains, and the vegetation of those States is adapted to this belt. Above 4,000 feet, frosts are apt to be experienced during many of the summer nights sufficient to destroy tender plants. Through- out the mountain belt many plants flourish luxu- riantly, it being the natural field for potatoes and other hardy vegetables, and the apple, peach, plum and fruits of the northern clime grow to perfection. About the many mining towns of the high Sierra are gardens, orchards and farms of value, and their mumber could be multiplied many fold upon ground far superior and in a more genial elime than occupied as costly farms in the Middle and New England States.

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History of Placer county, California, Part 58

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West, pub Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West Number of Pages: 558

Author: Angel, Myron; Thompson & West, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Oakland, Cal., Thompson & West
Number of Pages: 558