At seven years
the orchard should be in full bearing, and never yield less than 150,
and, possibly, 450 dollars per acre. Instances have been known when
prunes, peaches, and pears have produced from 750 to 1,500 dollars per
acre clear profit.
POSITION OF A SETTLER.
The position of a settler, then, is that for the first three years he
cannot depend upon his crop of Fruit to maintain him, but must either
have sufficient capital to support him during that time, or else earn
his living in some other way. To be idle, and live on capital, would
not, of course, suit any man who meant to succeed, and therefore he
would fill up his time in cultivating garden and poultry produce, for
which there is always a demand, or in getting some occasional
employment.
COST OF BOARD AND LODGING.
At Merced railway station is a very large hotel, and the cost of board
and lodging for emigrants is only 25 dollars, _i.e.,_ say, L5 per month;
to usual visitors it is 60 dollars a month.
RAISIN CULTURE.
The _Pacific Rural Press_, referring to the raisin vineyards in the San
Joaquin Valley, California, states:--
"What is especially interesting to the home-seeker in connection with
this information, is the fact that everyone of these vineyardists is
prosperous. No other horticultural industry is so profitable as the
culture of the raisin grape, in no other is the work so pleasant, and no
other yields a return so quickly.
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