To All that Sow the Time of Harvest Should be Given
In all but savage countries, wheat is the most important product of the
soil, A large proportion of human beings living on the earth to-day are
so poverty-stricken as to make the question of food a matter of anxiety
for every day. The prayer for bread unites more voices than any other.
The padres who settled California understood this well. A number of
bushels of wheat, snugly incased in leather sacks, formed a precious
part of the cargo of the San Carlos, that stout Spanish vessel which
in 1769 brought the first settlers to California. This seed-wheat
was divided among the early missions and as soon as possible was
planted--not with success at first. For a time the padres made little
progress in crop raising. They had to learn by their failures. In San
Diego the first wheat planted was sown in the river bottom and the seed
was carried entirely away by the rising of the stream in the winter; and
the next year, which proved to be a dry one, it was planted so far from
the water that it was almost all destroyed by drought. At San Gabriel
the first crop was drowned out, but the second, planted on the plain
where it could be irrigated, was a success. San Gabriel was chief
among the missions for wheat raising, and was called the “mother of
agriculture.”
Grain planting and harvesting, in the days of the padres, differed
widely from the methods which prevail to-day. Then the ground was plowed
once or twice, but in what manner? A yoke of oxen, guided by an Indian,
dragged a plow with an iron point made by an Indian blacksmith. If iron
could not be obtained, the point was of oak. Seed, which had been
first soaked in lye, was sown by hand, broadcast, and harrowed in with
branches of trees. The grain was cut by the Indians with knives and
sickles. It was afterward placed on the hardened floor of a circular
corral made for the purpose, and into it was turned a band of horses
which were urged to a run by the shouts and whips of the Indian
vaqueros. After running one way they were frightened into turning and
going the other. In this manner the grain was trampled out of the husks.
It was freed from the chaff by being thrown high in the air by the
shovelful, when the wind was blowing hard enough to carry away the light
straw.
Next, the grain was washed and dried, then ground, generally between
two stones bolted together. A pole for a handle was also fastened by
the bolt, and the stone was turned, sometimes by mules, sometimes by
Indians. La Perouse, the French scientist who visited the coast in 1786
and gave to the padres of San Carlos a handmill for grinding grain, said
that it would enable four Indian women to do the work of a hundred by
the old way. Before many years the padres at San Gabriel built a water
mill of stone and adobe which ground grain in large quantities, but not
with entire success, until Chapman, the first American in that region,
gave them his assistance to perfect the machinery. This interesting
building has been restored by Mr. H. E. Huntington and is an object of
interest to those who visit San Gabriel.
In 1815 the missions raised enough wheat to supply the whole population,
and there was even an attempt to ship grain to Mexico. This was a
failure, but a little grain was sold to the Russians at Fort Ross. At
the time of the change in the mission settlements, when the padres were
sent away, all agriculture declined. During the Mexican War and when the
crowd of gold seekers came, there was very little grain or flour to be
had. Some of the gold hunters, who had been farmers in the East, failing
to find a fortune in the river sands, and seeing the lack of food
stuffs, went back to their old occupation. They put in crops of wheat
and barley along the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, and were
amazed at the fertility of the soil and the success of their venture.
From this time the cultivation of wheat increased rapidly. In 1899 was
harvested the largest crop recorded. After that there was a decline in
wheat raising, because many farmers planted much of their grain lands to
fruit for canning and drying. To California inventors is due the credit
of substituting steam for hand labor in planting and harvesting grain.
Let us look at the busy scene on a grain field in the California of
to-day. It is fall or early winter, and the time for planting has
arrived. Into the field, which is several thousands of acres in extent,
comes a great engine, one that does not need a track to run upon. Over
the ground it rolls. With strength equal to fifty horses it draws behind
it sixteen ten-inch plows, four six-foot harrows, and a press drill to
match. It takes only a few men to manage it, and in a short time it has
plowed, harrowed, and sown the broad acres; nothing is left to do until
the harvest time arrives.
When the grain is ripe, there comes another great machine. This is the
harvester, whose knives or cutters may be as much as twenty-six feet
wide. This one machine cuts off the heads of wheat, thrashes them,
cleans the grain, and sacks it, clearing seventy-five acres in a day,
leaving on the fields the piles of sacked wheat ready for market. It
is most interesting to watch one of these giants of steel and iron
traveling over the uneven ground, crossing ditches, crawling along side
hills, without any trouble or change of pace, gathering in the ripe
grain, turning it out snugly tucked away in the brown gunny-sacks
waiting for its long journey by ship or car. How the padres would wonder
if they could see it working!
The grain of the California wheat is white and soft, and contains much
gluten. No matter what hard red or yellow varieties are brought from
other countries and planted here, in a year or two they change to the
California type. It is not certainly known what causes this peculiarity.
The grain most in favor through the state is called “club wheat” from
the form of the head, which is blockshaped, instead of long and slender.
The “club wheat” holds fast its grain so that it can be harvested
without falling to the ground, which, in so dry a climate, is a great
point in its favor.
Wheat is raised all over the state, both on high and on low land. Some
of the largest grain ranches are along the tule lands around Stockton.
These were marshes once, but have been drained, and now are choice grain
fields. Wheat was first sent out of the state to England as ballast for
returning ships, but the trade gradually increased until there are
now over one hundred of the finest sailing vessels engaged in it.
Unfortunately, few of these vessels are American, perhaps but one
fourth. It is a pity that our countrymen should not benefit more by this
trade. During the grain season at most of the Pacific ports the flag
of nearly every nation on earth is represented. All styles of shipping,
from the largest modern steamer to the smallest ocean sailing vessel,
are then to be found in the harbors of the coast.
Grain is carried to the docks in barges, schooners, or on cars, and is
seldom shipped except in sacks. Wheat, unless it needs to be cleaned or
graded, is kept in the sack in which it leaves the home field. To watch
the grain being loaded in the ship is a sight well worth seeing. If the
wharf, or car, or warehouse where it lies is higher than the deck of the
vessel on which it is to be shipped, the sacks are placed on an inclined
chute down which they descend to the hold of the ship. If the deck of
the vessel is the higher, sometimes an endless belt, run by electricity,
is placed in a chute, the sacks are laid on the belt, and so carried to
their resting place.
In loading wheat for export, a number of sacks in each row are bled;
that is, a slit is made in the sack which allows a small quantity of
grain to escape and fill the spaces round the corners and sides of the
sack, thus making a compact cargo which is not liable to shift. At Port
Costa is located a grader, where, when necessary wheat can be cleaned
and graded; here also are many large warehouses.
For a long time about two thirds of the wheat crop of the state was
sent to Ireland, but now our new lands in the Pacific take much of
it. California has an immense trade in wheat that has been ground into
flour. Over six million dollars’ worth of flour is shipped each year,
nearly three fourths of it going to China, Japan, and the islands of the
Pacific.
It is believed by scientific agriculturists that better results will be
obtained in wheat raising as smaller ranches become the rule, where the
farmer can give more attention to the needs of the grain, adding what
is necessary to the soil. Often the alternation of crops increases the
yield--wheat doing much better if planted where beans or other legumes
were raised the year before. Where the grain fields are not so large,
irrigation can be depended upon instead of the rainfall, and crops then
are sure and more even in quantity.
Barley is the grain next in importance to wheat in California. It can
be raised where wheat can not, as it needs less moisture for its
development; and if the rains fail, it can be cut for hay which always
brings a good price. Barley hay, with the heads on, is in California the
chief food of horses, and in many cases of cattle. A horse for ordinary
work fed on barley hay gets all the grain necessary. If on account
of heavier work, stronger food is required, rolled barley is given in
addition. A large quantity of the better graded barley grain raised in
the state is used by the brewers for malt.
Corn does not do so well through the state in general, but in some
locations it is justly claimed that a man can ride on horseback down
the rows of corn without being seen over the tops. This, too, the padres
brought into the state. The tortilla, the common food of the Spanish
settlers, was made of coarse-ground or pounded corn.
Alfalfa, the wonderful forage plant of dry regions of the West, is a
member of the clover family. Throughout the southern and middle portion
of California are large ranches devoted to its culture for hay. It
is also raised extensively for green feed for horses and cattle. It
produces from three to six crops a year according to location and care
given it, and is treated for the market much the same as barley hay,
except that it is generally made into smaller bales. Alfalfa is
raised by irrigation, the best method being from flumes opening into
indentations, not so deep as furrows, from which the water spreads,
flooding the whole surface.
Many a California young man from high school gets his first taste of
work away from home in the harvest fields. Generally this is a good
experience for him. He receives some pretty hard knocks, and sees the
rough side of life, but if he has self-control and good principles, he
will be the better for the venture, returning more manly, earnest, and
self-reliant.