Part 6

"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, coarse, 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 Butter, 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 PASSAGE FROM ENGLAND.

Steamships run from Liverpool and Southampton at the following rates:--

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

1st class. 2nd class. 3rd class.

From £12 12s. to £26 5s. £7 £4.

During the winter months--

1st class. 2nd class. 3rd class.

£10 10s. to £25 £7 £4.

The third-class passengers are provided with a free ticket from London to Liverpool.

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

First class fares from £10 10s. to £25. Second class fares from £6 10s. to £7 7s. Third class fares £4.

The third class includes a free ticket from London to Liverpool.

3.--The "White Star" Line. Liverpool to New York

1st class. 2nd class. 3rd class. Summer season--£15 to £28 £7 to £9 £4.

Winter season--£10 10s. to £18 £6 10s. to £8 £4.

The third class passengers are provided with a free ticket from London to Liverpool, and free tickets, if required, from New York to Boston or Philadelphia.

4.--North German Lloyd Company. Southampton to New York-- First class, £14 to £23. Second class, £10.

5.--The American Line. Liverpool to New York-- Second class, £6. Third class, £3 16s.

Steamers leave Southampton, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Queenstown, thus being convenient respectively for passengers from the north or south of England, from Scotland, or from Ireland.

Steamers run from this country to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, or Baltimore, but New York is the best port for Merced.

THE LAND JOURNEY FROM NEW YORK TO MERCED, CALIFORNIA.

_Copy of Letter from the Southern Pacific Railroad Company._

"Our fares from New York to Merced, _viâ_ New Orleans, are:--1st class, unlimited, £19 19s. 0d.; limited, £18 4s. 7d.; 2nd class, £12 8s. 4d.; 3rd class, £12 2s. 9d., all rail; £11 1s. 11d. by steamer to New Orleans, and thence rail, food, and sleeping berth on steamer included. The charges for sleeping car berths are:--1st class, 22 dollars; 2nd class from New Orleans, 3 dollars. There are no 2nd class sleepers to New Orleans, except on the fortnightly excursion trains from Cincinnati, leaving that city January 7th and 21st, February 4th and 18th; March 4th and 18th; April 8th and 22nd, etc. The charge from Cincinnati is 4 dollars 50 cents. Third class passengers can travel in 2nd class sleepers upon payment of the usual charge. The fares from New Orleans to principal Californian points, including Merced, are:--1st class, unlimited, £14. 1s. 3d.; 2nd class, £8. 17s. 1d.; 3rd class, none. Sleeping cars--1st class, 13 dollars; 2nd class, 3 dollars.

Tickets may be obtained through Messrs, DOWSETT and Co., 3, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, direct from Liverpool to California, or any other State _en route_.

ANALYSIS OF MERCED SOILS.

Having fitted up a portion of one of my offices with all the requisites for carrying out quantitative analyses of surface soils, I requested Professor Lobley, F.G.S., etc., to analyse the four samples of soils which I brought with me from Merced.

A general analysis of four samples of soil from Merced, California, has given the following results:--

SAMPLE A.

Organic matter (Humus) 5.5 Soluble inorganic matter 11.75 Insoluble silica and silicates 82.75 -------- 100.00

SAMPLE B.

Organic matter (Humus) 4.25 Soluble inorganic matter 14.45 Insoluble silica and silicates 81.30 -------- 100.00

SAMPLE C.

Organic matter (Humus) 5.25 Soluble inorganic matter 16.75 Insoluble silica and silicates 78.00 -------- 100.00

SAMPLE D.

Organic matter (Humus) 3.5 Soluble inorganic matter 12.0 Insoluble silica and silicates 84.5 -------- 100.00

The organic matter is available for plant growth.

The inorganic matter, soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid, is (with the exception of the alumina it may contain) composed of fertilising material. The substances found in the soluble inorganic matter of soils are lime, magnesia, alumina, silica, phosphoric acid, oxide of iron, oxide of manganese, potash and soda. The insoluble mineral matter is nearly all silica. There is very little clayey matter in any of the soils--not more than about five per cent. All the soils are remarkably free from stones or pebbles, or even coarse sand.

From the above it will be seen that these soils, while possessing a large amount of matter available for plant growth, are exceedingly friable, and would be very easily worked. They would absorb heat quickly, and from their porosity would require little drainage, and so would be both warm and dry soils, and form fertile land suitable for almost all kinds of agricultural and horticultural produce.

THE POSITION OF MY CLIENTS, THE VENDORS.

My clients, the owners of the land called "British Colony," at Merced, are well-known persons--well-known as men of great wealth, and as gentlemen of undoubted integrity, the Hon. Charles Crocker and Mr. C.H. Huffman, whose enterprises in railway, canal, and other public works, have been of gigantic proportions.

I have every confidence myself in dealing with these gentlemen, and I submit that my friends, clients, and the general public, who may be willing to take up any of this "British Colony" land at Merced, may have full confidence, too, that they will at least be treated justly, and more than that is not expected from strangers in business; but I believe that I might add they would be treated liberally if necessity arose, and I have ground for this statement from what I have heard of their treatment of other persons who have settled in one of their other "Colonies."

CALIFORNIA, MERCED.

I have for sale besides the estate designated "British Colony," a tract of land belonging to a well-known merchant in the City of London, who has owned it for 13 years. It comprises 5,084 acres, and has a registered Government title. Price 30 dollars per acre, and 7 years' credit would be given if 20 per cent. is paid down. Part of it is well suited for Fruit growing, but as yet the water from the canals belonging to my other clients has not been taken to it. It has, however, some creeks upon it, but they are frequently dry. The land is of a rolling prairie character, and is now let at a nominal rent of 25 cents per acre for sheep farming. The soil is varied; some of it is a good loam, some of a clayey nature, and some stony; there is a shepherd's house, with barn and yard. The taxes upon it are about 15 to 20 cents per acre. One half of the land would be sold separately, but it must be the half farthest from the side where the canals are. The situation is an attractive one as the undulations really form the first foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, of which there is a grand view. This land is well worth buying, as when water is obtained, the price will then be increased to that asked for other irrigated Fruit lands.

A plan may be seen at my offices, 3, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London.

FINIS.

* * * * *

London:

Printed by Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.

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REQUIRED TO PURCHASE.

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