Agricultural development in Tulare County: 1870-1900

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AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN TULARE COUNTY 1870-1900

A

Thesis

Presented the Faculty of the

to

Department of History

The University of Southern California

In Partial

Fulfillment

of the Requirements Master of

for the Degree Arts

Marion Nielsen Jewell June 195>0

UMI Number: EP59608

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w- 'ya This thesis, w ritten by

........ IMRION NmSEN.5JEy®LL.......... under the guidance of h.is... F a c u lty C o m m ittee, and app ro ved by a l l its members, has been presented to and accepted by the C o u n cil on G ra d u ate S tudy and Research in p a r t ia l f u l f i l l ­ ment of the requirements f o r the degree of

........H..J*.Deuel i.Jr*..... Dean D ate.

_____

Faculty Committee

'hairman

2

&

PREFACE In 19h9 a headline on a local newspaper of the county stated, llTulare Second Richest Agricultural County in the United States*”

Such

a position was not achieved easily, but only through a long period of experimentation and development in discovering the best agricultural crops for the region*

A study of the evolution of farming in Tulare,

added to other regional studies, helps to present a more complete under­ standing of the history of the larger San Joaquin Valley*

The period

I87O- 1900 in Tulare County was a period of greatest change in farming activity*

It was during this period that many of the present day agri­

cultural projects were first started. Invaluable materials for this study have been found in the Tulare County Historical Society Collection, located in Visalia, California. Another great source of information has been the Pacific Rural Press, a weekly farm publication.

The author wishes to thank Miss Edith Taylor,

Tulare County Librarian, for making available the Historical Society materials.

He also wishes to acknowledge the untiring assistance of

Miss Luella Rystrom, Research Assistant Librarian of Tulare County, in helping to locate sources* Thanks are due also to the Thesis Committee, and especially to Dr. Owen C. Coy, for the many suggestions in the organization of this work. It is hoped that these pages will add to the ever accumulating store of knowledge of the San Joaquin Valley*

Library of the University of Southern California: In view of the fact that the thesis of Mr. Marion N. Jewell has been presented copied in elete type the committee has agreed to accept it notwithstanding the rule that it should be in pica type.

May 26, 1950

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE PREFACE

•

.

.

.

.................................

iii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.......................................

vi

CHAPTER ACTIVITYTO 1 S 7 4 ..................

1

Geography of region............................

2

Range cattle industry

5

I. INTRODUCTION —

Railroad activity Early farming

•

.....................

• • • • • • • • • • •

6

• • • • • • •

• • • •

7

• • • • • • •

8

Irrigation along streams

•

•

II. DECLINE OF RANGE CATTLEAND ASCENDANCY OF WHEAT 1874-1885

11

Factors contributing to passing of Range Cattle ,fNo Fence Law11

•

.........................

11 13

Reign of w h e a t ................

16

Districts

18

.................................

Large scale equipment

• • • • • • • • •

19

Irrigation of wheat • • • • • • • • • • •

24

**76” Country

25

Traver

•

......................

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

III. IMMIGRATION AND IRRIGATION....................... Drive for i m m i g r a n t s Newspaper publicity Excursion trains to county

• • • • ................... • • • • • •

26 30 30 31

••

33

V

CHAPTER

PAGE Tulare County Immigrant Association Visalia Board of Trade Land Values ‘

•

•

•

•

• • • • • • •

••

New towns established

•

• • •

37

•

•

39

Irrigation of crops

.............

41

Artesian well region

•

41

• • • • • • • •

Wright Irrigation Law of 1887

•

Tulare Irrigation District

•

• • • • • •

Alta Irrigation D i s t r i c t

•

46 •

..............

4& 50

• • • • • • • • • •

Growing importance of fruit

47 47

THE DECADE OF FRUIT 1890-1900 Decline of wheat

44

.................

Tule River Irrigation District

50

• • • • • • •

53

Citrus development........................

54

Deciduous fruits

.........................

57

.................

62

Grapes and raisins Fruit industry and irrigation

• • • • • •

Well pumping in east section of County Railroads development V.

36

•

Appropriation vs* Doctrine of Riparian rights

IV.

35

• •

• • • • •

A FIRM FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE FAME

64 •

65

• • •

69

. . . . .

72

Three cycles of agriculture.................

72

Population changes

74

......................

Adaption of faming to water supply

•

• •

•

75

vi

CHAPTER BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGE ....................................

APPENDIX A

"NoFence L a w " .............

APPENDIX B

"76" Land andWater Company Circular •

7S 84

•

•

86

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

MAP I II III IV

PAGE TULARE COUNTY IN 1876

.......................

IRRIGATION SYSTEMS FORSAN JOAQUIN VALLEY IN 1873

3 8

TULARE ARTESIAN WELL B E L T ....................

41

TULARE COUNTY IN 1901

75

.......................

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION —

ACTIVITY TO 187k

After recording the Gold Rush, the admittance into Statehood, the Vigilantes, the vast railroad construction, the general historians of California pause to take a deep breath before going on to such events as oil, oranges and industry of the present day.

In that pause

they briefly relate the activities of the f,cow counties11 during the last decades of the nineteenth century.

Even in that passing moment,

interest is centered on the flQueen,11 Los Angeles County, and most of the others are grouped together in generalized statements. Yet these counties, even though late in getting started, deserve morethan passing mention as 11cow counties,11 Investigation has shown that

theirhistory has Jiad as many significant events which have shaped

the course of California history as have the other more publicized parts of the state. One of these ”cow counties,” and an outstanding one, is Tulare, True, it was a part of the vast region ruled by the great cattle barons of that period.

Yet by 1880 tremendous cattle ranches had become

history, and the region had been converted into equally as large wheat ranches.

Bigness in size developed big men who had big ideas*

These

ideas produced some of the largest farm machinery ever developed in the United States,

From Tulare County itself came the first power driven

wheat combine, with blades cutting a path 30 to h0 feet wide.

These men were also big enough to recognize their limitations and to seek definite steps to remedy them, rain,

Tulare had little rain.

overcome this difficiency,

"Wheat was dependent upon

Irrigation projects were developed to ,

Big projects called for community effort.

As a result, publicly owned irrigation districts were developed to a great degree. With irrigation came another change in activity.

Huge wheat

fields gave way to small diversified farms producing fruit and grapes, which by 1890 were well established, Tulare County no longer could be classified entirely as a tfcow county,” In the short span of twenty years, less than one generation of a man*s life, she had witnessed two agricultural revolutions, cattle to wheat, to fruit. The history of Tulare County in this period is, then, an agri­ cultural one.

It is not a community isolated from its neighbors, but

rather it is an integral part of a much larger region, the San Joaquin Valley,

This larger Valley has played a most significant part in the

agricultural greatness of the State of California,

Since the whole

reflects all its various parts, the study of the development of Tulare County pictures also the growth of the entire valley. Before sketching in the events which led to the first great agricultural revolution in the county, its geography should be noticed. Its important effects upon the region were always a major consideration. The great San Joaquin Valley lies in the center of California. Topographically the different regions of the valley are much the same.

TULARE

COUNTY

3

It is vralled in from the great Western Desert* lying to the east* by the towering Sierra Nevada mountains.

The mountains on the west are

low enough to permit the entrance of water laden winter clouds* which leave an occasional rain on the valley floor and deposit heavy snows on the crests of the Sierra Nevadas.

As a consequence, the greatest

number of rivers flow into the broad flat valley floor from the east* and either lose themselves in the sandy loam of the valley or turn and flow northward toward San Francisco Bay. Tulare County, then, has much the same type of physical geography as have the other counties comprising this great valley. This county is situated toward the southern part, being bounded on the south by Kern County and on the north by Fresno County.

Its eastern

boundaries extend to the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains and the western boundaries extend well over half way across the valley floor. The largest river in the northern part of the county is the Kings* draining an area of 1,853 square miles; southward are the Kaweah, Tulare and White Rivers and Deer Creek.

The natural drainage of these

rivers is into Tulare Lake* a shallow body of water which at one time covered an area of 687 square miles and was located in the southwestern corner of the county.

Kings River is the only one which originally main­

tained surface flow; the others disappeared in the alluvium of the valley. These streams could easily be followed as they emerged from the foothills and thence flowed westward* since they supported a dense growth of white oak and willow trees along their banks. vegetation between streams consisted of short grass.

The native

The only changes in the geography of the county since 1870 is that of land use#

A workman on the construction crew of the Southern

Pacific Railroad wrote describing the area in the summer of 1871:-*there, willow trees which stood along the banks . . . of the creeks that cross the valley, were the only relief to the eyes# Broad horned elk in small herds were not an uncommon sight along these "montes," Wild horses roamed about in the distant view and an occasional bunch of antelope was reported. Droves of cattle in charge of vaqueros were usually to be seen and there was found a plentiful meat supply . • • • Other than that the great plain was practically manless# No Indian ventured out in the dry forbidding terrain# It was natural for the county to have a "dry forbidding look" since all of the rainfall, average of 10-12 inches, came in the winter months and the grasses soon dried up in the spring. were ideal for range cattle.

These conditions

The land had been so used continuously

for this purpose ever since the Spanish and Mexican periods#

It was

agriculturally about the only use that could be made of the land at this time, since it was not profitable to grow anything that could not o carry itself to market# The assessor of Tulare County in a report to the California Surveyor-General in 1872 summed up the situation when he stated, "stock has ever been and is yet the leading interest of Tulare County#"^

^Clarence M. Wooster, "Building the Railroad down the San Joa­ quin in 1871," California Historical Society Quarterly, XVIII (March, 1939), 28# ^Kathleen E# Small, History of Tulare County, I, 17h*

^Hazel A# Pulling, A History of Califomias Range Cattle Industry 1770-1912, ll48#

5

Perhaps the greatest peak in the cattle industry had been reached in 1860-61 when it was reported that there were 226,258 cattle and 78,568 sheep roaming the San Joaquin Valley*^4 The years 1862-65 were disastrous to the range cattle because of severe drought* of the cattle were lost because of lack of feed*

Most

However, by 1870 it

was apparent that the industry had made a rapid recovery*

Beef cattle

had regained 79*2 per cent^ of the number in existence at the close of the drought*

The U* S* Census in 1870 listed 35,074 cattle, 5,590

horses, 157,301 sheep for Tulare County*^

Range land was plentiful and

the industry had not changed its methods from those of i860*

Cattlemen

controlled vast acreages for their stock, which roamed at will from place to place.

Little care was given the animals.

Travelers of the

early 70*s often remarked concerning the considerable numbers of cattle and sheep, even though the land was quite barren and only slightly developed*

White habitants in the county were few.

Vagueros

were the most important transient population in the towns.? The towns of the county in 1870 were not many, the principal ones being Visalia, the County Seat, and Porterville and Plano.

These

towns were located along the foothills, which had been the route of the overland stage between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

5wallace Smith, Garden of the Sun, 196.

^Pulling, ,rRange Cattle Industry," 129. ^Ninth U* S. Census, Statistics of Wealth and Industry, III, 105-105, 1872. ?G* H. Tinkham, History of Stanislaus County, 85*

6

Between 1871 and I87U several other communities were established in the county, due chiefly to the extension of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

There had been considerable maneuvering among the big rail­

road powers in the l850!s, as to railroad lines from Eastern States to the Pacific Ocean.

Many lines such as the Atchison, Topeka and Santa

Fe were trying to gain western terminals, while the Central Pacific was attempting to prevent them and maintain its California monopoly. In 1869 the Central Pacific incorporated a railroad under the name of the San Joaquin Valley Railroad.

Its object was to build a road down

the valley to connect at Mojave with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad then building from Missouri*

Believing that this project would injure

its trade, the business men of Stockton decided to construct an opposi­ tion railroad.

They incorporated what was known as the Stockton and

Visalia Railroad, which was to start in Stockton and gothrough the counties of Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno, and Tulare, to the town of Visalia.

However, these people could not interest enough capital and

were forced eventually to sell out in August 1871 to the California p

Pacific which, in turn, sold to the Southern Pacific.0 Just previous to this action, in another part ofthe state, on October 12, 1870, the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, the Southern Pacific, the Santa Clara and Pajaro Valley Railroad, and the California Southern, organized on paper only, were consolidated into a corporation

8stewart Daggett, Chapters on History of Southern Pacific, 127; Clarence Wooster, "Building Railroad in San Joaquin Valley," 29; Goshen Herald, February 12, 1887.

known as the Southern Pacific Railroad of California.

Election of

directors for the first year showed plainly that Central Pacific interests were in control#

The railroad was to construct and operate

a railroad from San Francisco through the counties of San Mateo, Santa Clara, Monterey, Fresno, Tulare, Kern, San Bernardino and San Diego, to the Colorado River#

Construction shifted to the San Joaquin Valley

in the area south of Goshen so that it could connect with the San Joaquin Railroad branch of the Central Pacific# at Goshen in 1872#

These two routes met

Central Pacific interests stopped at this point

and Southern Pacific onstruction continued on south#

The towns of

Tulare and Tipton were established in 1872, Delano and Bakersfield in 1873*9

As a natural result of a means of transportation in the county, there appeared faint stirring in the community as early as 1870-1871* People were becoming aware of the possibilities of using the land for something besides cattle#

A correspondent to the Pacific Rural Press

wrote in November, 1871:^ that the completion of the Railroad to Bear Creek is giving great impetus to farming, and all who own land or can rent are putting in as much land as they can plow and seed# No county in the State possesses better advantages for the farmer. There had been some farming activity even before the railroad, of course, but transportation certainly stimulated the growth.

The

^Much of this railroad history taken from Stuart Daggett, Chap­ ters on History of Southern Pacific, 120-127#

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tmthi* Map > ' rm ~ *4 & r ./ 1 1872, and Statutes of California, 1871-72, "An act to put into effect the provisions of the Civil Code relative to water rights."

45

stream or down a canon or ravine may be acquired by appropriation. As between appropriators the first in time is the first in right. Elwood Mead^3 stated that the doctrine of appropriation, and the common law doctrine of riparian rights were directly antagonistic yet both were part of the irrigation system of California.

Under the

former, appropriators claimed the entire flow o f streams and provided for the distribution and use of the water.

On the same streams ripar­

ian propriators claimed a preferred right to the entire flow, regard­ less of whether it was used or not. The natural result was a constant struggle between the two factions as to ownership of stream water as ditches multiplied; even appropriators failed to agree upon the division of water.

Lawsuits

were numerous. Injected into this controversy was the underlying basic feeling of the public at large that the people should own and distribute the water from the streams.

Every legislature which assembled, after a

year of short rainfall, was urged by the public to establish a general irrigation law which would establish public rights and abolish private wrongs•

*

During the 1880*s many societies were organized and public assem­ blies held both in California and in other western states to promote public irrigation schemes.

One such plan which appeared in the Novem­

ber 22, 1884 issue of the Pacific Rural Press is worth quoting in full: What the country really requires is a general system embracing the'whole valley, from Sacramento to Bakersfield. The construction

23Elwood Mead, Irrigation Institutions. 194*

46

of sufficient reservoirs in the Sierras to retain and store water sufficient to irrigate the whole country for at least one season* Solid and substantial dams running down to the bedrock, constructed so as to prevent the waters from losing themselves in the ancient sand beds, and by means thereof, the waters turned into one grand canal running along so near as practicable to the base of the foot­ hills, and from thence the waters to be taken along the highest ground between the rivers and streams* Whence it may be distributed to the canals and ditches, which already exist, and to others all of which must be the most substantial character, and so constructed and maintained as to prevent any wastage* The person who proposed this scheme was far in advance of his times.

Such a plan had to wait sixty more years to be carried out in

the form of the Central Valley Irrigation Project* The bitter battle between riparian owners, appropriators, and public interest culminated in 1887 with the passage of the **Wright

t>

Irrigation District Law**1 The purpose of the law was to restrain large holders of land who did not desire to meet the cost of providing irriga­ tion for the land, or those who already had both land and water of their own from preventing other owners of land in the same community from also securing irrigation by cooperative enterprise.24 This law provided for the organization and government of irriga­ tion districts, the acquisition of water for irrigation purposes.

Any

majority of free holders owning lands which could be irrigated from one common source, could by vote form an irrigation district to provide irrigation for those lands.

The Board of Directors of the district had

the right to construct and maintain dams, reservoirs and works for the i collection of water, and the construction and maintenance of canals to distribute it to all parts of the district.

24e . J. Wickson, Rural California. 322*

The use of all water required for irrigation of the lands of any district formed under the provisions of this act, together with the rights of way for canals and ditches, sites for reservoirs, and all other property required in fully carrying out the provisions of this act, is hereby declared to be a public use, subject to the regulations and control of the state in the manner prescribed by law*^5

The Board of Directors could sell bonds as necessary to raise money for the construction of all works*

The bonds and interest thereon

were to be paid by revenue derived from an annual assessment of the real property of the district* As a result of the Wright Act, organization of irrigation dis­ tricts followed quite rapidly*

The Alta Irrigation District formed in

1888, the Tulare District in 1889, the Tipton in 1891*

Others formed

were the Tule River, and Kern and Tulare* The Alta District grew out of the old ,,76*t Land and Water Com­ pany when the district purchased all the property and water rights of the old project*

Bonds up to $410,000 were issued to make the purchase*

The district covered 130,000 acres and proved a success from the start* In the first twenty years of its existence the number of land holders increased by 300 per cent*

By 1892 there were some 500 miles of canals

and distributing ditches in operation* Although the Tulare Irrigation was organized in 1889 the work on the canal was not commenced until 1891 and not completed until 1893* The main channel was about twelve miles long*

There were also fifty-

five miles of lateral canals which distributed water to the 40,520 acres

^California, Legislature, 1887, Statutes. Section 12, 29-45*

48

acres of the district*

In 1892 the Board of Directors of the district

purchased the Kaweah Canal and Irrigation system and the Cameron and Rocky Ford system.

This gave an added fifty-nine miles of canals to

the district. The district opened up many acres of land for cultivation but for several years they proved to be a financial failure.

The depressed

business conditions in Tulare, the panic of 18939 and failure to get water were contributing causes.

Lack of rainfall following the comple­

tion of the canal, and insufficient funds to complete the plant as fully as originally planned were also causes.

It was not until 1903 that the

Tulare District solved its financial difficulties and started success­ ful operation.

The Tule River Irrigation District organized in 1892

in the Woodville-Porterville area.

The district covered some 18,000

acres of land. Few comparative reliable statistics were available on irrigation in general in Tulare County from 1880 to 1890. 1880 gave no irrigation information.

The U. S. Census for

The Weekly Visalia Delta of

January 12, 1888 estimated that there were 500 miles of irrigating canals in the county in 1887* irrigation information. farms.

The U. S. Census for 1890 did carry

In the county there were 928,677'acres of

Of this figure, 168,455 acres were irrigated.

This gave a per­

centage of 18.14 of total farm area which was irrigated.

The average ^

size of the irrigated farm was 131 acres. Kathleen E. Small has written, ^Enactment of the Wright Law in 1887 • * • has meant more in the progress of agricultural development

49

of Tulare County than any other, with the possible exception of the "No Fence Law."^ Irrigation was bringing about a change in the agricultural life of the county.

It was bringing more land into active cultivation.

The

farms were naturally smaller, allowing more people to settle and to grow their crops.

These were the people attracted to the county by the steady

advertising campaigns conducted by private and public agencies.

Propa­

ganda for more immigrants, and irrigation projects to water the lands for them, both were active in this same period.

That they were success­

ful was bourne out by the increased population and increased wealth of the county.

Frederick Cox, in an address before the California State

Agricultural Society in 1892 stated, "Wherever irrigation has been prac­ ticed, population and wealth have increased."^ 118 per cent from 1880 to 1890.

Tulare County increased

In March, 1884* the assessed valuation

of property was $10,751,070 and in 1890 it was $21,742,827.

The changes

in this period were laying the foundations for even greater development in the next decade.

28 Kathleen Edwards Small, History of Tulare County, I, 304* ^ Transactions of California State Agricultural Society, 1892. 92.

CHAPTER IV

THE DECADE OF FRUIT

1890-1900

The second agricultural revolution, wheat to fruit and grapes took place gradually.

Starting in 1885, it continued for the next ten

years• The high production of grain recorded during the ’eighties con­ tinued in 1889, 1890 and 1891*

In 1889 reports coming from the Goshen,

Dinuba, and Traver areas indicated that it was another banner year for wheat.

Dinuba was receiving the grain from surrounding farms at the

rate of 2700 sacks a day.

Traver reported in August, 1889, that its

warehouses were already full and hundreds of sacks were being stored outside.

In July the Goshen warehouse was receiving 1700 sacks per day.

The yield exceeded all expectations. Many writers considered 1891 one of the best producing years of wheat that the county ever experienced.

There were still growers

sowing huge acreages.

J. J. Cairns of Lindsay was one of these.

planted 18,000 acres.

He employed 65 men, 320 head of mules, sowing

and plowing 300 acres a day.

He

He used two steam harvesters, one horse

power harvester and fifteen header wagons.

It took him five months and

fifteen days to harvest 18,000 acres.^ The manager of the Grangers Bank of Visalia estimated that there were approximately 19,500 tons of wheat stored at various county warehouses in 1892.

^Pacific Rural Press, February 20, 1892.

51

The number of acres devoted to wheat in 1891, the biggest year, was 415,585 acres*

But by 1892 the acreage had dropped to 358,000?

From 1892 onward to the end of the century, the wheat crop continued its period of transition* There were numerous reasons for this decline of wheat as the major agricultural crop* ter*

Several were developed in the previous chap­

One was an increased population of the county, who demanded

smaller plots of ground to till*

Irrigation also encouraged smaller

farms and more intensive use of those farms* small home-market for wheat in California*

Other reasons were the The wheat traveled farther

to markets than did grain from other producing areas of United States, hence greater costs, a district disadvantage*

The land was becoming

exhausted from a one crop system, the yield per acre was diminishing, costs for planting and harvesting were rising*

These factors combined

to hasten the change from wheat to other types of land utilization* The beginning phase of the second agricultural revolution was first noted in 1885 by the appearance of a news item in the Pacific Rural Press, January 3*

More land was being seeded to alfalfa*

acreage of fruit and vine lands was increasing*

The

All this activity

because some growers were finding it unsafe to depend upon wheat alone especially if the income was small* In 1887 a once prosperous wheat farmer reported to the newspaper that he was finding that he could make more money feeding his grain to hogs than he could by harvesting and thrashing it, even when hogs were

^Pacific Rural Press, February 11, 1893*

52

bringing only $2.75 per hundred weight. Another wheat grower reported in 1889 that he had kept accurate account of all the expenses connected with planting and harvesting his wheat for an entire year. He stated:

At the end of that period he received $1200.

"Wheat growing is played out**, and he was going to plant a

vineyard as soon as possible* The Traver Advocate in its September 10, 1890 issue, stated: f,The reign of King Wheat is nearly over in this locality, and the orchard, vineyard, apiary, and poultry farms are swiftly and surely usurping his domain.”^ In 1891 the Porterville Farm View stated that even though the usual amount of grain was being sown, here and there a corner was being left to start an orchard or vineyard or both.

The low prices being

received for wheat were the cause for a considerable number of fruit trees being planted. The Tulare County Directory of 1892 also reported the same facts happening in the Porterville area. The same Directory also reported that the country surrounding Exeter "for many years has been devoted to the raising of grain but the farmers are rapidly converting large areas of first class land into fruit orchards."^ The dissatisfaction of the wheat growers increased the change from grain to fruit and grapes.

There had always been a certain amount

3Quotation recorded in Pacific Rural Press , March 7, 1891. ^Tulare County Directory, 1892, 41*

53

of fruit culture in the county, but the falling wheat prices, and the coining of irrigation, which made the land too valuable for wheat, in­ creased the tempo of tree and vine planting. The Pacific Rural Press reported in the April 16, 1887, issue of the opening of a canning, fruit drying and raisin packing establishment ready for operation in Visalia.

There must have been a quantity of

fruit and grapes grown in the region at that early date to support such an industry. An indication of the increasing importance of the fruit industry in the community was the amounts of fruit grown for shipment outside the state.

In 1887 some growers reported an income of $350 an acre in dried

apricots.

In 1889 another grower reported that his prunes were arriving

in fine condition at Chicago.

From one orchard, in 1889, an average of

twenty boxes of nectarines and peaches were being sent to Arizona each day. The first accurate census taken in the county was a report to the State Board of Equalization in 1890 of bearing and non-bearing fruit 5 trees. The report included the following: Trees Apricots Cherry Fig Olive Peach Pear Prunes Lemon Orange Almond Walnuts

Bearing

Non-Bearing

77,520 750 2,168 1,700 94,324 41,550 60,620 1,430 1,530 765 175

63,420 735 8,120 7,800 30,116 1,800 65,728 -- — ---

750 -------

^Memorial and Biographical History of Fresno. Tulare, and Kern. California. 191, also Pacific Rural Press. July 25, 1891*

54

Of the total of 178,469 non-bearing trees it was estimated that about 119,000 were planted in 1890, which was remarkable showing for a grain raising county*

The number of citrus trees listed in the report

indicated that some farmers had discovered that this frost sensitive tree was thriving in certain areas of the county*

Growers, visiting

other citrus sections of Southern California and noticing the similarity of conditions with those at home, imported and planted orange and lemon trees as an experiment* In 1862, H* M* White planted two orange trees in Frasier Valley east of Porterville* of other groves. A. R*

These trees thrived and soon became the nucleus

In Porterville the first recorded

Henry, and was set out in 1883*^

orchard belongedto

The success of this orchard

gave an impetus to the planting of more trees in the same area*

Farmers

were discovering that the region around Porterville and along the foot­ hills was an excellent place to start orchards*

S. Z. Curtis reported

in 1886, that he had 30 trees growing and fruiting out on his place without any protection whatever.

Of the fifteen trees that bore, the

fruit was large in size without any sign of rust.? By 1890 the citrus area had spread northward

along the foothills.

In that year Captain A. J* Hutchinson, the founder of the community of Lindsay, and J. J. Cairns, a large wheat holder of the region, planted the first citrus trees in the Lindsay district*

Other pioneers of the

/ Herbert John Webber and Leon D. Batchelor, The Citrus Industry, I, 38. ^Pacific Rural Press, December 18, 1886.

55

same region also followed the lead set by these two men. At the end of the planting season of 1889-90 there was estimated to be about 500 acres of land devoted to orange growing in the county.

ft

The success of the orange was so rapid that by 1891 there were 300 acres of citrus land alone within a radius of one mile of the town of Porter­ ville . The citrus products of the region were also gaining a reputation at the many regional fairs.

At a Southern California Fair held in 1892

a reporter for the Los Angeles Times wrote of the finedisplay of oranges and lemons from Porterville. 9 perfect lemons attracted his attention.

One branch ofa tree

bearing 100

He concluded the article by

stating that Tularefs lemons ranked among the finest in the display and would probably win a blue ribbon. Again in 1894 at the Southern Citrus Fair, Tulare citrus took top honors.

Porterville took first honors for the best exhibit of

citrus fruit from any locality in the district.

Mr. F. G. Frost, of

Porterville, received third place for best 30 specimens of Washington Navels grown by one exhibitor, first place for best thirty specimens of seedling oranges grown by one exhibitor.^ With such successes by various exhibitors the citrus the district continued to expand.

culture of

There was soon an established

^The Rural Californian. XIII (March, 1890), 155* o transactions of the California State Agricultural Society. 1892. 112. 10The Rural California. XVII (March, 1894), 124.

geographical belt within which the citrus groves were concentrated* This area extended along the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a width of twenty to thirty miles wide from Exeter on the North to Porter­ ville on the South*

This belt was found to be advantageous for the

orange and lemon because the trees were entirely free from scale and smut, thus eliminating the heavy expenses of f u m i g a t i o n L o c a t e d against the foothills, the trees were protected, having mild winters in which to grow*

The damaging frosts and cold were not present*

In 1894 the Porterville district had 300 acres of growing lemons and 1,000 acres of growing oranges* 303 acres of growing lemons*

The Kaweah district had

The Lindsay district had 350 acres

planted to oranges and lemons and the Orosi district had 120 acres of growing oranges and lemons* ^ Despite the increased acreage devoted to citrus, the amounts shipped to outside markets in 1894 was not great* 5,000 boxes of oranges and 600 boxes of lemons*

The amount was The reasons were

readily understandable, the trees were too young to be producing any great quantities*

As each year passed and the citrus trees became more

mature the production and shipment of the fruit increased*

By 1900 the

shipments were not measured by the box but by the carload*

From

Porterville, Lindsay, and Exeter went 125 to 150 carloads of oranges and from 100 to 125 carloads of lemons*

110ut West. XXV (July, 1906), 95. 1p

Trans actions of the California State Agricultural Society. 1893-9A. 363.

57

With such production figures eastern Tulare County was gaining the reputation as being "one of the best districts in the state. There were also many other types of fruit trees being planted in the county in 1890, as the chart on page 52 showed.

Experimentation on the

part of isolated growers in previous years had shown that deciduous fruits as well as vines could be successfully cultivated.

With the

coining of water to the land in greater amounts, through irrigation district projects and water wells, a whole new era of fruit growing on a large commercial scale opened. The planting activity for fruit trees was not limited to any one particular region or district as was that of the citrus trees.

The first

years of the 1890*s were mainly experimental in nature to determine what varieties would do best in each of the localities of the county.

Some

orchardists planted a number of different types of trees to find the best producers.

Captain Hutchinson of Lindsay had just such a farm. It

was reported that he had,250 different varieties of the orange, eleven different apple trees, fifteen different varieties of the peach, eight of the fig, twenty-four of the cherry, thirty varieties of the grape, besides different apricots, nectarines, plums, prunes, almonds, and olives.

Quite a few of the trees were imported from England The front pages of the farm publication Pacific Rural Press in

this period always carried a picture of some different specie of fruit tree, together with its description and possible use to the grower of

^ pacific Rural Press, November 10, 1900 ^Ibid.. May 10, 1890.

58

the region*

As the fruit growers found some particularly successful

tree or one not so successful they would publish their findings for the benefit of others*

As for example, the Pacific Rural Press carried a

statement in the July 4, 1891 issue, **No use to plant the Hemskirts apricot in this county*

The frost catches it every time*

The Royal

is best for this locality.*1 Another activity of the early 1890fs was the tremendous expan­ sion in the number of fruit trees planted*

The prospective orchardist

was spurred on by reports of heavy harvesting such as that reported in 1890 by the Delta Farm near Visalia.

This farm had 800 peach trees,

four years of age, and 230 trees three years of age* 97,074 pounds of peaches were picked in one season*

From these trees Another rancher

B. C* Anderson, located between Visalia and Farmersville, early in the season contracted his peach crop at one and one-half cents per pound, and realized $400 per acre*^-5 Jn fact, the fruit yield for the whole County in 1890 was in exces-s of any previous year.

Visalia, Tulare,

and Hanford, together, shipped 118 carloads of green fruits and 42 cars of dried fruits The reports of such shipments encouraged other agriculturalists to enter the fruit culture, and to plant trees.

Whereas, in 1890 there

were 282,582 bearing fruit trees in the county, by 1892, after a year of

l^Memorial and Biographical History of Counties of Fresno* Tulare. and Kern, 168. l6Ibid.. 179.

59

great activity in the planting of peaches, primes, and pears, the number of trees was almost doubled, 461,051*

17

The acreage of bearing and non­

bearing trees (all types) was reported at 2 1 , 6 0 9 As one writer stated rather mildly, ’’Somehow the contagion is general.”

The effects of this

contagious development was shown by the report in the Porterville Farm View that 265,000 Myrobolan plums, 180,000 pears, and 40,000 apple trees were being ordered by a Visalia Syndicate from France.^ Joseph Spier reported from Hanford in 1893, by means of the Pacific Rural Press, that with a force of 10 men he had just completed pruning some 60,000 fruit trees. Such expansion of agricultural lands to the planting of fruit trees was having its effect upon the real estate development of the county.

The ability of the county to grow a variety of products and to

harvest them in large quantities was attracting capital. In 1891 the Evansdale Fruit Company organized under county laws on October 28.

The value of the stock was placed at $50,000 and when

incorporated all the shares of stock had been subscribed.

On October

17 of the same year, the Encino Fruit Company was also incorporated. Its capital stock was valued at $88,000.

The purpose of these two companies

was to acquire lands and grow and produce fruits and agricultural products.

20

In 1893 an old ranch of 1,000 acres was purchased by capital

^ Pacific Rural Press. August 20, 1892. -^Transactions of California State Agricultural Society. 1893-94. 173* ^Pacific Rural Press, November 14, 1891* ^Pacific Rural Press. October 28, 1891.

60 from Santa Clara and 500 acres planted to prunes, peaches and apricots. Such transactions, of acquiring acreage and growing fruits, by outside capital continued throughout the decade, thereby bringing greater wealth into the county. Of course not all the farming was done on such large scale opera­ tions.

There were many farmers who cultivated small acreages.

just as fine a fruit yield as the large operators.

They had

But in the early

years of production of their orchards, they did not have the volume of fruit to be shipped to market, as the larger orchards did.

In order to

overcome this marketing disadvantage a movement was started in the early part of 1892 to pool the shipments of several growers who had less than carload lots.

Several people who had small amounts of produce to be

sold would combine their efforts and make a cooperative shipment in one carload.

In this manner lower freight costs could be effected and all

the small growers would have an opportunity of marketing their products on eastern markets.

In the latter part of the 1892 there were even co­

operative organizations formed to assist the member growers in making this type of shipment. By the end of 1893 there were many such local cooperative organi­ zations or "exchanges11 in operation in the county.

In the latter part

of the same year there was even a definite movement under way to form a state organization of all the local exchanges.

The purpose of the state

organization was to create ways of distributing and selling the fruits and nuts of the region in eastern markets.

Such an organization as

formed was called "California Fruit Exchange."

It was definitely a step

on the part of the many local exchanges to combine their efforts on a

•

61 state wide basis, to better sell their products.^1 The planting activities of farmers with fruit trees continued to expand during the rest of the decade.

By 1900 the U. S. Census showed

that there were 31,772 apple trees, 60,874 apricot trees, 489,282 peach trees, 82,465 pear trees, and 474,428 plum and prune trees.

There were

16,084,560 pounds of dried and evaporated fruit produced.^2

From Visalia region alone the amounts of fruits shipped were enormous.

The Downing Fruit Company shipped seventy carloads of prunes,

twenty carloads of peaches, eight carloads of assorted dried fruits. The Castle Brothers shipped seventy-five carloads of dried fruits.

The

cannery at Visalia put up 60,000 cases of canned goods, the bulk of which were cling peaches.

At Tulare the Cartmill,s packing house shipped

twenty-five carloads of prunes and raisins.

Shelly and Company shipped

forty'carloads of assorted dried fruits. One purchaser took the entire crop of prunes from the Encina ranch near Visalia.

There were 410 tons in the lot, the biggest single

transaction in fruit in the county. The planting, expansion and development, of grapes and raisins within the county in the period, followed the same pattern as that of

^The mention of such exchanges is brief. Any discussion of the internal organization or fuller development of these groups has been adequately covered in other research papers. Information dealing with Tulare County was taken from the issues of Pacific Rural Press during the years 1892-1893* n 1893 the portion of Tulare County known as the Lucerne 'Valley, which included the town of Hanford and Lemoore, and that portion of the county containing Tulare Lake was separated, and Kings County formed. After that date all figures quoted in the discussion refer only to Tulare County.

62 the deciduous fruits*

There had been many vineyards planted in the

period just preceding 1890, but

the real impetus toward large scale

production came in the early 1890*s with the development of large scale irrigation projects.

The number of acres devoted to grape vines in

March 1891, was 9,900,23 of which 9,81+9 were raisin grapes. There were no particular regions in the county devoted to grape culture.

Planting existed throughout the entire area.

In 1891 there

were about 2,000 acres of raisin grapes planted in the Traver area and along the Kings River bottom. being set out.

Porterville reported extensive vineyards

About 1500 acres were used for raisin grapes.

period there were only several small vineyards of bearing age.

At that Tulare

City reported many fine vineyards being cultivated. Another important growing area was centered in the Lucerne Valley near Hanford.

The local people claimed that it was **the largest raisin t

grape vineyard in the world.”

It contained 960 acres of muscat raisin

grape vine, planted in the winter of 1890.

Some fifty carloads of

lumber were used in building the drying houses, packing sheds, etc. There were picked off of the vines, 37,000 trays of grapes for the first picking and the second picking was nearly as large.

There were 235 nien

employed in gathering the first crop for this one vineyard alone• The price paid the pickers in 1891 was four cents per tray.2^

In the

^ Pacific Rural Press, February 13, 1892. ^Information for Lucerne vineyard obtained from Pacific Rural Press. August 8, 1891, August 29, 1891, October 24, 1891•

Hanford Journal for March 11, 1893, the same vineyard was reported as shipping to Mew York ten carloads of raisins, about 100 tons. In the same year the Paige and Morton Ranch, west of Tulare, shipped in one order, seven carloads of sacked raisins.

The shipment

was divided between Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Cincinnati. Repetition of such shipments and

of the tremendous growth

ofthe raisin

industry could have been made of

any of the districts of the county in

the early years of the decade. In 1894 the raisin growers followed the lead of the fruit grow­ ers and began the formation of local associations or exchanges for the purpose of better shipping and marketing their products.

They expressed

themselves as willing to cooperate to the fullest extent with the Cali­ fornia Fruit Exchange in its work.

The raisin men formed their own

district marketing agency called ^Central California Raisin and Dried Fruit Association.”

^

The association was to carry on the sales promo­

tion work of the member growers in presenting their product more advantageously on eastern United By 1900 the United States

States markets.^5 Census showed that there

grape vines which were producing 27,174,500 pounds of grapes.

were 2,473,308 The phe-

nominal growth and expansion of agriculture in the County in the period 1890-1900, especially in the planting and harvesting of fruits and grapes was based in large part upon two contributing factors.

These

were the ability of the farmers to obtain water to grow the produce, and the necessary means of getting it to the best market.

^^Pacific Rural Press, March 3, 1894*

64

The continued conversion of non-agricultural lands to increased farm productivity depended upon the availability of water for irriga­ tion,

The irrigation projects formed under the Wright Irrigation Law

of 1887 continued to develop. of projects.

^

Private capital also increased the number

In the early part of 1892 the Tulare Lake Canal Company

completed a dam across the Tulare River four miles east of Tulare Lake. From the lake a canal thirty-six feet wide and ten miles long irrigated 50,000 acres in the south-western portion of the county.

This project

was accomplished with private capital. In 1892 the Poso Irrigation district was formed in the south­ eastern part of the county, along the Poso Creek.

The project included

about sixty-five miles of main canal and distributing ditches, several miles of flumes, two immense dams and three large reservoirs.^

Men­

tioned in the preceding chapter was the Tule River Irrigation District formed in 1893 to water the area in the south-eastern part of the county. The Irrigation Districts within the county did not lead a peace­ ful life when first organized.

They were continually in court with

lawsuits and injunctions concerning the legality of the bonds sold and issued.

Legal battles were continuous concerning the right to take

water from streams.

These difficulties, together with an occasional

year of light rainfall, when streams would not be full, led the farmers to search for other supplementary sources of irrigation water. only other source was well water.

The

For the farmers living in the western

^Visalia Daily Star, January 15, 1892.

65

part of the county it was a simple matter to drill a well and have the water flow freely.

These artesian wells were put to a use similar to

that developed by a syndicate owning large land interests at Pixley. From the several artesian wells the water was diverted to a large reser­ voir for storage.

Whenever the water was needed, it was turned into

small ditches running to different parts of the holdings.

The syndi­

cate claimed that it could irrigate 12,000 to 15,000 acres in this manner.

Another advantage of this system was that the water was avail­

able every month of the year. The farmers in the eastern part of the county lying within the San Joaquin Valley also turned to well drilling for their source of water.

This situation was slightly different.

Since the region lay

outside the artesian belt, it was necessary to pump the water to the surface for use.

Many pumping methods were tried.

In 1890 Captain Hutchinson of Lindsay developed his small orch­ ard by means of several wells drilled on his property. small steam pump to raise the water to the surface. three thousand gallons of water per hour.^7

He used a

The pump furnished

By 1892 J. J. Cairns, in

the same district, was also using steam to pump his well water.

It

pumped eighty thousand gallons an hour, and took less than four weeks to irrigate a plot of 160 acres.

It cost less than that to build a

small ditch and keep it in repair for that length of time. Several other schemes for pumping water from the underground

^Lindsay Gazette. October 9, 1942 and Pacific Rural Press, May 10, 1890.

were made known in 1892.

The Daniel Best Manufacturing Company announced

that a gasoline engine was available for purchase by farmers to assist them in their well problems .23 Another method spoken of in this early development of wells was the windmill for use in pumping.

Some notice was being taken of a new development, the electric motor. Several articles appeared in the Pacific Rural Press in 1893 concerning the adaptibility of the electric motor, not only for well pumping purposes, but for other farm uses such as for lighting, heating, and for hoisting loads such as hay or grain. The writers claimed that using electricity for power would be cheaper than steam or fuel. It was at this time that investigation of the possibilities of generating electricity began. The cheapest power to pump water was, of course, the windmill. The cost of the mill varied from $40 to $400, depending upon the size. A five inch pump could discharge I860 gallons of water per hour.

These

windmills were of great benefit to the small landholder who was too far from any ditch system to obtain water for the orchard. There were other farmers who, having larger acreages, needed more water or needed the water at times when the wind was not blowing, found the windmill inadequate.

These people installed engines to do the work.

One grower obtained an eight horsepower engine and a three inch centri­ fugal pump with a capacity of 20,000 gallons of water per hour. system could irrigate forty acres of trees.

This

The digging of the well,

^% ural California« XV (November, 1892), 606.

67

the cost of the pump and engine, and other expenses amounted to $950. The engine burned crude oil, which cost eight cents per gallon.^9 Another grower, operating in the foothills, had a five horse­ power engine which pumped 212 gallons of water per minute from a well twenty-seven feet deep.

He used crude petroleum, at seven cents a

gallon, delivered from the Goalinga oil fields.

He used three gallons

of oil in twelve hours to raise 152,640 gallons of water. Besides the private individual who operated his own wells, there was developed in 1898-1899* private companies who furnished water to growers.

These companies incorporated under law, and supplied water

to subscribers, water obtained from wells drilled by the organization. Such an example was the Pioneer Water Company, located at Porterville. It had a capital stock of $360,000.

It dug a well one hundred fifty

feet deep with a bore having a diameter of twelve inches. about six hundred gallons per minute.

It pumped

The water was distributed to the

subscribers by means of ditches. A similar organization developed at Lindsay, called the r,Lindsay Water Development Company.” While the development of the steam and fuel engines for pumping water had been progressing, work had also been continuing on the manu­ facture and transmission of electrical power.

This experimentation in

such a new field reached a practical stage in 1898-1899* when the Mount Whitney Power Company was formed.

It went up the Kaweah River some

^Pacific Rural Press, May 29, 1897

forty—five miles east of Visalia, to an elevation of 2400 feet.

There

flumes were constructed to a power house where three generators were housed.

This electrical equipment generated some 1800 horse power.

From the main station power was transmitted to five substations which were conveniently situated with respect to wells.

These substations

were located at Lemon Cove, Lindsay, Visalia, Tulare, and Porterville. From these substations the power was stepped down so that it could be transmitted directly to the motors located at the wells.

The company

charged a low rate of $50 per horse power per year for electric current delivered to the users premises. The orchardists found electric power to be considerably cheaper than fuel oil in the operation of their pumps. verted to the new type of power. Development Company.

Many, therefore, con­

Among the first was the Lindsay Water

They installed a fifty horsepower two phase 2,000

volt Westinghouse induction motor with a speed of 850 revolutions a minute.

As a result, the company enlarged and extended its canals for

distributing the water. Everywhere that it was possible to obtain electricity, the elec­ tric .motor quickly took the place of other types of power-operated pumping equipment.

Those in areas outside the reach of the original

four substations had to wait longer until the Power Company could expand and reach them. The power driven wells located in the eastern, citrus belt, part of the county were a distinct asset to the fruit growers of that area.

-^Journal of Electricity. VII (March, 1899), 46; Electrical World. XXXIV (October 28, 1899)* 649? Journal of Electricity. Power. and Gas. IX (January, 1900), 3-16.

69

Water, necessary in the summer months for fruit trees, could be obtained when the streams and irrigation ditches were dry#

In the winter the

growers found that by applying water at critically low temperatures, the trees could be saved them damaging frosts.

Irrigation development

kept pace with the increased demands of a growing community. The second factor contributing to the growth and expansion of agriculture in the period 1890-1900, was the ability to get the produce to market.

In that period the basic means of transportation was the

railroad. Up to 1888 there were only eighty-three miles of railroad in the county.31

These belonged to the Central Pacific and the Southern

Pacific, meeting at Goshen.

With the beginning of expansion of the

grape and fruit acreage, the community needed more railroads.

On

December 5, 1&87, the Southern Pacific commenced what was known locally as the "East Side Line."

It ran from Fresno, east to Sanger, then south­

easterly through Dinuba, Lindsay, Porterville, and connected with the main line again at Farnosa.

It was constructed to handle the rich pro­

duce from the citrus belt along the foothills. At the same time there were several transverse railroad lines built as feeder lines.

One ran from the new town of Waukena in the

western part of the county to the city of Tulare, a distance of twelve miles.

The other was a line, built by local capital, between Visalia

and Tulare City.

This Visalia-Tulare Railroad was completed in late

1888 at a cost of $130,000.

It was never a money maker but a great

^Visalia Weekly Delta, January 12, 1888.

^

70

convenience to the residents of the two communities.

The enterprise

was abandoned in 1897, with the coming of other railroads in the area, and its rolling stock and rails sold. During this period of 1888 to 1892, dissatisfaction among the shippers of Tulare County as to the railroad situation grew stronger. The only lines hauling their produce were the Central Pacific-Southern Pacific, who held a monopoly.

Attacks were made against this railroad

combination because of the feeling that the traffic rates were too high.

The people of the county felt that they were being discriminated

against, in relation to rates charged other communities. As a result, in 1892 there began a movement to construct another major railroad through the San Joaquin Valley, which would offer com­ petition to the existing system, and thereby force the rates downward. In the first stages of the movement, there were many schemes for another line, such as, The California Midland Railroad Company.

This company

proposed to build a line from Stockton through Fresno to Visalia and later to extend it southward to Bakersfield.

The line was to run between

the Southern Pacific tracks and the eastern foothills of the valley.33 It remained just a dream on paper. The second attempt to organize and build a competing railroad in the Valley was successful.

With the backing of Claus Spreckels, the

California Sugar King, a new company was formed in February 1895, and called ”San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad.”

Construction

32small, History of Tulare County. 169; Menefee, History of Tulare and Kings Counties. 146. 33i*he Visalia Daily Delta. March 19, 1892.

was begun in 1895 at Stockton.

During 1896 the track reached Fresno and

in 1897 Bakersfield was attained.

The railroad had a total of 279 miles

of track including a branch line to Visalia.

In 1898 the San Francisco

and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. 34

With the competition of this line the residents

of the Valley attained their goal, a competing railroad with lower rates. 1 As soon as the railroad began operations it published traffic rates ten to fifteen cents less a ton than that charged by the Southern Pacific. The passenger fares from San Francisco to Visalia were reduced from 17.40 to $5.00.35 By 1900 Tulare County was well covered with railroad track, with several companies competing to serve the growers.

Transportation had

expanded to meet the needs of a community whose agricultural products were increasing in importance. This importance had been helped not only by the railroads, and irrigation, but by an industrious group of people who comprised the agricultural community.

In the years 1890 to 1900 they had experienced

the second great agricultural revolution, the change from wheat to fruit, with good fortune.

By 1900 the fruit and grape culture was

firmly established and prosperous. amounted to $849,490.

The value of all orchard products

Grapes, wine, and raisins were valued at •

$200,883*

Subtropical fruits amounted to $106,042.. The new era of

agricultural prosperity had successfully begun. .

34Daggett, Chapters in History of the Southern Pacific, 330-331, 341*

CHAPTER V

A FIRM FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE FAME With the firm establishment of the grape and the fruit in the farm economy of the county in 1900, a formative period of agriculture came to an end* H* H. Bancroft spoke of the three great periods in the cycle of development in agriculture, ,fGrass, grain, and fruit.f,l

Some communi­

ties reached the first *stage, grass or the range stock industry, and have never progressed beyond that point.

Others went beyond the first

stage into the second, grain and wheat, but remained there.

Then there

were other areas which completed the cycle by entering the last stage of development, intensive cultivation of the soil by means of fruit culture.

The time element lapsing between each of these three cycles

depended upon local conditions existing within that area. Tulare County started as an agricultural community, and her major interest has always remained throughout her entire history, agriculture. Yet within the short space of thirty years, from 1870-1900, she passed through the three major cycles and had become a stable producer in the last and most highly developed, fruit and grapes.

Two complete agricul­

tural revolutions had been accomplished in an orderly, natural way within the short span of one generation of a farmer*s life. This farmer would have started his agricultural life as a range cattle rancher.

He would have had a large range to support the number

•^History of California. VII, 1.

73

of cattle he owned.

Cattle was his business for that was the onlything

that he could get to

market— on its own power.

After seven or eight years he would have seen his cattle perish with the drought.

In its place his range would have turned to a waving

wheat field— winter wheat. rains to grow his crop.

He was entirely dependent upon the winter

At first he got abundant yields from the rich

soils, but as the soils depleted, he needed more and more land, in order to make a profit.

Fewness of laborers in the area forced him to develop

machines to do the harvesting on a large scale.

His neighbors had some

of the largest agricultural machinery manufactured in the United States. Scarcity of labor forced him to advertise widely to induce people into the area and help with the harvest.

This advertising became so effec­

tive that an increasing population began to encroach upon his holdings. Demands for land in the county, falling wheat prices

together with soil

forced the cattle man, turned

depletions, and wheat farmer, to

again change his agricultural interests. With greater availability of water by irrigation, he followed the lead of his neighbors from other counties and began planting grape vines, and fruit trees. At the age of thirty he could sit on the porch of his ranch house and look out over his herds of cattle.

At the age of forty he could

look out over his huge grain fields from the same house.

At the age of

fifty, sitting on his farm house porch he might look out over his peach orchard and grape vineyards.

Here were three distinct types of agri­

culture, each having its own peculiar methods of production and

74

cultivation, that this one man had to become proficient at and to master. Not- only was there a constant change in the type of land use, as the needs of man changed, but there was a tremendous growth in the county during this period.

The population of the area increased from

4,533 in 1870 to 18,375 in 1900.^

This increase had been caused by the

opening of lands by the railroads, concerted drives by local newspapers and civic organizations to advertise the advantages of the county to easterners and to induce them to establish homes in the area, and the discovery, by the people themselves, that the county had certain natural advantages which made it profitable for agriculture.3

The county had

started with nine communities in 1870, and with the natural increase in population, by 1900 had twenty thriving towns Of course, not all of the people lived in town.

No accurate

figures were available as to the number of farms in operation in 1870, but by 1880 there were 1,125*

This number had increased to 2,212 by 1900. *U There were 35,028 acres of improved farm lands in 1870. With better

transportation available, and increased water supply, the number of acres in the county devoted to improved farm lands had increased by 1900 to

^Statistics quoted in this chapter taken from The United States Bureau of the Census. The Ninth Census 1870 and the Twelfth Census 1900. unless otherwise noted. veys. nia. veyor.

^Tulare County Map 1876, compiled by P. Y. Baker from actual sur­ Tulare County Historical Society Map Collection, Visalia, Califor­ ^Tulare County Map 1901. Published and compiled by County Sur­ Tulare County Historical Society Map Collection.

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