A start in life Part 5

IRRIGATION.

"A piece of land at Riverside, below the flow of water, was worth 300 dollars an acre. Contiguous to it was another piece not irrigated, which would not sell for 50 dollars an acre. By bringing water to it, it would quickly sell for 300 dollars, thus adding 250 dollars to its value. As the estimate at River side is that one inch of water will irrigate five acres of Fruit land, five times 250 dollars would be 1,250 dollars per inch, at which price water for irrigation has actually been sold at Riverside.

"The standard of measurement of water in Southern California is the miner's inch under four inches pressure, or the amount that will flow through an inch-square opening under a pressure of four inches measured from the surface of the water in the conduit to the centre of the opening through which it flows. This is nine gallons a minute, or, as it is figured, 1,728 cubic feet or 12,960 gallons in 24 hours, and 1/50 of a cubic foot a second. This flow would cover 10 acres about 18 inches deep in a year; that is, it would give the land the equivalent of 18 inches of rain, distributed exactly when and where it was needed, none being wasted, and more serviceable than 50 inches of rainfall as it generally comes. This, with the natural rainfall, is sufficient for citrous Fruits and for corn and alfalfa, in soil not too sandy, and it is too much for grapes and all deciduous fruits.

"But irrigation, in order to be successful, must be intelligently applied. In unskilful hands it may work more damage than benefit. Mr.

Theodore S. Van d.y.k.e, who may always be quoted with confidence, says that the ground should never he flooded; that water must not touch the plant or tree, or come near enough to make the soil bake around it; and that it should be let in in small streams for two or three days, and not in large streams for a few hours.

OLIVE CULTURE.

"The growth of the olive is to be, it seems to me, one of the leading and most permanent industries of Southern California. It will give us, what it is nearly impossible to buy now, pure olive oil, in place of the cotton seed and lard mixture in general use. It is a most wholesome and palatable article of food. Those whose chief experience of the olive is the large, coa.r.s.e, and not agreeable Spanish variety, used only as an appetizer, know little of the value of the best varieties as food, nutritious as meat, and always delicious. Good bread and a dish of pickled olives make an excellent meal. A mature olive grove in good bearing is a fortune. I feel sure that within 25 years this will be one of the most profitable industries of California, and that the demand for pure oil and edible fruit in the United States will drive out the adulterated and inferior present commercial products."

SPECIAL OPENINGS.

There are now at Merced special openings for a nurseryman and a dairyman; the latter would be by growing alfalfa (lucerne) and raising poultry for at present the Merced people often have to get poultry and eggs from San Francisco, 150 miles off.

POTATO GROWING.

A settler might make a really good return out of potatoes while his Fruit trees are maturing, which is a food more in use in America than in England. Potatoes are not only served at luncheon and dinner, but also at breakfast everywhere, and, if every settler planted his land with potatoes, there would be no fear of overstocking the market.

Mr. Eisen states that potatoes yield from 50 to 400 sacks to the acre, and sell at prices varying from 90 cents to 2 dollars per sack. If only 50 sacks were grown to the acre, it would show a scarce year, when prices would range higher, but the crop is never a failure in California. Two crops can be grown in a year; the first crop is planted at the end of February, if warm, or else in March, or indeed any time till the middle of May, and dug three months after; the second crop is planted in August or September, and dug three months after.

To put in the potatoes a settler would need the help of a labourer, to whom he would have to give one dollar per day and his board, or, if the labourer be a Chinaman, one dollar and a quarter per day without his board. If the potatoes occupied ten acres, and they produced say 200 sacks to the acre, and fetched 1 dollar per sack, that would yield 2,000 dollars, or for the two crops 4,000 dollars, or, say, 800. This sounds a large sum, but the land is exceedingly rich, as may be seen from the samples I have brought back, and large results may be expected from it if properly worked, for, of course, in any undertaking the result depends upon the way it is worked.

The following paragraph is from an important paper or periodical of 20 pages, known as the _Pacific Rural Press_, of December 13th, 1890, and although the crop it mentions was not grown in California, it shows at least what can be done on good ground:--

"Nearly 1,000 bushels of potatoes, or, to be exact, 974 bushels and 48 pounds, have been grown on one acre of land in Johnson County, Wyoming, the past season. This crop wins the first prize of several hundred dollars offered by the _American Agriculturist_ for the largest yield of potatoes on one exact acre. It was grown on virgin soil without manure or fertilizer, but the land was rich in potash, and the copious irrigation was of water also rich in saline material. There were 22,800 hills on one acre, and 1,560 pounds of sets, containing one, two, and three eyes, were planted of the early Vermont and Manhattan varieties.

The profit on the crop on this first prize acre was 714 dollars, exclusive of 500 dollars in prizes."

Thus, this one acre would have produced 142 worth of potatoes. I do not mention it as an example of what a settler may or may not do at Merced, but as the land at Merced which I am offering for sale is of the richest quality, rich results may certainly be expected.

COST OF GOODS, &c., AT MERCED.

per lb.

Beef (to boil), 8 to 10 cents Beef (steak), 10 cents Beef (shoulder), 10 cents Beef (choice), 12-1/2 cents Beef (porterhouse and tenderloin), 15 cents Veal, 10 to 15 cents Mutton, 10 to 12-1/2 cents Pork, 10 to 12-1/2 cents Sausages, 12-1/ to 15 cents Corned beef, 8 to 10 cents Bacon, 12-1/2 cents Hams, 15 cents Tongues, 10 cents Flour, 4-1/2 to 5 dollars for a barrel weighing 200 lbs.

Tea, 25 cents to 1 dollar Coffee, 24 to 45 cents Candles, 15 to 20 cents Chocolate, 25 cents Cod fish, 10 cents Corn meal, 3 to 4 cents Cocoa, 50 to 60 cents Cracker biscuits, 8 to 10 cents Graham flour, 3 to 5 cents Macaroni, 15 cents Oatmeal, 5 cents Rolled oats, 6 cents Rice, 5-1/2 to 8 cents Salt, 1 to 2 cents Soda, 4 cents Starch, 10 cents Sugar, 7 to 8 cents Sugar (house), 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 cents b.u.t.ter, 25 to 40 cents Eggs, 15 to 40 cents per dozen, according to season Coal oil, 1.40 per 5-gallon can.

One of my clients recently visited England with his family, and says that one can live cheaper at Merced than in England.

The cost of a twelve-roomed house is 3,000 to 4,000 dollars, according to finish, _i.e.,_ from 600 to 800. Most of the houses are built of wood, and such a house could be built in twenty to thirty days, if necessary.

Stabling for two horses, with room for buggy, wagon, harness, and hay, would cost 250 dollars or 50.

A ten-roomed house would cost from 2,500 to 3,500 dollars, according to finish.

An eight-roomed house would cost from 2,000 to 2,500 dollars.

A six roomed house would cost about 2,000 dollars.

A four-roomed house would cost about 1,200 dollars.

Live poultry cost about 6 dollars per dozen.

Cows, 25 to 50 dollars each. Horses, 75 to 150 dollars each. Sheep, 3 to 4 dollars each.

Cultivators cost from 7 to 15 dollars each. Ploughs and harrows about the same price. A riding cultivator, 45 to 50 dollars. Pruning shears, 3 dollars.

Day labour costs 1 dollar per day and board; but, in harvest time, 1-1/2 dollar per day and board.

Carpenters, 2-1/2 dollars per day, sometimes with and sometimes without board.

Fencing costs 500 dollars (_i.e_., 100) a mile. To fence a 20-acre lot would cost 350 dollars (_i.e_., 70); but if the eight forming the quarter section joined together, it would cost each about 130 dollars (_i.e_., 26). The fence would be a 6-inch board at bottom, then 30 inches of wire netting to keep out rabbits, then another 6-inch board and a barbed wire at top.

Firewood costs 6 to 7 dollars a cord of hard wood, or 5 to 6 dollars of willow wood; a cord of wood is 4-ft. by 4-ft. by 8-ft.

TAKE CLOTHING AND BRIC-A-BRAC.

All kinds of clothing are dear. A good suit would cost 7 to 8, or, if ready made, 5. Settlers should therefore take with them plenty of clothes, sufficient, say, to last for five years, including boots, blankets, linen, etc.; also _bric-a-brac,_ and anything to add cheerfulness and refinement to the home, but they should not take furniture nor animals. Guns they might take, but not tools nor implements.

SEA Pa.s.sAGE FROM ENGLAND.

Steams.h.i.+ps run from Liverpool and Southampton at the following rates:--

1.--Cunard Company's Line. Liverpool to New York. During the summer months--

1st cla.s.s. 2nd cla.s.s. 3rd cla.s.s.

From 12 12s. to 26 5s. 7 4.

During the winter months--

1st cla.s.s. 2nd cla.s.s. 3rd cla.s.s.

10 10s. to 25 7 4.

The third-cla.s.s pa.s.sengers are provided with a free ticket from London to Liverpool.

2.--Inman Line. Liverpool to New York--

First cla.s.s fares from 10 10s. to 25. Second cla.s.s fares from 6 10s.

to 7 7s. Third cla.s.s fares 4.

The third cla.s.s includes a free ticket from London to Liverpool.