USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume I > Part 25
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In 1897 the hop crop at Pleasanton was the largest ever harvested. The total weight of green hops picked was 1,711,800 pounds. It cost $20,000 to harvest this crop. The bales averaged 200 pounds each. The crop was picked mostly by women and children in three or four weeks' time. The State Farm- ers' Institute was held at Livermore in January with a large attendance. Many interesting and instructive papers were read and addresses delivered. Early this year the beet sugar factory at Alvarado erected additional buildings, employed more men and doubled its capacity. Growers were asked to increase their productions. A floral society was organized in Berkeley with the object of beautifying the city with beds of flowers, desirable shade trees and ornamental shrubs. A committee consisting of C. R. Greenleaf, Warring Wilkinson, John Hinkie, William C. Jones, J. B. Hume, W. T. Barrett and A. S. Blake was placed in charge of the movement. The announced aim was to make the uni- versity town the most attractive place for residence in the state.
In March, 1898, Horticultural Commissioner Barry reported as follows: "I am sorry to say that after going over the whole ground I find that the destruc- tion of the apricot and almond crops is nearly complete. On the south of Ala- meda creek from Irvington to Alvarado, with the exception of the orchards of Shinn, Ellsworth Ford and my own, every apricot and almond is killed. On the north bank of the Alameda creek from Niles to Decoto, with the exception of Snyder's orchard, they are in the same condition."
In April the Livermore creamery closed down owing to lack of grass for cows. During that month in 1897 the average daily receipts of milk were 3,500 pounds, but in 1898 the average was only about one thousand seven hundred pounds. At this time 230,000 gallons of wine were shipped from Livermore valley in a few days. The Ruby Hill vineyard alone sent south four carloads in a short time. C. H. Wente sold 100,000 gallons in San Francisco and James Concannon and H. B. Waggoner sold each about thirty thousand gallons.
In the So's and 90's Professor Koebele of Alameda distinguished himself in devising ways and means to exterminate insects injurious to vegetation. He brought to the state parasites which saved the orange trees and deciduous fruit orchards from destruction. He had formerly been connected with the depart-
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ment of agriculture. He made a special study of the products of the Islands of Hawaii. At this time the bulletins of the state experiment station were doing a vast amount of good to the farmers of Alameda county. In April Pleasanton shipped 5,880,300 pounds of brick, hay, barley, wheat, wine and mer- chandise. Blooded horses were shipped by Crellin & Keating, Andrew Mc- Dowell, and Mr. Robinson.
The farmers' institute met at Niles on April 15, 1899, with W. H. Tyson in the chair. There was a large attendance. Many topics were considered, among them being irrigation, grape culture, canners and dryers, orchard fertilization, fruits and flowers, and experiment stations. The agricultural department of the university was represented at this session.
In the fall of 1899, as never before, Alameda county felt the thrill of good times. From one end of the county to the other old industries revived and new ones sprang into life and rapid prosperity. The fruit and fruit products were never more satisfactory. All cereals were produced in such liberal quantities per acre that large returns were realized. The same was true of vegetables. Prices advanced so that higher profits than ever were the result. The grape crop was enormous and much of it was turned into the famous brands of wine so well known in all the cities of the world. Daily the coal mines of the county, notably at Tesla, put on the market hundreds of tons. Secretary Wil- son visited California and warned the farmers that they should begin the prac- tice of rotation instead of growing the same crop continuously year after year, as wheat for instance. He also warned them against the evils of over-irrigation. The newspapers thought the farmers would laugh at the suggestions.
By 1900 it was well recognized that the county was divided by soil, water and other surroundings into three natural districts-cherry, apricot and grape. The stretch of country from Oakland to Haywards is the home of the cherry; the tract from Haywards south and east to the county line with Niles as a cen- ter is the region devoted to apricot growing, and the Livermore valley is the natural habitat of the grape. At this date the annual county cherry crop was worth about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The apricots of the-Niles region are famous for their size, color and flavor, and good apricot land is worth from $500 to $1,000 per acre. As a matter of fact cherries and apricots are the king and the queen of Alameda county fruits. Other fruits that do well are the pear, plum, peach and prune. Perhaps the great grape and wine region is around Livermore and Pleasanton, though large quantities are also produced in Wash- ington township.
The amount of nursery stock, fruit and ornamental, handled annually in Washington township in 1901-02 was over eight hundred thousand. Thanks to the Alameda county board of horticultural commissioners the orchards were clean and thrifty. Commissioner Barry had distributed large numbers of benefi- cial insects which had checked and nearly obliterated the scale. He had just begun to distribute the parasite of the black scale of the orange and olive. There had been no spraying done since 1893, yet the orchards were in good condition and the fruit was sound. Mr. Barry estimated the saving for nine years at $172,368 on the 1,996 acres of commercial orchards in the district. This sav- ing was credited to the parasitic insects which had rendered spraying unneces- sary. Before their introduction it had cost, for instance, Mr. McIver of Mission
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San Jose, $800 a year to keep in subjection his orange, lemon, olive and orna- mental tree insects. The fruit crop of Washington township in 1902 was worth $135,850. The floral industry was increasing rapidly, many new gardens and greenhouses having been started. All shipments were inspected, cars, barrels and packing boxes were fumigated, and all disused product was destroyed. There were in Berkeley ten floral establishments, in Oakland eight, in Alameda six, and in Fruitvale eight. Many lady bugs were set free in Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda and Fruitvale. A. D. Pryal was the commissioner in the city district.
The report of the state dairy bureau in 1900-01 was highly complimentary to the dairy products of Alameda county. There were produced in 1900, 148,400 pounds of butter by the creamery method and 170,050 pounds by the dairy method. The county furnished San Francisco with 243,080 gallons of milk that year. In the county were the following creameries: Livermore, Jersey of Alameda city, and Central and Oakland Cream Depot of Oakland.
In 1901 there were shipped from Haywards about forty carloads of dried fruit-mostly apricots, prunes and pears. The valuation was $79,500. Belgian hares were bred in large numbers at the Palace Rabbitry on East Twelfth street near Twenty-third avenue, Oakland.
The nursery business was important in Alameda county at a very early date- in fact long before the producers realized the value of fruit farming. The Cali- fornia Nursery Company, the leader in the industry and the largest in the state, was established at Niles by John Rock. It sent out millions of trees and vines, and its importation of varieties and experiments were invaluable to the whole central part of the state. It devoted nearly four hundred acres to trees, vines and other plants. Another large nursery was conducted in West Berkeley by Edward Gill, who planted 200 acres to nursery stock. A dozen others con- ducted nurseries on a smaller scale and every variety of plant life suitable to the soil and climate received attention, culture and dissemination. The culture of rhubarb expanded rapidly as soon as it was learned, about 1893, how best to ship it to eastern markets. Tomatoes, potatoes, peas, beans, asparagus, etc., were also grown in large quantities. The canned and dried fruit products reached enormous proportions. In 1902 there were five large canneries in opera- tion: Hunt Brothers at Haywards; Oakland Preserving Company of Oakland ; Hickmot cannery; San Leandro cannery, and Hood cannery of Emeryville. At this time the five packed nearly five hundred thousand cases per annum. At the same time there was a vegetable pack of about one hundred thousand cases per year. During the busy season one or more of the canneries employed nearly a thousand persons-men, women, boys and girls, and where whites could not be secured Chinese and Japanese were set at work. The pack consisted largely of cherries, peaches, apricots, pears, plums, tomatoes, peas and many small fruits, berries, etc.
In 1908 the county agricultural and horticultural products were worth about two million dollars more than those of any previous year, aggregating about four- teen million dollars.
At Pleasanton were the famous hop fields of the Pleasanton Hop Yards Com- pany, owned by the Lilienthals of San Francisco, in all about five hundred acres of hops in a single field. Grapes and wines are also produced in large quantities.
Livermore valley hay is the best in the world and is sent in immense quan-
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tities by rail and vessel to distant points. This hay was the reason that the val- ley has become famous for its blooded horses. Up to 1910 over ninety horses foaled and raised at Pleasanton had trotted 2:10 or better. The famous Direct stock originated here. Flying Jib, Anaconda, Searchlight and Lou Dillon were raised here. About four hundred horses are brought to Pleasanton to be win- tered each year.
Within the last ten years Livermore valley has come to be known as the gold medal section of the state, owing to the many medals it has taken for its numerous products. Up to 1889 the valley had been content to produce good wine grapes, hay, grain, some fruit, fast horses, barley, olives, almonds, walnuts, but after that date the gold medals began to advertise the valley and the county. First came into prominence the wines, then the superior wheat, olive oil, bar- ley, hops and hay. Five gold medals were taken at the St. Louis fair and three at the Portland fair.
In order to prevent the spread of insect pests and plant diseases the laws of California require an annual inspection of all nurseries by an expert. In 1913 Fred Seulberger, horticultural commissioner of the' county, thus inspected fifty- five nurseries and all owners with infested stock were directed to spray and otherwise clean up. During the year nearly half of his time was spent by the inspector in examining nurseries, because through them any plant disease or pest could be spread over the whole Pacific slope. Growers were instructed and told how to combat the irregularities. Undoubtedly these inspections saved the agriculturists and horticulturists of the county many thousands of dollars annually by prevention which is always better than cure. Much more spraying was done than ever before, under the eye of the commissioner. Every tree or plant imported was rigidly inspected before being permitted to enter the county. Under definite restrictions some infested stock was allowed to enter, while others were wholly and positively prohibited. Careful watch was maintained against peach borer, mealy bug, crown gall and white fly. Alfalfa hay from the weavil areas of Utah was prohibited entrance; the same was true of Nevada potatoes infested with the eel worm and all peach and apricot trees with yellows and rosette. No plants or seeds were taken by the postoffice department unless accompanied with a certificate of inspection. A national quarantine act stopped importations until inspected. In this county the commissioner enforced these regulations. In all the county commission inspected over 476,000 ornamental and over 857,000 fruit trees in 1913. The excellent work of the county commission was shown by the fact that 60,000 ornamental and over 3.300 fruit trees imported bore clean certificates, but were found to be infested. About two per cent of the nursery trees inspected were eaten by borers and were ordered destroyed.
About four per cent of the nursery stock was infested with crown gall and root knot and was destroyed. Twenty carloads of potatoes from Nevada con- taining the eel worm were refused admission into the county. The leading fruit crops of the county in 1913 were apricots, cherries, plums and the principal farm or garden crops, hay, peas, tomatoes, rhubarb, green corn and celery. In the county were 4,048 acres of apricots-Moorpark, Royal and Blenheim being the best commercial varieties. The green apricot crop was 6,970 tons, worth from $52.50 to $60 per ton. The leading cherry sections are San Leandro and Hay- wards; the best varieties are Royal Ann, Black Tartarian and Black Republican. Vol. 1-13
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In the county were 1,936 acres planted to cherries, with a crop of 2,778 tons. The Bartlett pear is the leading variety and the acreage about five hundred and sixty-five, with a crop of about three thousand two hundred tons. Prunes occupy 116 acres. All varieties of small fruit and berries do well in this county- strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, Loganberries. About three hundred acres were planted to celery-San Leandro being the center of this crop. In 1913 there were planted in sugar beets 1,556 acres, which yielded about ten tons per acre The Alvarado factory has a daily capacity of 900 tons. In the county are from 300 to 500 sugar beet growers. About one thousand acres were planted to peas and the product was about three thousand tons, worth $35 per ton at the canneries. The tomato crop occupied 1,400 acres; product 16,800 tons, worth from $7 to $8.50 per ton. In the Livermore district wine grapes occupied 4,232 acres. In the county are sixty-five nurseries growing cut flowers for market -roses, violets, carnations, orchids, chrysanthemums, lilium harrisii and lilium longiflora and ferns. The Bride, Bridesmaid and American Beauty are the leading rare varieties. All successful growers know how to rid their plants of pests- particularly by spraying methods. All have a full knowledge of insecticides and fungicides.
The flower show of the Alameda County Floral Society was held in the Oak- land Chamber of Commerce building in October, 1913, and was the most success- ful and beautiful exhibition of the kind ever shown here. Many exhibits from all parts of the county were displayed. There were shown roses, begonias, pelar- goniums, lilies, coleus, amaryllis, chrysanthemums, salpiglosses, scabrosia, cycla- men, ricinus, celosia, plumosa, native oaks, dahlias, gladioli, home grown cotton and tobacco plants, orchids, salvia, ferns and scores of others.
CHAPTER XII
POLITICS
When the vote for the old constitution was taken on November 13, 1849, there were but three precincts within what was then known as Contra Costa county, namely. at the Moraga Redwoods, Martinez and San Antonio (Brook- lyn, Alameda county). For the election of April 1, 1850, the precinct of New York was added to those already created. On October 7th of the same year the precincts were Martinez, San Antonio, San Ramon (Dublin) and New York. The first record, however, of a distribution of voting precincts is for the election called for September 3, 1851, when the following polling places were established: At the courthouse in the town of Martinez, and the house of Jose Maria Amador, for the township of Martinez; the houses of Victor Castro and Vicente Peralta in and for the township of San Antonio; and the house of William W. Smith in Antioch, and the lower ferry on the San Joaquin river, in and for the township of New York. The polls in Washington township were at the store of H. C. Smith, an election being there held on May 4, 1850, when Lone Kemble was inspector. These, with a few additions, continued until the creation of Alameda county, when, August 1, 1853, the following were declared the first election precincts : In Washington township-at the mission of San Jose at the room next easterly of Howard & Chamberlain's store, and at the town of Alvarado at the room there used for a courthouse. In Eden town- ship-at the house of William Hayward and at the house of T. H. Cowles. In Clinton township-at the house of James B. Larue, at the house of Charles Ray and at the sawmill of Tupper & Hamilton. In Oakland township-at the office of A. Marier. In Contra Costa township-at the house of Seth R. Bailey and at the house of A. E. Hutchinson. In Murray township-at the house of Michael Murray.
At the first constitutional convention called by Governor Riley in 1849 to form the state, the present county of Alameda, then belonging to the jurisdiction of San Jose, was represented by Elam Brown of Lafayette. Brown had come to California in 1846; bought the Acalanes Rancho; was juez of the Contra Costa in 1848. He served not only in the constitutional convention, but in the first two Legislatures of the state, and lived to a ripe old age, rich and highly respected. Two other persons, since connected with the county, namely, Charles T. Botts, of Oakland, and J. Ross Browne, took a prominent part in the labors of that body. In the first Legislature W. R. Bassham was the senator from the San Jose district, to which the present Alameda county still belonged, and Joseph Arm, Benjamin Corey and Elam Brown represented the district in the Assembly.
Before Alameda county was formed an election for the position of member of the Assembly was held on March 26, 1853, when three candidates, viz. :
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Horace W. Carpentier of Oakland, Robert S. Farrelly of "Squatterville" or San Lorenzo, and B. R. Holliday of Martinez, entered the field. The election was subsequently contested in the House. The highest number of votes were polled by Mr. Carpentier, against which Mr. Farrelly protested on the ground of fraud. A certificate of election was refused to Mr. Carpentier by the county clerk, and the matter was unraveled by the committee on elections of the Legis- lature. Mr. Carpentier claimed 519 votes; Mr. Farrelly 254, and Mr. Holliday 192, thus showing a majority of seventy-three votes in favor of Carpentier. S. J. Clark, attorney for Mr. Farrelly, presented various grounds of objection and alleged fraud on the part of Mr. Carpentier, as well as collusion on the part of the board of judges, inspectors and clerks of Contra Costa or Oakland township. In the examination it was ascertained that the whole number of votes cast in the township was 377, while, according to the testimony of the agent who took the census of the township but ten weeks before, there were only 130 votes within its limits. It was also declared that it took almost two hours to count the Carpentier tickets which lay in a compact yellow mass at the top of the box, ere any white ones, representing Farrelly, were reached, and yet three of the last voters who cast their ballots at sundown swore positively that they had voted white tickets for Farrelly. The board of supervisors of Contra Costa county, however, took the view that Mr. Carpentier was duly elected and made affidavits to that end, and a majority of four to six of the committee on elections were of the like opinion, and reported in favor of his taking his seat, in which he was duly confirmed and sworn in, April 11, 1853.
The first election for officers under law of April 6, 1853, was affected in May. Politics did not enter into it. There were several candidates for each office, some of whom had never been known before but by their nicknames. A. H. Broder, chosen sheriff, had been known as "Tom Snook." The other officials elected were: A. M. Crane, county judge and judge of the court of sessions; W. H. Combs, district attorney; A. M. Church, county clerk; J. S. Marston, treasurer; J. S. Watkins, public administrator; W. H. Chamberlain, coroner ; H. A. Higley, county surveyor; G. W. Goucker, county assessor; W. W. Brier, superintendent. Jacob Grewell, chosen in 1853, for two years, joint senator for Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara, continued acting until 1855. Joseph S. Watkins was. Alameda's first Assemblyman. The district judge was Craven P. Hester. The Third judicial district then comprised the counties of Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey. This election was long known as the "steeple chase," for there were from five to six candidates for each office, while many of the would-be county officers appeared in the poll lists under nicknames. On September 9, 1853, the following officers were elected: Asa Walker, S. P. Hopkins, H. M. Randall, B. F. Ferris, A. Marshall, William Fleming, Calvin Rogers, and S. H. Robinson, justices of the peace ; A. B. Atwell, D. N. Van Dyke, William H. Walker, constables. The court of sessions makes no record of this election. In October following these justices convened and elected A. Marshall and S. H. Robinson from among their number as associate justices.
When first created Contra Costa county was attached to Santa Clara county for senatorial purposes, and when Alameda county was created it was united with Santa Clara to form the Fourth senatorial district. Later it was in the Ninth senatorial district and in March, 1874. in the Fourteenth and was given two
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senators. When first created Alameda county was part of the Second con- gressional district, but in 1883 became part of the Third.
At the election of March 5, 1855, Charles Campbell succeeded Mr. Carpentier as mayor of Oakland, and a new council was chosen, all of whom held their offices intact until the 28th of April, when Messrs. Gallagher and Williams were suc- ceeded on the 29th of May by Messrs. E. Gibbons and Robert Worthington.
The general election of 1857 took place on September 21st, but there is no record of the returns ever having been canvassed. The supervisors elected were F. K. Shattuck, for Oakland; Jonathan Mayhew, for Washington; J. A. Griffin, for Eden; S. M. Davis, for Alameda and Brooklyn; and Charles Duerr, for Murray. Mr. Shattuck was chosen chairman; he was the only member of the outgoing board returned.
In the year 1861 there were no less than three political parties in the field, namely, the republican, democrats and union democrats, the first being success- ful in all parts of the state. For the office of State Senator, A. M. Crane, repub- lican, received 1,274 votes, H. Linden, democrat, 288, and N. Hamilton, union democrat, 616. There were no less than six candidates in the field for the office of members of Assembly, the successful competitors being the two republicans, S. B. Bell and J. M. Moore.
On June 14, 1862, a union county convention was held at San Leandro when delegates to the state convention to be held in Sacramento on the 17th were selected as follows: A. M. Church, A. M. Crane, W. W. Crane, Jr., A. J. Kelly, William Kennedy, S. W. Levy, William Meek, J. M. Moore, F. K. Shattuck. The presiding officer at the state convention was Walter Van Dyke, of Hum- boldt, but subsequently, for many years, resident of Alameda. For the purpose of nominating candidates for the Assembly, a second union convention was held at San Leandro on August 13th, when there were present over fifty delegates, who were about equally divided between democrats and republicans. At this convention resolutions of unswerving loyalty were passed, and some opposition to the candidature of Milton S. Latham for United States Senator was expressed. Henry Robinson of Alameda, republican, and Thomas Scott of Washington, democrat, were nominated for the Assembly. The election in the month of September resulted as follows: For Assembly, Robinson (union), 914 votes ; Scott, 834; Johnson (union democrat), 777; Fallon, 640. The creation of the union democratic party was due largely to Alfred A. Cohen, a lawyer of San Francisco, and a wealthy resident of Alameda. Notwithstanding the republi- can ticket carried all before it at the general election in 1862 the democracy held sway at the charter election for the officers of the city of Oakland.
On June 13, 1863, a union party convention assembled at San Leandro; Asa Walker was president, F. M. Campbell, secretary. The following delegates to the union state convention at Sacramento were appointed: Alameda township, Henry Robinson; Brooklyn township, A. W. Swett; Eden township, William Meek; Murray township (no delegate) ; Oakland township, John McMann ; Washington township, H. Overacker. The democratic county convention was held at the same place on the 27th of June, and among those who took a part in its affairs was Ex-Governor Weller, who in 1863 was a resident of Fruitvale. On August Ist the union county convention met for the purpose of nominating the county ticket, which at the election was triumphant. At this election the
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