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Our Italy, a non-fiction book by Charles Dudley Warner |
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Appendix. A Climate For Invalids |
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_ The following notes on the climate of Southern California, written by Dr. H. A. Johnson, of Chicago, at the solicitation of the writer of this volume and for his information, I print with his permission, because the testimony of a physician who has made a special study of climatology in Europe and America, and is a recognized authority, belongs of right to the public:
The choice of a climate for invalids or semi-invalids involves the consideration of: First, the invalid, his physical condition (that is, disease), his peculiarities (mental and emotional), his social habits, and his natural and artificial needs. Second, the elements of climate, such as temperature, moisture, direction and force of winds, the averages of the elements, the extremes of variation, and the rapidity of change. The climates of the western and south-western portions of the United States are well suited to a variety of morbid conditions, especially those pertaining to the pulmonary organs and the nervous system. Very few localities, however, are equally well adapted to diseases of innervation of circulation and respiration. For the first and second, as a rule, high altitudes are not advisable; for the third, altitudes of from two thousand to six thousand feet are not only admissible but by many thought to be desirable. It seems, however, probable that it is to the dryness of the air and the general antagonisms to vegetable growths, rather than to altitude alone, that the benefits derived in these regions by persons suffering from consumption and kindred diseases should be credited. Proximity to large bodies of water, river valleys, and damp plateaus are undesirable as places of residence for invalids with lung troubles. There are exceptions to this rule. Localities near the sea with a climate subject to slight variations in temperature, a dry atmosphere, little rainfall, much sunshine, not so cold in winter as to prevent much out-door life and not so hot in summer as to make out-door exercise exhausting, are well adapted not only to troubles of the nervous and circulatory systems, but also to those of the respiratory organs. Such a climate is found in the extreme southern portions of California. At San Diego the rainfall is much less, the air is drier, and the number of sunshiny days very much larger than on our Atlantic seaboard, or in Central and Northern California. The winters are not cold; flowers bloom in the open air all the year round; the summers are not hot. The mountains and sea combine to give to this region a climate with few sudden changes, and with a comfortable range of all essential elements. A residence during a part of the winter of 1889-90 at Coronado Beach, and a somewhat careful study of the comparative climatology of the south-western portions of the United States, leads me to think that we have few localities where the comforts of life can be secured, and which at the same time are so well adapted to the needs of a variety of invalids, as San Diego and its surroundings. In saying this I do not wish to be understood as preferring it to all others for some one condition or disease, but only that for weak hearts, disabled lungs, and worn-out nerves it seems to me to be unsurpassed. CHICAGO, _July 12, 1890_.
THE COMING OF WINTER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. From Mr. Theodore S. Van Dyke's altogether admirable book on _Southern California_ I have permission to quote the following exquisite description of the floral procession from December to March, when the Land of the Sun is awakened by the first winter rain: Sometimes this season commences with a fair rain in November, after a light shower or two in October, but some of the very best seasons begin about the time that all begin to lose hope. November adds its full tribute to the stream of sunshine that for months has poured along the land; and, perhaps, December closes the long file of cloudless days with banners of blue and gold. The plains and slopes lie bare and brown; the low hills that break away from them are yellow with dead foxtail or wild oats, gray with mustard-stalks, or ashy green with chemisal or sage. Even the chaparral, that robes the higher hills in living green, has a tired air, and the long timber-line that marks the canon winding up the mountain-slopes is decidedly paler. The sea-breeze has fallen off to a faint breath of air; the land lies silent and dreamy with golden haze; the air grows drier, the sun hotter, and the shade cooler; the smoke of brush-fires hangs at times along the sky; the water has risen in the springs and sloughs as if to meet the coming rain, but it has never looked less like rain than it now does. Suddenly a new wind arises from the vast watery plains upon the south-west; long, fleecy streams of cloud reach out along the sky; the distant mountain-tops seem swimming in a film of haze, and the great California weather prophet--a creature upon whom the storms of adverse experience have beaten for years without making even a weather crack in the smooth cheek of his conceit--lavishes his wisdom as confidently as if he had never made a false prediction. After a large amount of fuss, and enough preliminary skirmishing over the sky for a dozen storms in any Eastern State, the clouds at last get ready, and a soft pattering is heard upon the roof--the sweetest music that ever cheers a Californian ear, and one which the author of "The Rain upon the Roof" should have heard before writing his poem. When the sun again appears it is with a softer, milder beam than before. The land looks bright and refreshed, like a tired and dirty boy who has had a good bath and a nap, and already the lately bare plains and hill-sides show a greenish tinge. Fine little leaves of various kinds are springing from the ground, but nearly all are lost in a general profusion of dark green ones, of such shape and delicacy of texture that a careless eye might readily take them for ferns. This is the alfileria, the prevailing flower of the land. The rain may continue at intervals. Daily the land grows greener, while the shades of green, varied by the play of sunlight on the slopes and rolling hills, increase in number and intensity. Here the color is soft, and there bright; yonder it rolls in wavy alternations, and yonder it reaches in an unbroken shade where the plain sweeps broad and free. For many weeks green is the only color, though cold nights may perhaps tinge it with a rusty red. About the first of February a little starlike flower of bluish pink begins to shine along the ground. This is the bloom of the alfileria, and swiftly it spreads from the southern slopes, where it begins, and runs from meadow to hill-top. Soon after a cream-colored bell-flower begins to nod from a tall, slender stalk; another of sky-blue soon opens beside it; beneath these a little five-petaled flower of deep pink tries to outshine the blossoms of the alfileria; and above them soon stands the radiant shooting-star, with reflexed petals of white, yellow, and pink shining behind its purplish ovaries. On every side violets, here of the purest golden hue and overpowering fragrance, appear in numbers beyond all conception. And soon six or seven varieties of clover, all with fine, delicate leaves, unfold flowers of yellow, red, and pink. Delicate little crucifers of white and yellow shine modestly below all these; little cream-colored flowers on slender scapes look skyward on every side; while others of purer white, with every variety of petal, crowd up among them. Standing now upon some hill-side that commands miles of landscape, one is dazzled with a blaze of color, from acres and acres of pink, great fields of violets, vast reaches of blue, endless sweeps of white. Upon this--merely the warp of the carpet about to cover the land--the sun fast weaves a woof of splendor. Along the southern slopes of the lower hills soon beams the orange light of the poppy, which swiftly kindles the adjacent slopes, then flames along the meadow, and blazes upon the northern hill-sides. Spires of green, mounting on every side, soon open upon the top into lilies of deep lavender, and the scarlet bracts of the painted-cup glow side by side with the crimson of the cardinal-flower. And soon comes the iris, with its broad golden eye fringed with rays of lavender blue; and five varieties of phacelia overwhelm some places with waves of purple, blue, indigo, and whitish pink. The evening primrose covers the lower slopes with long sheets of brightest yellow, and from the hills above the rock-rose adds its golden bloom to that of the sorrel and the wild alfalfa, until the hills almost outshine the bright light from the slopes and plains. And through all this nods a tulip of most delicate lavender; vetches, lupins, and all the members of the wild-pea family are pushing and winding their way everywhere in every shade of crimson, purple, and white; along the ground crowfoot weaves a mantle of white, through which, amid a thousand comrades, the orthocarpus rears its tufted head of pink. Among all these are mixed a thousand other flowers, plenty enough as plenty would be accounted in other countries, but here mere pin-points on a great map of colors. As the stranger gazes upon this carpet that now covers hill and dale, undulates over the table-lands, and robes even the mountain with a brilliancy and breadth of color that strikes the eye from miles away, he exhausts his vocabulary of superlatives, and goes away imagining he has seen it all. Yet he has seen only the background of an embroidery more varied, more curious and splendid, than the carpet upon which it is wrought. Asters bright with centre of gold and lavender rays soon shine high above the iris, and a new and larger tulip of deepest yellow nods where its lavender cousin is drooping its lately proud head. New bell-flowers of white and blue and indigo rise above the first, which served merely as ushers to the display, and whole acres ablaze with the orange of the poppy are fast turning with the indigo of the larkspur. Where the ground was lately aglow with the marigold and the four-o'clock the tall penstemon now reaches out a hundred arms full-hung with trumpets of purple and pink. Here the silene rears high its head with fringed corolla of scarlet; and there the wild gooseberry dazzles the eye with a perfect shower of tubular flowers of the same bright color. The mimulus alone is almost enough to color the hills. Half a dozen varieties, some with long, narrow, trumpet-shaped flowers, others with broad flaring mouths; some of them tall herbs, and others large shrubs, with varying shades of dark red, light red, orange, cream-color, and yellow, spangle hill-side, rock-pile, and ravine. Among them the morning-glory twines with flowers of purest white, new lupins climb over the old ones, and the trailing vetch festoons rock and shrub and tree with long garlands of crimson, purple, and pink. Over the scarlet of the gooseberry or the gold of the high-bush mimulus along the hills, the honeysuckle hangs its tubes of richest cream-color, and the wild cucumber pours a shower of white over the green leaves of the sumach or sage. Snap-dragons of blue and white, dandelions that you must look at three or four times to be certain what they are, thistles that are soft and tender with flowers too pretty for the thistle family, orchids that you may try in vain to classify, and sages and mints of which you can barely recognize the genera, with cruciferae, compositae, and what-not, add to the glare and confusion. Meanwhile, the chaparral, which during the long dry season has robed the hills in sombre green, begins to brighten with new life; new leaves adorn the ragged red arms of the manzanita, and among them blow thousands of little urn-shaped flowers of rose-color and white. The bright green of one lilac is almost lost in a luxuriance of sky-blue blossoms, and the white lilac looks at a distance as if drifted over with snow. The cercocarpus almost rivals the lilac in its display of white and blue, and the dark, forbidding adenostoma now showers forth dense panicles of little white flowers. Here, too, a new mimulus pours floods of yellow light, and high above them all the yucca rears its great plume of purple and white. Thus marches on for weeks the floral procession, new turns bringing new banners into view, or casting on old ones a brighter light, but ever showing a riotous profusion of splendor until member after member drops gradually out of the ranks, and only a band of stragglers is left marching away into the summer. But myriads of ferns, twenty-one varieties of which are quite common, and of a fineness and delicacy rarely seen elsewhere, still stand green in the shade of the rocks and trees along the hills, and many a flower lingers in the timber or canons long after its friends on the open hills or plains have faded away. In the canons and timber are also many flowers that are not found in the open ground, and as late as the middle of September, only twenty miles from the sea, and at an elevation of but fifteen hundred feet, I have gathered bouquets that would attract immediate attention anywhere. The whole land abounds with flowers both curious and lovely; but those only have been mentioned which force themselves upon one's attention. Where the sheep have not ruined all beauty, and the rains have been sufficient, they take as full possession of the land as the daisy and wild carrot do of some Eastern meadows. There are thousands of others, which it would be a hopeless task to enumerate, which are even more numerous than most of the favorite wild flowers are in the East, yet they are not abundant enough to give character to the country. For instance, there is a great larkspur, six feet high, with a score of branching arms, all studded with spurred flowers of such brilliant red that it looks like a fountain of strontium fire; but you will not see it every time you turn around. A tall lily grows in the same way, with a hundred golden flowers shining on its many arms, but it must be sought in certain places. So the tiger-lily and the columbine must be sought in the mountains, the rose and sweetbrier on low ground, the night-shades and the helianthus in the timbered canons and gulches. Delicacy and brilliancy characterize nearly all the California flowers, and nearly all are so strange, so different from the other members of their families, that they would be an ornament to any greenhouse. The alfileria, for instance, is the richest and strongest fodder in the world. It is the main-stay of the stock-grower, and when raked up after drying makes excellent hay; yet it is a geranium, delicate and pretty, when not too rank. But suddenly the full blaze of color is gone, and the summer is at hand. Brown tints begin to creep over the plains; the wild oats no longer ripple in silvery waves beneath the sun and wind; and the foxtail, that shone so brightly green along the hill-side, takes on a golden hue. The light lavender tint of the chorizanthe now spreads along the hills where the poppy so lately flamed, and over the dead morning-glory the dodder weaves its orange floss. A vast army of cruciferae and compositae soon overruns the land with bright yellow, and numerous varieties of mint tinge it with blue or purple; but the greater portion of the annual vegetation is dead or dying. The distant peaks of granite now begin to glow at evening with a soft purple hue; the light poured into the deep ravines towards sundown floods them with a crimson mist; on the shady hill-sides the chaparral looks bluer, and on the sunny hill-sides is a brighter green than before.
COMPARATIVE TEMPERATURE AROUND THE WORLD. The following table, published by the Pasadena Board of Trade, shows the comparative temperature of well-known places in various parts of the world, arranged according to the difference between their average winter and average summer:
CALIFORNIA AND ITALY. The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, in its pamphlet describing that city and county, gives a letter from the Signal Service Observer at Sacramento, comparing the temperature of places in California and Italy. He writes:
The table on pages 210 and 211, "Extremes of Heat and Cold," is published by the San Diego Land and Farm Company, whose pamphlet says:
[Transcriber's note: Table has been turned from original to fit, along with using abbreviations for the months and a legend.] The following table, from the self-registering thermometer in the observatory of Mr. Hugh D. Vail, shows the mean temperature of each month in the years 1885 to 1889 at Santa Barbara, and also the mean temperature of the warmest and coldest days in each month:
Observations made at San Diego City, compiled from Report Of the Chief Signal Officer of the U. S. Army. [Transcriber's note: Table has been modified from original to fit, using abbreviations for the months and a legend.]
EXTREMES OF HEAT AND COLD. The following table, taken from the Report of the Chief Signal Officer, shows the highest and lowest temperatures recorded since the opening of stations of the Signal Service at the points named, for the number of years indicated. An asterisk (*) denotes below zero:
STATEMENTS OF SMALL CROPS. The following statements of crops on small pieces of ground, mostly in Los Angeles County, in 1890, were furnished to the Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, and are entirely trustworthy. Nearly all of them bear date August 1st. This is a fair sample from all Southern California:
PEACHES. Ernest Dewey, Pomona--Golden Cling Peaches, 10 acres, 7 years old, produced 47 tons green; sold dried for $4800; cost of production, $243.70; net profit, $4556.30. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Amount of rain, 28 inches, winter of 1889-90. H. H. Rose, Santa Anita Township (3/4 of a mile from Lamanda Park)--2-6/7 acres; produced 47,543 pounds; sold for $863.46; cost of production, $104; net profit, $759.46. Soil, light sandy loam; not irrigated. Produced in 1889 12,000 pounds, which sold at $1.70 per 100 pounds. E. R. Thompson, Azusa (2 miles south of depot)--2-1/6 acres, 233 trees, produced 57,655 pounds; sold for $864.82-1/2; cost of production, $140; net profit, $724.82-1/2. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated three times in summer, 1 inch to 7 acres. Trees 7 years old, not more than two-thirds grown. P. O'Connor, Downey--20 trees produced 4000 pounds; sold for $60; cost of production $5; net profit, $55. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Crop sold on the ground. H. Hood, Downey City (1/4 of a mile from depot)--1/4 of an acre produced 7-1/2 tons; sold for $150; cost of production, $10; net profit, $140. Damp sandy soil; not irrigated. F. D. Smith (between Azusa and Glendora, 1-1/4 miles from depot)--1 acre produced 14,361 pounds; sold for $252.51; cost of production, $20; net profit, $232.51. Dark sandy loam; irrigated once. Trees 5 and 6 years old. P. O. Johnson, Ranchito--17 trees, 10 years old, produced 4-3/4 tons; sold 4-1/4 tons for $120; cost of production, $10; net profit, $110; very little irrigation. Sales were 1/2c. per pound under market rate.
E. P. Naylor (3 miles from Pomona)--15 acres produced 149 tons; sold for $7450; cost of production, $527; net profit, $6923. Soil, loam, with some sand; irrigated, 1 inch per 10 acres. W. H. Baker, Downey (1/2 a mile from depot)--1-1/2 acres produced 12,529 pounds; sold for $551.90; cost of production, $50; net profit, $501.90. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Howe Bros. (2 miles from Lordsburg)--800 trees, which had received no care for 2 years, produced 28 tons; sold for $1400; cost of production, $200; net profit, $1200. Soil, gravelly loam, red; partially irrigated. Messrs. Howe state that they came into possession of this place in March, 1890. The weeds were as high as the trees and the ground was very hard. Only about 500 of the trees had a fair crop on them. W. A. Spalding, Azusa--1/3 of an acre produced 10,404 pounds; sold for $156.06; cost of production, $10; net profit, $146.06. Soil, sandy loam. E. A. Hubbard, Pomona (1-1/2 miles from depot)--4-1/2 acres produced 24 tons; sold green for $1080; cost of production, $280; net profit, $800. Soil, dark sandy loam; irrigated. This entire ranch of 9 acres was bought in 1884 for $1575. F. M. Smith (1-1/4 miles east of Azusa)--3/5 of an acre produced 17,174 pounds; sold for $315.84; cost of production, $25; net profit, $290. Soil, deep, dark sandy loam; irrigated once in the spring. Trees 5 years old. George Rhorer (1/2 of a mile east of North Pomona)--13 acres produced 88 tons; sold for $4400 on the trees; cost of production, $260; net profit, $4140. Soil, gravelly loam; irrigated, 1 inch to 8 acres. Trees planted 5 years ago last spring. J. S. Flory (between the Big and Little Tejunga rivers)--1-1/3 acres or 135 trees 20 feet apart each way; 100 of the trees 4 years old, the balance of the trees 5 years old; produced 5230 pounds dried; sold for $523; cost of production, $18; net profit, $505. Soil, light loam, with some sand; not irrigated. W. Caruthers (2 miles north of Downey)--3/4 of an acre produced 5 tons; sold for $222; cost of production, $7.50; net profit, $215. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Trees 4 years old. James Loney, Pomona--2 acres; product sold for $1150; cost of production, $50; net profit, $1100. Soil, sandy loam. I. W. Lord, Eswena--5 acres produced 40 tons; sold for $2000; cost of production, $300; net profit, $1700. Soil, sandy loam. M. B. Moulton, Pomona--3 acres; sold for $1873; cost of production, $215; net profit, $1658. Soil, deep sandy loam. Trees 9 years old. Ernest Dewey, Pomona--6 acres produced 38 tons green; dried, at 10 cents a pound, $3147; cost of production, $403; profit, $2734. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated one inch to 10 acres. Sixty per cent. increase over former year. C. S. Ambrose, Pomona--12 acres produced 77 tons; $50 per ton gross, $3850; labor of one hand one year, $150; profit, $3700. Soil, gravelly; very little irrigation. Prunes sold on trees.
Joachim F. Jarchow, San Gabriel--2-1/2 acres; 10-year trees; product sold for $1650; cost of production $100, including cultivation of 7-1/2 acres, not bearing; net profit, $1550. F. D. Smith, Azusa--6-1/2 acres produced 600 boxes; sold for $1200; cost of production, $130; net profit, $1070. Soil, dark sandy loam; irrigated three times. Trees 4 years old. George Lightfoot, South Pasadena--5-1/2 acres produced 700 boxes; sold for $1100; cost of production, $50; net profit, $1050. Soil, rich, sandy loam; irrigated once a year. H. Hood, Downey--1/2 of an acre produced 275 boxes; sold for $275; cost of production, $25; net profit, $250. Soil, damp, sandy; not irrigated. W. G. Earle, Azusa--1 acre produced 210 boxes; sold for $262; cost of production, $15; net profit, $247. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated four times. Nathaniel Hayden, Vernon--4 acres; 986 boxes at $1.20 per box; sales, $1182; cost of production, $50; net profit, $1132. Loam; irrigated. Other products on the 4 acres. H. O. Fosdick, Santa Ana--1 acre; 6 years old; 350 boxes; sales, $700; cost of production and packing, $50; net profit, $650. Loam; irrigated. J. H. Isbell, Rivera--1 acre, 82 trees; 16 years old; sales, $600; cost of production, $25; profit, $575. Irrigated. $1.10 per box for early delivery, $1.65 for later.
William Bernhard, Monte Vista--10 acres produced 25 tons; sold for $750; cost of production, $70; net profit, $680. Soil, heavy loam; not irrigated. Vines 5 years old. Dillon, Kennealy & McClure, Burbank (1 mile from Roscoe Station)--200 acres produced 90,000 gallons of wine; cost of production, $5000; net profit, about $30,000. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated; vineyard in very healthy condition. P. O'Connor (2-1/2 miles south of Downey)--12 acres produced 100 tons; sold for $1500; cost of production, $360; net profit, $1140. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Vines planted in 1884, when the land would not sell for $100 per acre. J. K. Banks (1-3/4 miles from Downey)--40 acres produced 250 tons; sold for $3900; cost of production, $1300; net profit, $2600. Soil, sandy loam.
W. Y. Earle (2-1/2 miles from Azusa)--Strawberries, 2-1/2 acres produced 15,000 boxes; sold for $750; cost of production, $225; net profit, $525. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated. Shipped 3000 boxes to Ogden, Utah, and 6000 boxes to Albuquerque and El Paso. Benjamin Norris, Pomona--Blackberries, 1/4 of an acre produced 2500 pounds; sold for $100; cost of production, $5; net profit, $95. Soil, light sandy; irrigated. S. H. Eye, Covina--Raspberries, 5/9 of an acre produced 1800 pounds; sold for $195; cost of production, $85; net profit, $110. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated. J. O. Houser, Covina--Blackberries, 1/4 of an acre produced 648 pounds; sold for $71.28; cost of production, $18; net profit, $53.28. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated. First year's crop.
T. D. Leslie (1 mile from Pomona)--1 acre produced 10 tons; sold for $250; cost of production, $60; net profit, $190. Soil, loose, gravelly; irrigated; 1 inch to 10 acres. First crop. George Lightfoot, South Pasadena--2 acres produced 11 tons; sold for $260; cost of production, $20; net profit, $240. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. T. D. Smith, Azusa--1 acre produced 13,555 pounds; sold for $169.44; cost of production, $25; net profit, $144.44. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated once. Trees 5 years old. W. Y. Earle (2-1/2 miles from Azusa)--6 acres produced 6 tons; sold for $350; cost of production, $25; net profit, $325. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Trees 3 years old. W. A. Spalding, Azusa--335 trees produced 15,478 pounds; sold for $647.43; cost of production, $50; net profit, $597.43. Soil, sandy loam. Mrs. Winkler, Pomona--3/4 of an acre, 90 trees; product sold for $381; cost of production, $28.40; net profit, $352.60. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Only help, small boys and girls.
E. A. Bonine, Lamanda Park--Apricots, nectarines, prunes, peaches, and lemons, 30 acres produced 160 tons; sold for $8000; cost of production, $1500; net profit, $6500. No irrigation. J. P. Fleming (1-1/2 miles from Rivera)--Walnuts, 40 acres produced 12-1/2 tons; sold for $2120; cost of production, $120; net profit, $2000. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. George Lightfoot, South Pasadena--Lemons, 2 acres produced 500 boxes; sold for $720; cost of production, $20; net profit, $700. Soil, rich sandy loam; not irrigated. Trees 10 years old. W. A. Spalding, Azusa--Nectarines, 96 trees produced 19,378 pounds; sold for $242.22; cost of production, $35; net profit, $207.22. Soil, sandy loam. F. D. Smith, Azusa--Nectarines, 1-2/5 acres produced 36,350 pounds; sold for $363.50; cost of production, $35; net profit, $318.50. Soil, deep dark sandy loam; irrigated once in spring. Trees 5 and 6 years old. C. D. Ambrose (4 miles north of Pomona)--Pears, 3 acres produced 33,422 pounds; sold green for $1092.66; cost of production, $57; net profit, $1035.66. Soil, foot-hill loam; partly irrigated. N. Hayden--Statement of amount of fruit taken from 4 acres for one season at Vernon District: 985 boxes oranges, 15 boxes lemons, 8000 pounds apricots, 2200 pounds peaches, 200 pounds loquats, 2500 pounds nectarines, 4000 pounds apples, 1000 pounds plums, 1000 pounds prunes, 1000 pounds figs, 150 pounds walnuts, 500 pounds pears. Proceeds, $1650. A family of five were supplied with all the fruit they wanted besides the above.
O. Bullis, Compton--28-3/4 acres produced 3000 sacks; sold for $3000; cost of production, $500; net profit, $2500. Soil, peat; not irrigated. This land has been in potatoes 3 years, and will be sown to cabbages, thus producing two crops this year. P. F. Cogswell, El Monte--25 acres produced 150 tons; sold for $3400; cost of production, $450; net profit, $2950. Soil, sediment; not irrigated. M. Metcalf, El Monte--8 acres produced 64 tons; sold for $900; cost of production, $50; net profit, $850. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. Jacob Vernon (1-1/2 miles from Covina)--3 acres produced 400 sacks; sold for $405.88; cost of production, $5; net profit, $400.88. Soil, sandy loam; irrigated one acre. Two-thirds of crop was volunteer. H. Hood, Downey--Sweet potatoes, 1 acre produced 300 sacks; sold for $300; cost of production, $30; net profit, $270. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. C. C. Stub, Savannah (1 mile from depot)--10 acres produced 1000 sacks; sold for $2000; cost of production, $100; net profit, $1900. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. A grain crop was raised on the same land this year.
F. A. Atwater and C. P. Eldridge, Clearwater--1 acre produced 211 sacks; sold for $211; cost of production, $100; net profit, $111. Soil, sandy loam; no irrigation. At present prices the onions would have brought $633. Charles Lauber, Downey--1 acre produced 113 sacks; sold for $642; cost of production, $50; net profit, $592. No attention was paid to the cultivation of this crop. Soil, sandy loam; not irrigated. At present prices the same onions would have brought $803.
Eugene Lassene, University--Pumpkins, 5 acres produced 150 loads; sold for $4 per load; cost of production, $3 per acre; net profit, $585. Soil, sandy loam. A crop of barley was raised from the same land this year. P. K. Wood, Clearwater--Pea-nuts, 3 acres produced 5000 pounds; sold for $250; cost of production, $40; net profit, $210. Soil, light sandy; not irrigated. Planted too deep, and got about one-third crop. Oliver E. Roberts (Terrace Farm, Cahuenga Valley)--3 acres tomatoes; sold product for $461.75. Soil, foot-hill; not irrigated; second crop, watermelons. One-half acre green peppers; sold product for $54.30. 1-1/2 acres of green peas; sold product for $220. 17 fig-trees; first crop sold for $40. Total product of 54 acres, $776.05. Jacob Miller, Cahuenga--Green peas, 10 acres; 43,615 pounds; sales, $3052; cost of production and marketing, $500; profit, $2552. Soil, foot-hill; not irrigated. Second crop, melons. W. W. Bliss, Duarte--Honey, 215 stands; 15,000 pounds; sales, $785. Mountain district. Bees worth $1 to $3 per stand. James Stewart, Downey--Figs, 3 acres; 20 tons, at $50, $1000. Not irrigated; 26 inches rain; 1 acre of trees 16 years old, 2 acres 5 years. Figs sold on trees. The mineral wealth of Southern California is not yet appreciated. Among the rare minerals which promise much is a very large deposit of tin in the Temescal Canon, below South Riverside. It is in the hands of an English company. It is estimated that there are 23 square miles rich in tin ore, and it is said that the average yield of tin is 20-1/4 per cent. [THE END] _ |
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