USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume I > Part 24
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On May 20, 1885, the San Lorenzo orchardists shipped a carload of cherries and other small fruit to New York where California cherries were selling at $1 per pound. The car went by fast freight and was due in New York in a week and a half. Among the shippers were E. Lewelling, E. T. Crane, J. L. Shiman, Henry Smith, H. W. Meek, John and H. Madin, C. S. King, J. B. Madin, E. Hathaway, E. O. Webb, William Roberts, William Knox. There were cherries of the Great Bigarreau, Pontiac and Black Tartarian varieties ; several crates of gooseberries and currants were included. The total weight was 20,250 pounds ; the cost of shipment was $500 per car. The next day a similar carload was shipped from Haywards to the same destination by Blockwood Owens, C. Winton, C. Everett, Will Knox, C. Kerwin, W. H. Jessup, Joel Russell, Chris. Nicholson, W. Lawrence, Seth Warner, C. S. King, and Manuel Leal. Hixon Justi & Company, and Porter Brothers, fruit commission merchants of San Francisco, were largely instrumental in inducing the Alameda county growers to try the experiment of thus shipping perishable fruit to the eastern markets. It was at this time that the important question arose with emphasis where the labor was to come from to harvest the fruit crop. Within a few years fully one hundred thousand acres in the state had been planted in fruit. This required 50,000 extra laborers. At this time there were employed about twenty-five thou- sand Chinamen on the fruit and vineyard ranches of the state. It was proposed to put the boys and girls at this work.
Mr. McIver of Livermore had in 1885 a vineyard of 25,000 vines of the Zinfandel, Muscat and Rose of Peru varieties. He added to this yard an orchard of 1,800 plum trees, 2,500 peach, 1,800 pears, 500 olives and 60,000 resistant vines of the California variety ; he grafted the latter with the choicest varieties obtainable.
In November, at a convention of fruit growers in San Francisco, an organiza- tion of the Fruit Growers' Union was effected. It was a cooperative society to regulate and operate the fruit shipping business. H. B. Livermore of Alameda county was one of the directors and one of the committee appointed to sell stock. Mr. Livermore was elected the first president of the society, and A. T. Hatch of Solano, secretary. Another object of the association was to reduce the cost of middleman, so that California fruit could be sold in the East at prices which the average citizen there could afford to pay.
It is literally true that many white farmers were taught valuable lessons in intensive farming by the Chinese who leased land in this county and raised large quantities of vegetables. They were among the first to show the prac- ticability of irrigation, and the first to make asparagus-growing successful. While the white man plowed and sowed and then sat down to wait for rain, the Chinese dug and planted and supplied his vegetation from artificial sources of water.
In 1885 fully 2,685 carloads of products were shipped from Pleasanton, and in addition there were 500 partly filled cars. The following were the cars and con-
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tents : Brick, 852; hay, 1,436; wheat, 340; barley, 157; wood, 115; spuds, 61; sheep, 19; cattle, 38; mustard, 3; mixed, 22. Juan Gallegos of Mission San Jose sold his entire wine crop of 130,000 gallons for 30 cents per gallon in the tank-total $39,000. Poster Brothers of Chicago had full control of the California fruit business and shipments, but in 1886 the Fruit Growers' Association assumed charge, with the result that better prices prevailed and quicker and better ship- ments were made.
J. S. Shiman of San Lorenzo shipped a carload of cherries to Chicago this year. The shipment embraced twenty-five crates. The gross proceeds were $9,711 and the expenses of shipment and sale were $3,125, leaving net pro- ceeds of $6,586 to the credit of the shipper, or 8 cents net per pound. On July 7, 1885, he shipped a carload of plums and apricots to the same market.
The report came from Chicago that a carload of cherries shipped from Cali- fornia arrived in bad condition owing to heat and poor ventilation. Only about one-third was in good condition. It was announced that if the fruit was prop- erly packed and shipped, the movement would be a success. It was a few fail- ures like this that in the end taught the Alameda county shippers how to prepare and transport their perishable crops.
In the 80's California waked to her opportunity and importance as a raiser of fruit for the whole country. It took the people a long time to learn this fact. The agricultural possibilities were for years undreamed of. Hundreds of thousands of acres believed to be worthless made the finest kind of fruit farms. All of a sudden oranges, almonds, walnuts, figs, raisins and berries made the state famous and Alameda county was its garden spot. Thirty years before all thought the county a desert and fit for nothing but mining and grazing. By 1885 its fruit went to all parts of the country. .
In its sixth year of operation the sugar refinery at Alvarado worked 217 days, bought 20,500 tons of beets, of which 16,354 tons were used and out of which 2,167,273 pounds of refined sugar were manufactured. They had 5,000 tons left over which they gave to farmers to feed to their stock. This was not good business, said E. H. Dyer, manager, but was a fact. It was learned that there were in Alameda county 144,000 acres adapted to the production of sugar beets; on this could be grown five times the sugar product of the Hawaiian islands. In 1885 there were lodges of the Grangers in nearly all the towns and villages of the county-Alvarado, Haywards, Oakland, Temescal, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Leandro, etc.
In 1885 there were shipped from Haywards fruit in the following quantities : In May, 1,818,360 pounds ; June, 1,495,605 pounds ; July, 833,800 pounds ; also 899,910 pounds of hay and grain.
The law required that fruit trees infested with injurious insects or germs should be cleaned or disinfected before April 1, 1885, and on or before that month every year thereafter. It was a misdemeanor to fail in this duty. It was com- mon to find in the vineyards many tarantulas and much care was necessary to prevent being poisoned by them. A large one was found under the book-case in the Presbyterian church at Pleasanton. Formerly they were numerous at the schoolhouse on the hill, but the boys soon killed the last one there.
The raisin crop of 1885 was the largest thus far raised in Alameda county ; the almond yield was also heavy, while crops of pears, peaches, plums, apricots
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and walnuts were fair. By the last of September there were six wineries in oper- ation in the Livermore district-Olivina, Pioneer, Bocquerez & Paris, Mortimer, Bowles and Crellin. In 1884 there was but one. They paid about twenty dol- lars a ton for grapes.
In June the Commissioner of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., requested the officers of the Ladies' Silk Culture Society of California to nominate persons for the office of director of the United States experiment station at Piedmont. At this time the experiment building there was nearly completed. The ladies named the following for the position of director: Prof. George Davidson, Mrs. Henry B. Williams, Mrs. L. E. Pratt, Mrs. J. E. Flint and Mrs. T. H. Hittell.
In 1886 the members of the Farmers' Union of Livermore Valley were Daniel Juman, president ; J. F. Black, vice president; J. L. Mitchell, cashier ; Daniel Juman, J. F. Black, J. L. Mitchell, G. C. Stanley, John Callighan, G. E. Ken- nedy and John Beck, directors. Their building and other property originally cost about twenty-eight thousand dollars and had a mortgage thereon of $12,500. The building itself cost $13,000 in October, and $6,000 additional was spent on the structure for internal improvements.
In 1886 the wine dealers of San Francisco formed a combination that boy- cotted every wine maker who would not sell to them at their terms. The Liver- more district was the first in this county to take up the fight against this monopoly. In April the Livermore Valley Wine and Vineyard Company was organized at Livermore with a capitalization of $2,000,000. They secured the Black vine- yard of 200 acres as a nucleus. The directors were J. F. Black, Pierre Bocquerez, Edwin Goodall, Isaac Upham, S. Osterhout, Howard Black and August Water- man. It was suggested that when the fruit picking season should arrive, the public schools should be closed in order to give the children an opportunity to assist in the work. If this were done the children, it was stated, would in a large measure settle the Chinese question.
By 1886 farming operations in many parts of the county had assumed gigan- tic proportions. In February H. W. Meek of San Lorenzo had from sixty to seventy-five horses in a single field at one time. Henry Martin had fifteen teams in his seventy-five acre field which he plowed, sowed and harrowed in three days. H. Smyth kept eight or ten teams busy on sixty-five acres for several days. Scores of others in all parts of the county farmed on a scale equally as large or larger.
Over four hundred mulberry trees were planted in the experiment station at Piedmont in 1885-86. Nearly twenty thousand cuttings were set out. The university had donated 200 of the trees and P. J. Burner, fifty. The Ladies' Silk Culture Society of this county was interested in these proceedings. It became well known that nine-tenths of orchard failures in California were due to the planting of the wrong varieties of fruit. Nurseries carried all varieties and it was the duty of orchardists, it was claimed, to know the possibilities of their soils.
In 1888 the Daniel Best Agricultural Works at San Leandro were in a flour- ishing condition. In February they had just completed sixteen of the Best and Driver improved combined harvesters.
At a meeting of the grape growers of Livermore valley late in July, 1888, a resolution was passed that growers should thereafter demand $20 per ton
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for grapes sold to wine makers, should not take a less sum, and that in the event of refusal, they should dispose of their grapes elsewhere or convert them into raisins. The latter step was not practical, it was shown, because the best wine grapes made the poorest raisins. This meeting appointed a committee to investigate the methods of drying grapes. This year the sixth annual state viticultural convention gave more than one-third of all the awards to Alameda county wine makers. Of the 143 awards on red and white wines Alameda county received fifty-five. C. C. McIver of Mission San Jose headed the list, but was closely followed by C. A. Wetmore, J. P. Smith, Wallace Everson, estate of Joseph Black, Josiah Stanford, Beard & Putnam, A. G. Chanche, J. H. Wheeler and H. R. Waggoner of the Livermore and Mission San Jose districts. Alameda county did not make more wine than several other counties, but the quality aver- aged higher. Before 1880 better wine was made in this county, and with the exception of the Warm Springs vineyard, all vines were planted after that year. Starting after many of the others this county's growers had the advan- tage of their experiences, failures and successes.
In March, 1889, the farmers' union of Livermore failed and made an assign- ment for the benefit of creditors. It had been one of the largest mercantile establishments in the state and had handled nearly all the grain and produce of Livermore valley, did a banking business and operated in real estate and rail- road investments. The business was worth several million dollars and the stock was held mainly by residents of Livermore valley. Haywards and San Leandro fruit growers, established a home organization to assume charge of fruit ship- ments and all marketing questions. Up to this time the shipments had been handled by two Sacramento concerns at too great a cost. The cherry market in particular was improved by this action. Immense quantities of peas were raised near Irvington, Haywards, San Leandro and elsewhere west of the hills.
The Pacific Coast Sugar Company took possession of Alvarado creek for the use of the Spring Valley Water Company of San Francisco. For the past nineteen years the sugar company had been engaged there, with several lapses, in manufacturing sugar from beets, and had its plant, valued at $250,000, on the banks of that creek. Without the use of the creek water the factory could not continue unless other water could be secured at no greater expense. The only other way for the factory to get the necessary water was from artesian wells, with the chances, it was thought, much against success. The water company brought condemnation suits. If successful it meant the ruin of the sugar com- pany. Years before this time the farmers in the vicinity of Niles had depended upon their wells for water, but after the Spring Valley Water Company tapped Alameda creek, their wells dried up and in some cases they were compelled to haul their water for many miles. Twelve farmers under the leadership of J. E. Thane combined in a demand that the company should dig artesian wells for them. This demand was at first refused, but finally was acceded to by Charles W. Howard of the company and about a dozen wells were sunk for them near Niles.
In the eastern car trip of "California on Wheels," one car devoted exclusively to native wines was partly filled with samples from the Livermore valley wineries. In the fall of this year Livermore valley received the gold medal prize at the Paris exposition for the best grape wines. This victory was duly celebrated at
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Livermore on October 5th. Charles A. Wetmore, secretary of the viticultural association, received the grand prize for his wine and A. G. Chauche received the gold medal; both lived in the valley. It was admitted that J. W. Kottinger was the pioneer grape grower of the valley. As early as 1874 he made over one thousand gallons of wine from his four acres of vines. At the celebration Mr. Wetmore, Julius P. Smith and Mr. Kottinger delivered addresses. A series of congratulatory resolutions was adopted. A large meeting of fruit growers from Haywards, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Niles, Sunol and Danville was held at Haywards in December, 1889, for the purpose of perfecting drying and shipping methods. The meeting was held under the auspices of the Haywards Fruit Grow- ers' Association. The meeting agreed that cooperation was the only means to properly dispose of the fruit of this section. At this time the extra charge on refrigerator cars to New York was $250.
Early in December the county board ordained that ground squirrels "infesting the lands in the County of Alameda" were a public nuisance and required all owners and occupants of lands within this county to exterminate and destroy them within ninety days after the ordinance should take effect and thereafter keep the lands free from the pests.
The annual rodeos of the cattle of the Livermore mountains occurred in May. Work was usually begun on L. B. Clark's ranch on Cedar mountain and every stock owner was visited from that point west to Alameda and south to San Antonio valley and Mount Hamilton. As many as fifty stockmen and vaqueros were engaged at times in riding the ranges and bunching, holding and branding the cattle. Rodeos were held daily, an average of about eight hundred head of cattle being gathered in each. The principal owners to participate were John Hayes, L. B. Clark, Frank Hubbard, R. T. Pope, Ed. Wilson, De Forest Brothers, Doughty Brothers, Parks, Maxey, John Rogie, and John Green, Charles Beverson, D. F. Bernal, Wade, R. F. Morrow and E. F. Rea. All stock owners of the Livermore cattle district agreed among themselves to prosecute every hunter they found killing bucks out of season and does and spotted fawns at any time. This action was caused by the destruction of those animals in the mountain regions near Livermore. Messrs. Hayes, Clark, Rogge, Mansir, Green and Ladd headed this movement.
Alameda county florists and amateur gardeners made many interesting exhibits at the State Floral Society's display in San Francisco in May. Among the residents of this county who took prizes were E. Gill with hybrid perpetual roses ; California Nursery Company, tea roses; Fruit Vale Nursery Company, climbing roses; Mrs. T. L. Walker, climbing roses; Peter Thiesen, cut roses ; G. W. Dunn, wild flowers; Mrs. D. E. Harris, pelargoniums; Mrs. R. D. Sage, pansy blooms ; F. A. Miller, roses in pots; Charles Abraham, flowering plants ; Mrs. L. O. Hodgkins, ferns and others. In 1890 the horticultural committee for the county board made persistent efforts to rid the county of the apricot scale that had done and was doing so much damage. William Barry was in charge of this movement. In March Horticultural Commissioner Barry reported that out of nearly thirty orchards, which he had recently visited, only a few were free from scale. Spraying was general at Niles, Haywards, Centerville, San Leandro, Livermore, Pleasanton, etc.
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In February, 1890, 2,675 tons of hay were shipped from Livermore. Much of it went in a hurry to the starving Nevada cattle. There was a large demand on this county for oat and wheat hay under wire, the former worth about six dollars per ton and the latter about nine dollars. Mr. Seller of Livermore, by July 6th, bought 2,000 tons at these figures.
The Silk Culture Society by 1890 had made such extensive and important experiments and advances that they sent a memorial to the Pacific coast delega- tion in Congress of what they had accomplished and what they desired. It was the opinion that the Mckinley tariff bill, if made a law, would interfere with their operations and usefulness.
The Alameda county branch of the farmers institute was organized at Hay- wards on August 7, 1891, by Prof. E. J. Wickson, of the University of California. An interesting session was held. The farmers discussed grain, hay, stock, horses and viticulture.
The Olivina vineyard in Livermore valley was the largest in the county in 1890-91. It comprised 660 acres of vines, of which 475 acres were bearing. The crop of 1890 was 1,300 tons. In 1885 this vineyard comprised 400 acres and produced 1001/2 tons. In 1891 there were eighty acres in high type varieties -Medocs and Sauternes. Sanvignon Vert comprised eighty acres. Zinfandel occupied fifty-five acres. On the tract were thirty-two varieties, all wine grapes of European origin, eighteen of black, and fourteen of white grapes. Much grafting had been done with Charbono, seedless Sultana, Muscatel, Feher, Zagos and Large Bloom in order to obtain resistants and to introduce better varieties. Colored and high type varieties were substituted.
Livermore hay was famous for its good qualities and sold readily not only in San Francisco, but in San Jose and all other coast points where fine horses were bred, raised and trained. Steady orders of from 10 to 300 tons were received by the Liverpool dealers weekly. In October the California State Grange was entertained at Haywards in Native Sons hall. The town was beautifully decorated for the occasion. A castle made of gigantic pumpkins was one of the "sights." The Paso Robles agricultural experiment station had a splendid exhibit E. W. David, ex-worthy master, occupied the chair. This was the nineteenth annual session of the state organization. While in the town the members were tendered a formal and brilliant reception by the citizens. Over five hundred leading grangers of the state were present. The Pomona feast was the leading feature of the session.
In 1892 William Barry was horticultural commissioner from this county to the fruit growers' convention at San Jose. One of the principal topics was how to destroy or prevent insect pests. A permanent organization of the wine grow- ers and wine makers was effected at Livermore the year before, with W. P. Bart- lett as president. Charles A. Wetmore was present and assisted with practical suggestions. The greatest pests in the Livermore valley in 1892-98 were the ground squirrels which cost more to poison on 160 acres than to clothe the farm- er's family. A demand was made in the fall of 1897 that the county board pay a duty of 2 cents for each squirrel tail, as was done in Monterey county.
In April the famous Gallegos winery at Mission San Jose passed from its founder, Juan Gallegos, to Montealegre & Company-1,000 acres for a nomi- nal sum. Montealegre & Company immediately sold to the Palmdale Company,
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the consideration being 4,000 shares of their capital stock valued at $200,000. Gallegos was compelled to sell owing to his enormous debts. At this date fruit lands near Centerville were worth from $200 to $400 per acre. In this vicinity it was estimated that there were ten Portuguese residents to one American. Near Haywards ten acre tracts sold at from $250 to $400 per acre. Near Irvington the Roberts tract was cut up in 1889 and sold in subdivisions at from $150 to $400 per acre. The fruit crop of 1892 was medium in quantity, but commanded high prices. Cherries, figs, apricots, peaches, pears, almonds, plums and apples brought unusually satisfactory prices. Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, sweet peas, early potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, onions and carrots were not raised in large quantities, but brought good prices. As a whole the fruit and berry crop was satisfactory. The Alameda county exhibit at the World's Fair, Chicago, filled five cars. The members of the asso- ciation in March were as follows: M. J. Laymance (president), W. H. Loomis, F. Soule, J. A. Colquhoun, H. T. Smith, E. W. Woodward, C. A. Wetmore, R. S. Farrelly, J. C. Whipple, George Schmidt, J. L. Lyon and A. P. Crance. There was a board of lady managers.
In 1893 the most important grape growing districts in Alameda county were those at Livermore, Pleasanton, Sunol, Vallecitos, Mission San Jose, Warm Springs, Niles and Haywards. At this time the dreaded phylloxera had not made its appearance generally in this county, although many of the vineyards were started in 1881, but great precautions had been taken with cuttings and roots from other districts. At Mission San Jose the pest had appeared, but was being held in check by the county horticultural commission and the agri- cultural experts at the university and experiment station. During 1891-93 the number of vines planted was comparatively small. There were in the whole county at this date 214 vineyards with a total acreage of 7,083, of which 6,879 were bearing. There were 5,690 acres of wine grapes, 295 acres of table grapes and 98 acres of raisin grapes. The acreage of resistants 'was 688. The crop of 1892 amounted to 12,060 tons. The stock of wine on hand was 2,034,550 gallons and the total cooperage, 4,147,150 gallons.
Ruby Hill vineyard near Pleasanton, owned by John Crellin & Sons, con- sisted in 1894 of 250 acres of vines mostly of wine varieties. The vineyard was divided into sections by rows of olive trees, numbering in all about one thousand. On the place, also, were almonds, pecans, chestnuts, English walnuts, oranges, figs, pomegranates, apricots, cherries, prunes, plums, apples, etc. The wine cellar was built in 1877 and its capacity was later increased to 300,000 gallons of sauternes and clarets. The big distillery was a feature in 1894. This year the agricultural department issued a special bulletin setting forth the dangerous and damaging nature of the San Jose scale.
The state meeting of the farmers' alliance assembled in Odd Fellows hall, Oakland, December 4th. There were present about fifty delegates, many of whom were ladies. J. L. Gilbert, of Fresno, presided. They were formally welcomed to the city by Mayor Pardee in a program at Germania hall.
In 1896 the county horticultural commissioners reported that, owing to the efforts that had been made, the pests which had threatened the destruction of the orchards and fields were under control and near extinction. Beneficial or parasitic insects had been introduced and had notably thinned out the pests. All
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the farmers and fruit growers had cooperated in the movement. The fruit growers of the county were generally prosperous and contented. In ten years fruit bearing trees had increased ten fold. It was recognized that all fruit grow- ers who stuck to business and owned their lands were sure to become inde- pendent. Early in September the farmers of Pleasanton and vicinity assembled and decided to establish a large creamery at once. It was thought best to erect the creamery building proper at Sunol, but to operate separators at Pleasanton, Irvington and Haywards. The cost was estimated at $9,000.
The Alameda county stockyards were early established and maintained by the wholesale butchers midway between West Berkeley and Emeryville along the shore line. By 1896 they employed 100 men and annually transacted busi- ness valued at $2,000,000. Grayson, Herald, Lyons and Phillips began in 1876; T. W. Corder, John Stewart and M. M. Samson about the same time. Boyle, Lacaste & Company, in 1880; James Hall about 1886; Millen & Lux about the same time. Other prominent concerns were the California and Nevada Meat Com- pany, the Oakland Meat Company and P. Loustalat.
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