Santa Clara County
History
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
THE QUITO OLIVE AND VINE FARM.
This farm of eighty-one acres, distant eight miles from San Jose, is situated on the Quito road near its junction with Saratoga Avenue. This particular spot in his great rancho was chosen by Senor Don Jose Ramon Arguello for his country homestead, and here, in 1865, he planted the first of the olives, a small vineyard, and a fruit orchard. His death, in 1876, led to a division of the estate, and in December, 1882, the olive farm passed into the hands of the present proprietor. The development of the place has been carried forward slowly but steadily since that date. The olives had been planted at the extremely short distance of sixteen and a half feet, and were suffering from insufficient soil and lack of air and sun, and in the month of March, 1883, twelve hundred and fifty of from ten to seventeen years of age were cut to the stock and transplanted, with but small loss. Some of these transplanted trees were in fruit the past season, while the remainder are in full bloom for a crop in the season to come. The trimmings of the trees were made into cuttings, and from the nurseries of 1883 and the two following years, nearly fifty thousand trees have been furnished to the farm itself, and to the new olive orchards of this and adjacent counties, and besides these many thousand cuttings have been supplied as such. The entire place is now planted in olives, and vines are planted between the rows of trees, as has been the custom for many centuries in Italy and Spain. There are twenty-five hundred trees of from fifteen to twenty-three years of age, and three thousand of five and six years' growth, from the cuttings, and thirty-two thousand vines of standard wine varieties. During these years (1882-1888), everything has been made subservient to the development of the place, in the remaking of the old orchard, the making of the new, and the planting of the vines; but, notwithstanding this, the oil of 1885 stood first in the tests at the New Orleans Exposition, and received a diploma there, as at various California fairs, and the pickled olives of that and the following years met with a rapid sale.
The wonderful growth of the olive in the exceptionally favorable soil and climate of Santa Clara Valley makes it necessary to give it unusually large distances, and, although the removal of one-half the trees of the older orchard on alternate diagonal lines, left the remaining trees at twenty-three and one-third feet distance, their growth has been such as to demonstrate the need of still further removals. In this season, in March, a number of trees were transplanted, all or nearly all trees now of twenty-three years, and all trees which had been previously transplanted in 1883. In the coming winter from six to eight hundred old trees will be transplanted from the oldest orchard.
It will be readily seen that it is quite impossible to give estimates as to the production of olives, and the profits of olive culture, whether for oil or olives in pickle, based on the experience of the Quito, because, up to 1883, the trees were entirely too crowded to be productive, and because, since that date, the older trees have been recovering from those years of insufficient space, of abuse and neglect, or remaking themselves from the stock, while the younger trees have not as yet reached the year of bearing. The grove does, however, prove beyond a question that the soil and climate of Santa Clara Valley are exceedingly well-suited to the olive, and that the variety known as the "Mission Olive" can produce oil of a high grade, and olives in pickle which find a ready sale in the home market.
The buildings consist of an oil mill—in the upper story of which the proprietor has fitted up a quaint apartment, with the crusher and press addition—winery, barn, and commodious houses for the force. A homestead lot between old oaks, olives, and peppers has been left for a residence; and an attractive feature of the place is the "Pergola," an arbor two hundred feet long by ten broad, made of heavy redwood posts and cross beams, on which climb choice varieties of table grapes, and to the south of which is a line of old olives and fruit trees alternated. In the coming year this will be so completely covered as to give a shady resort from summer heat. It was from vines of this arbor that astonished Eastern horticulturists gathered grapes still palatable, even after the extreme frosts of the season, on the day of their drive through the valley, January 27,1888. Not far from this arbor are some old cherries which seem rather shade than fruit trees, in their extraordinary size. Senor Arguello showed himself well acquainted with his great estate when he chose this spot for the family country home, for its position, although on the plain, commands a view exceptionally extensive and beautiful, while its soil admits no rival for fruit culture.
Whether considered as a place of residence, as an olive farm, or as a wine farm, the Quito is one of the choice properties of the valley, and one of the most beautiful. Its position is such, as related to the many vineyards in the locality, that its plant for wine production and storage will, almost of necessity, be increased this year or the following year. In such case the arrangement of machinery would be so adjusted that in the future, besides a large wine production, it will be able to deal not only with its own olives, but with the olives of a large district, as the newly-planted olive orchards come into bearing; for in olive culture it is inevitable that the system of manufacture will be the same as in the vine and fruit cultures, and as in the olive culture of Italy—the product of many farms will be brought to central mills for the process of manufacture. This is a most desirable economy of machinery, and of skilled and experienced labor as well. This is the Quito's natural and seemingly inevitable evolution. It is clear that the increase of the olive interest in the State, but especially in Santa Clara County, will be very great in the next few years.
Besides the profit of the olive farm, this tree has certain especial attractions. By its almost unlimited life an olive orchard is ever increasing in value. By its hardihood it can occupy much land unacceptable to other fruit trees, and almost valueless for general farm uses. The world's demand for olive-oil is so far in advance of the supply that few articles of consumption are equally adulterated or absolutely falsified, and the mere local demand of California for pure oil is to-day far in excess of the present supply, and increases more rapidly than the production. These facts seem to relegate the question of a possible overproduction to a future so very distant that the olive farmer may safely leave it out of his calculation, even when thinking of his olives as his legacy to children and grandchildren. The olive-oil interest of California is even safe from tariff juggling, which seems to threaten other fruit interests so dangerously at the present time, for it is competing only with adulterations and fabrications, and its patrons are such because it is what they demand—pure olive oil.
There is another important consideration favorable to an increasing olive industry which is being slowly recognized. It seems as if this interest must be pushed to a great development as offering a solution, and at the present the only solution, of the labor question as related to the harvesting of the fruit crop. What other than a very extensive olive interest, with its winter harvest—namely, November 15 to May 1—can take up the great mass of floating labor needed for the fruit and vine industries, as these set free in November, and carry it on until they call for it again in May? Such there may be, but as yet it is unknown in California. If such a development should come, in but a few years the little Quito will be unnoticeable among the many and larger groves of the county; but it will always have its modest place in the history of the valley as the first (that of the American excepted), and that where the experiments, always necessary in a new industry, and often, for a time, disappointing and unsatisfactory to the beginner, have been tried out; and to those who read the history of their home, their long lines of somber green will stand for years, perhaps for centuries, a pleasing memorial of the cultured Spanish gentleman who alone of his generation foresaw the wonderful future of his beloved and beautiful valley; nor will they forget to bless the memory of the old Spanish Padres who brought the olive with them from their Iberian home across the sea. Lovers will bide tryst under the spreading branches, and brides, perhaps, meet their grooms at the altar, as did Beatrice the immortal Dante, in purgatory, "above the veil of dazzling white, bound with the olive wreath;" for through all the centuries it has come down to us as the emblem of wisdom, and has been borne by the herald ever as a sign of peace.
The proprietor of the Quito Olive Farm, Mr. Edward E. Goodrich, was born at Malden, Massachusetts, August 12, 1845, but is of the New Haven branch of the Connecticut family of the name. He was graduated at Yale College in the class of 1866, and at the Albany Law School in 1867. April 23, 1878, he was married to Miss Sara M. Shafter, daughter of the late Judge Oscar L. Shafter, of the Supreme Court of this State. Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich have four children —one boy and three girls.
The citrus fruits have been cultivated in Santa Clara County for a period antedating tradition. Orange and lemon trees early found place in the mission orchard, and many were brought here by the earlier immigrants from Mexico. They were common in the door-yards and gardens of the old Spanish homesteads, and bore abundant fruit, although not of the best quality. Orange and lemon trees of a better variety were, many years ago, planted on the grounds of W. H. Rogers and W. S. McMurtry at Los Gatos, and grew thriftily and bore well. Christian Feldstadt, on the eastern foothills, had an orchard of oranges and semi-tropical fruits, which was a source of considerable profit.
In 1880 Mr. Harvey Wilcox planted sixteen acres to oranges in the hills overlooking Los Gatos, on the property now occupied by the Catholic fathers. At six years of age these trees brought a large harvest of beautiful fruit. As a rule citrus fruits were not planted for the market, but as an ornament, and to furnish a home supply. For this reason public attention was not called to this branch of horticulture until the winter of 1886-87. At that time the San Jose Horticultural Society called a citrus fair, when oranges and lemons were presented for exhibition from one hundred and sixty-three different localities in the county. Many of these exhibits were from orchards of considerable acreage, whose owners testified to healthy growth and satisfactory fruitage. This exhibition was made, not for the purpose of showing citrus culture as a leading industry of the valley, but to demonstrate to Eastern visitors that Santa Clara County possessed a soil and climate suitable to the growth of those fruits.
It is very doubtful whether orange culture ever becomes a very important branch of Santa Clara County horticulture. This will not be for lack of adaptability of soil and climate, but because it does not pay so well as other departments of fruit-growing, nor is it so sure or capable of being conducted with so little labor. Oranges must be marketed in a fresh state, and must be transported long distances at high freight rates, while the profit is not in proportion to the risk. In other fruits the producer can place his crop in an imperishable state, and hold it until the condition of the market suits him to offer it for sale. The profit on the standard fruits grown in Santa Clara County, runs from $150 to $200 per acre, which is large enough to suit any reasonable disposition.
We have spoken of the operations of the Alden Fruit and Vegetable Preserving Company, as giving a great impetus to the orchard business. The company met with no success in its work, because the machine used was incompetent. It, however, demonstrated what could be done with proper apparatus. After the Alden Company retired, Mr. W. W. Cozzens took up the business of fruit evaporating, erecting a drier at his place in the Willows, and conducted it successfully until his death, when it was taken in hand by his sons, who have made great improvement in machinery and methods, and are still carrying on the work. Geo. A. and C. F. Fleming, of the Willows, soon went into the business with an evaporator of their own invention. In 1887 they erected extensive branch works at Campbell's Station, and in 1888, at Marysville, Yuba County. More particulars of these operations will be found in the personal histories of these gentlemen, elsewhere recorded in this book.
The rapid increase in the yield of the orchards led to apprehensions that the production would outrun the capacity of the canneries and evaporators. It had come to be a popular belief that an evaporator was necessary to the proper drying of fruit, and there was a great demand for this kind of machinery. Many inventions were presented, but they either lacked in ability to do good work, or in capacity to do enough of it, or were too expensive to be operated with profit. The idea that fruit must be machine-dried to secure the top market prices, was gathered from comparative quotations in Eastern prices current. It did not occur to the people that the Eastern sunshine was different from the sunshine in the Santa Clara Valley; that, in that country, they had frequent summer rains and heavy dews at night, while in this valley there was a high barometer, no summer rains, and no dew, and that here sun-drying was equivalent to evaporation, with the only difference that it was a slightly longer operation. To offset the difference in time was the fact that all out-of-doors was available to the sun-drier, and that the amount of fruit that could be exposed at once more than made up for the time required for its curing.
But the people came to know these things in a natural way. The apricot crop of 1887 was unusually large. Many new orchards came into bearing that year, while the older trees had more capacity. Every tree of three years of age or more was bending beneath its load of fruit. The canneries and evaporators could not handle one-third of the crop, and the orchardists were compelled to resort to sun-drying or permit their crops to rot under the trees. They chose the latter, and the result was a revelation. By properly preparing the fruit it came from the drying trays bright and luscious in appearance, and, in the opinion of experts, fully equal, if not superior, in quality to that cured by machine. The experience of that year settled the problem of preparing fruit for market, and settled it in a manner most satisfactory to the orchardist.
The experience of 1887 also solved another problem that was causing considerable anxiety on the part of the fruit-grower. The thoughtful ones had for some
time been working with the labor question. They foresaw the time when the fruit yield would be too large to be handled by the available workmen then in the valley. When the large crop of this year came on they concluded that the crisis had arrived. And so it had; but it did not bring the disaster that had been anticipated. The trustees of the different schools extended the summer vacation, and women and children went to the orchards. The crop was all harvested in good shape, and the children earned a great deal of money. Girls twelve years old could earn $1.00 a day, and others older or more skillful earned from $1.00 to $2.00 per day. Boys learned habits of industry, and, as working in the orchards was popular, none were ashamed of the labor. Besides showing the fruit-growers where to secure their future help, the moral lesson of 1887 was invaluable.
In 1886 the consumers of fruit in the East became convinced that the prunes grown in Santa Clara County were superior in quality to those grown in France, when similar grades were compared. This superiority is due to two causes: First, because the peculiar soil and climate of this section induces a thriftier growth and a more perfect ripening of the fruit, and complete development of the sugar; second, because of the method of curing practiced here. In France the process through which the prunes are carried results in cooking the fruit to a greater or less extent. This renders it soft and pleasant to eat in a raw state, but when made into sauce it loses much of its flavor. In the California process, where the fruit is cured by exposure to the sun, no cooking results, and the fruit retains its full flavor.
In 1887 a gentleman from France visited San Jose, and represented himself as having been a superintendent of one of the large prune-curing establishments of Bordeaux. He desired to establish a similar business here, and offered to guaranty that the California-dried prunes, treated by the French process, would recover seventy-five per cent of the weight lost in drying. While the secret of his process was not divulged, it must necessarily be inferred that the weight thus restored would be in the nature of moisture, and while it would add to the specific gravity of the fruit, would not increase the quantity of nutritious elements. This indicates that while the weight of California-cured prunes is made up entirely of the fruit elements, that by the French process is, to a considerable extent, of water.
We have seen that the planting of strawberries in this county was first undertaken as an industry in the Willows District, but was abandoned when planting began in the artesian belt. The first strawberry plants brought to this county came with Commodore Stockton's nursery tree, in 1852. They were grown for fruit to a limited extent on the Stockton ranch, but were not planted for market purposes until Downs and Orne set out their three-acre tract in the Willows. The present strawberry section lies north of San Jose and Santa Clara, towards Milpitas and Alviso. The first person to go into this business in this district was Mr. Cary Peebels, who planted a few acres, in 1868, on the place now owned by Mr. Agnew, at Agnew's Station. His success induced other plantings, and in a very short time the whole belt of country where flowing artesian water was available was engaged in this industry. In many instances too great an acreage was devoted to strawberries. Charles Wade, on the Alviso road, had one hundred and forty acres planted in 1874, but was compelled to curtail his operations for the reason that labor could not be obtained to care for the crop. Others found themselves in the same predicament. The only labor thus far found available for this industry has been that of Chinese, who work on a kind of co-operative system. The owner of the land furnishes the ground, plants, and water, and sells the crop. The Chinamen plant, cultivate, and harvest. One-half the proceeds go to the owner of the land and one-half to the Chinamen.
The Chinese are a shrewd people, and, controlled as they are by the Six Companies, are able to make such combinations as to their labor as they may desire. This is probably the reason why the acreage of strawberries is kept at about the same amount from year to year. A person who desires to go into this business must consult the Chinamen. If they think the increase in production will be greater than the market can stand, he will get no labor. If the Chinamen decide that the new acreage will not overstock the market, he will get all the labor he wants. The work of growing and harvesting strawberries in the lowlands is peculiarly distasteful to white people. Many unsuccessful efforts have been made to substitute laborers of other nationalities for the Chinamen but no success has followed these attempts. It may be that this problem will work itself out to a successful solution, as have so many other vexed questions connected with our horticulture. For many years Santa Clara County was the only source of supply, for this fruit, for the San Francisco market. Other sections have since engaged in the business, but this county still furnishes about ninety per cent of all the strawberries grown in the State.
The first horticultural society of Santa Clara County, as we have related, came into existence in 1854, and lost its identity in 1859, when the Santa Clara Valley Agricultural Society was incorporated under the laws of the State. It held no separate fairs after 1856. In 1882 a new society was formed, which is still in existence. In 1884 this society held its first fair in the California Theater Building on Second Street. The success of this exhibition created an enthusiasm which led to the building of the Horticultural Hall on San Fernando Street, in 1886, where three annual exhibitions are now held. A citrus fair takes place in January or February, a flower festival in May, and an exhibition of horticultural and viticultural products late in the summer. This history would be incomplete if it failed to record the fact that the success of these exhibitions and the building of the Horticultural Hall has been due almost exclusively to the ladies connected with the fruit-growing interests of Santa Clara County. When the subject of holding the first fair was presented, the horticultural society doubted its ability to carry it through to a successful conclusion, and the matter was referred to the San Jose Grange. The ladies belonging to this organization took up the burden, canvassed the county for articles for exhibition, arranged the display, and carried the enterprise forward to a phenomenal success. They did the same thing the succeeding year, and the male members of the two organizations, having been shown how to do the work, have since added their assistance. The efforts of the ladies having pointed out the field to be occupied and the methods by which it could be taken into possession, the men marched on to the ground and went into camp.
VITICULTURE.
Before the American occupation, vines were planted here and there through the valley from cuttings procured from the Mission, but these plantings could hardly be called vineyards. The first planting of any magnitude was made by Charles Lefranc, at the New Almaden Vineyard, in 1852. Mr. Lefranc was born at Passy, a suburb of Paris, and came to California in 1850. In 1857 he married Miss Adele Thee, whose father, Etienne Thee, owned a half interest in the tract of land where the New Almaden Vineyard is now located. Mr. Lefranc purchased the other half in 1851, and afterwards came into ownership of the whole tract.
Mr. Thee had planted a few Mission vines on the place before Mr. Lefranc took charge. The latter gentleman increased the area, planting such of the finer varieties as he could obtain, his idea being to grow grapes for table use. At that time imported wine was a drug in the market, owing to the fact that several vessels having wine cargoes had come into San Francisco and had been abandoned by their crews, who sought the mines. This wine was several years in excess of the demand, and much of it was sold as low as fifteen cents per gallon. With these cargoes on the market there seemed to be no profit in growing grapes for vintage.
Mr. Lefranc's early importations were in 1854, and were made through the house of Henry Shroeder, whose agent in France acted for Mr. Lefranc in procuring cuttings. The first of these arrived and were planted in the year above mentioned, and each succeeding season added to the varieties. Among these were the Sauvignons, Semillon, Challosse, Menu Pinot, Chauche Gris, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Pinots, Miller Burgundy, Chasselas Fontainbleau, Chasselas Rose, Madelaine, Muscat Frontignan, Muscat Rose, Black Muscats, Chasselas Muscat, La Folle Blanc, Napoleon, Grenache, Carignan, and others. He also procured some varieties from General Vallejo, who had also made importations from Europe. The Verdal was introduced into this county by Mrs. Lefranc in 1859, who brought the cuttings, on horseback, from the Canada Raymunde ranch, they having been presented to her by a Spanish nobleman, who had brought them from the old country.
In 1858 Mr. Frank Stock planted a vineyard at the corner of Eighth and William Streets, in San Jose. He imported valuable German varieties, among which were the Johannisberg Reissling, Franklin Reissling, Trainina, Golden Chasselas, and Zinfandel. When this vineyard was discontinued, in 1869, Mr. Stock presented his vines to Mr. Lefranc, who removed them to the New Almaden. In the course of time the glut of French wine at San Francisco disappeared, and there came a demand for more. Then Mr. Lefranc turned his attention to wine-making, his first considerable vintage being in 1862. He continued his plantings until he had one hundred and thirty-one acres in vineyard, the youngest vine now being seven years old. His wine crop in 1887 was eighty-five thousand gallons; in 1888 it is one hundred thousand gallons.
We have spoken of the early importations of Louis Pellier, who got several fine varieties in 1854 at the time he introduced the French prune. Antonio Delmas was also an early importer of vines, his vineyard being near where Delmas Avenue now is. Pedro Sansevain also had some good varieties at an early day. Victor Speckens had a vineyard containing some choice vines, which were in bearing in 1868. This vineyard went into the hands of John Auzerais, who enlarged it and planted many new varieties. This place is a short distance east of Berryessa, on the Penetencia Creek.
The principal plantings of noble varieties, after these above noted, were made from 1868 to 1871. The Stocktons planted the Gravelly Ridge Vineyard, southwest from San Jose, now the property of Gaines & Crandall. D. M. Harwood planted the Lone Hill Vineyard, near Lefranc's, now the property of C. Freyschlag. Frank Richmond planted in the same neighborhood, now known as the Arnerich place. In 1871 Norman Porter planted the vineyard in the Cupertino District now owned by Captain Merithew.
The Cupertino District has become famous for its vines, and a brief account of its development will not be uninteresting. In 1849 Elisha Stevens, who was captain of the Murphy party in 1844, settled on the ranch now known as " Blackberry Farm," and gave his name to Stevens Creek. He planted about four acres of Mission grapes in the creek bottom. He also planted blackberries, and from this came the name of the place. Soon after this a Spaniard named Novato, who had settled in the foothills near Permanente Creek, planted a few cuttings from Captain Stevens' vineyard. With the exception of random patches here and there, this was all the planting done in this district until 1870. Much of the land was thin and covered with chemissal, and had no reputation either for fertility or endurance. Many grain farmers became poor in endeavoring to make a living there, and it was considered a pure waste of money to invest it in grape cuttings and in the labor required to plant and care for them. In 1870 Mr. S. R. Williams came into the district and took a contract from Wm. Hall to clear and plant one hundred acres to vines, and care for them for three years for half. He did this and received his deed for fifty acres. Part of this tract was on the original claim located by Captain Stevens. The next vineyard planted was that of Norman Porter, as related above. About this time the report reached this district that the people of Sonoma and Napa Counties were digging up their vines as unprofitable, and this put an end to further plantings in Cupertino for some time, except. so far as Williams was concerned. He extended his vineyard and retained his faith in the industry. Porter became sick of his investment and sold out just as his vines came into bearing, and, it is said, the first crop harvested by the grantee amounted to the money paid for the place! However this may be, it is certain that the great growth and product of the vines dissipated the fears of the people, and a general era of planting began. Williams planted still more. He was followed by Portal, who set out the Burgundy Vineyard, and J. F. Thompson, who planted forty acres adjoining. They were followed by Hall, Gardner, Doyle, Wright, Montgomery, Bubb, Farr, Blabon, Hallenbeck, Combe, and others. These plantings were mostly made from 1880 to 1885. They were of the choicest varieties that could be had, and the result has indicated that the despised chemissal land is their true home.
While this district was being developed, other sections were undergoing a similar transformation. The Union and Los Gatos Districts, Evergreen, Madrone, and the Collins Districts, the foothills above Saratoga, and on the opposite side of the valley towards the Mission San Jose, were in many places converted into vineyards. Most of the vines on the San Francisco road, and Boyter road, north and west of Santa Clara, have been planted since 1880, as were the vineyards of Bingham & Edwards, Paul O. Burns, Henning, and others, near Evergreen. In 1856 Lyman J. Burrill planted grapes in the Santa Cruz Mountains, near the summit. He was followed by D. C. Felley, H. C. Morrill, and others. From this district were sent the grapes that carried off the important premiums at the New Orleans Exposition of 1884. The Mountain District, as it is called, produces exceptionally fine table grapes, hundreds of tons of which are annually shipped to the Eastern market.
The business of wine-making has hardly kept up with the enormous strides of the grape-growers, but has lately added to its speed and will overtake its companion in the near future. Too many growers depended on the professional wine-makers for a market, and have found that the crops were too large for the presses, cellars, and cooperage. Several large wineries were built in 1887-88, and the business of wine storage, as an investment, is being favorably considered by local capitalists. There seems to be no doubt that the question, " What shall we do with our grapes ?" will be as satisfactorily answered as was the similar question in regard to the fruit crop.
To summarize the condition of the fruit and vine interests of Santa Clara County at this time, 1888, there are, in round numbers, twenty thousand acres planted to fruit trees, and fifteen thousand acres planted to vines. The value of this crop this year is estimated at $3,500,000, all of which is new money brought into the county.
Contributed by Kathy Sedler.