|
A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, |
|
San Luis Obispo, and Ventura, California |
|
by Yda Addis Storke |
|
Published in 1891 in Chicago by the Lewis Publishing Co. ________________Pages 241-260_________________
RESOURCES. Chief among the resources of
Ventura County is AGRICULTURE. From the time
of its first settlement by the Mission fathers, over 100 years ago,
Ventura County has been more or less given over to agriculture; but her
grand capabilities in this line are only beginning to be understood. When he came to
Ventura County the man whose ideas of farming were formed amid the summer
rains and the corn-fields of the Mississippi had to learn over again how
to farm, and, now that he has learned the lesson, is growing rich on the
land which at onetime was deemed comparatively worthless. A mistaken idea
has prevailed to some extent among people in the East that farming is only
carried on in Southern California by means of irrigation, and that without
it crops would be a failure. Irrigation is not used at all in Ventura
County, except for alfalfa, and for all small grains and winter crops it
is not used in other countries. They are cultivated just as they are in
the Mississippi Valley or the Atlantic States, and need only the regular
rains of the winter and spring, or wet season, to mature them. Corn, a
summer crop, is irrigated in some counties, but never here, as the natural
moisture of the soil is sufficient to mature the crop. In some sections,
after a winter-sown crop, raised without irrigation, has been harvested,
another crop is raised when the rains are over by means of irrigation, and
thus the land does double duty. In Ventura County, however, as our farmers
do not desire to get rich in a day, corn is planted after the winter rains
are over, and but one crop a year is raised and that without irrigation. In many places
land will be seen which is never free from a growing crop from year to
year, except during the few days when plowing for the new planting. In
counties where irrigation is used, where water from the river is used, the
sediment held in suspension constantly renews the fertility of the soil
over which it is spread. Southern
California throughout is a wonderfully rich farming section, and Ventura
County is richer than any. She raises enough for her own consumption and
exports more than my other county in the south. Her markets are at her
very door. Lying between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, neither of which
raises enough for home consumption, the question of disposing of her
products is a simple one. Many things, especially beans and fruit, are
shipped to the East, although the bulk of exports goes by steamer to San
Francisco. But the supply is never half equal to the demand, which makes
Ventura a splendid field for the industrious farmer. It is a better field
than any other in Southern California, if for no other reason than that it
is the only county where irrigation is not needed and not used. The number
of acres under cultivation in this county is estimated
at 100,000 this year. Anything that
grows in Ventura county - and anything will grow - yields a good profit to
the tiller. But of course there are some things much more profitable than
others. Heretofore barley has chiefly occupied the attention of the
farmer, with satisfactory results; but year by year the tendency is to
forsake barley and go over to THE BEAN. Before all
others Ventura is preeminently a bean county. This is conceded on all
sides, and one of the facts that has not been denied in other counties.
The cultivation of the bean dates back to the earliest settlement of the
county; and bean culture has always been successful. The season of
1864-'65 was the dryest and most unpropitious ever known here, and even
then a large quantity of beans were exported. About the year 1875, Mr.
Crane began cultivation of the Lima bean in the valley, and it is now
thought to be the most valuable bean produced in the county. The Lima bean
is a very prolific product. More than a ton is often raised on an acre of
ground, while twenty-three hundred pounds of the White Navy beans are
frequently raised on one acre. Lima beans have often brought as high as 5
and 6 cents a pound, returning to the producer the handsome figure of $100
per acre, but $50 is probably a fair average. This year Limas
will bring 2 1/2 cents a
pound. Estimating 1,800 pounds to the acre, at 2 1/2 cents, the yield in
money per acre will be $44 and the profit about $32 or $33. Bean raising
smuts about $7.50 per acre. This estimate includes everything - cost of
seed, planting, cultivating, cutting and harvesting. And it is a liberal
estimate. Beans are
planted with a bean planter, a simple machine. Two, three, and sometimes
four rows are planted at a time. Cultivation after they are planted
consists simply in keeping the field clear of weeds. They ere planted in
May, after the winter rains are surely over, never irrigated, cultivated
once or twice after planting, and then nothing more is done until they are
ready to cut, which is generally in August or September. At first beans
were pulled by hand, but by degrees improvements on this slow method were
invented, until now the harvesting of the bean is a very inexpensive,
rapid and simple process; and herein lies much of the profit. They are cut
with a bean cutter, also a very simple machine. It is a V-shaped knife,
the blades of which are five or six feet long and are attached on either
side of a wooden sled about eight feet long, one foot wide and one deep.
Three horses are attached to the cutter, which is guided between the rows
by one man. This way beans can be cut at an expense of about 50 cents an
acre, and one man and three horses will cut fifteen acres a day. Lima
beans are planted in cores three feet apart and drilled. Small white beans
are planted thirty inches apart and drilled. The latter are cut earlier
than the Limas. After the beans - of any variety - are cut, they remain in
piles in the field for about four weeks to dry, when they are taken to the
machine and threshed at an expense of about 15 cents per 100 pounds. Seven
dollars and a half will easily cover the cost of seed, planting,
cultivating, cutting and harvesting an acre of beans. The demand for beans
is always good. Limas bring from to 3 cents a pound, the small whites from
2 to 2 1/2 cents. Farmers in Ventura have often cleared $50 an acre on a
crop of Lima beans, and never less than $30. So it will be seen that bean
land is not shockingly dear at even $300 an acre. Land that will pay
fifteen per cent. on money invested is not exorbitantly high; it is
reasonably cheap. But there is plenty of land suitable for bean culture
that can be had for $150, some at $100, $75, $60, $50 - according to
location and facilities for shipping. The highest priced lands in the
poorest season will pay fifteen per cent. on money invested. The Santa
Clara Valley has heretofore been considered the home of the bean. Before
this season farmers who were not fortunate enough to own land in this
favored section were afraid to embark in anything but grain, but this year
some tillers of Las Poses soil were bold enough to pioneer bean planting,
and crops resulting from their experiments demonstrate the fact that beans
can be successfully grown in other sections besides the Santa Clara
Valley. Rice & Bell on the Las Posas have as fine a crop of beans as
can be found in the county, a crop that will certainly average a ton to
the acre. Beans have also been raised this year on the Ojai, the Conejo,
and a few in the Simi. Unquestionably the soil and climate of the Santa
Clara valley is more suited to the cultivation of the bean than any one of
these latter valleys, which are mostly given over to grain-growing. In the
Santa Clara Valley farmers often raise 2,000 to 3,000 sacks of beans a
year. A sack of Lima beans contains about sixty pounds, and about seventy
pounds of small whites. In the Las
PosasValley, good bean land - land that will raise as good Limas and as
heavy crops as grow anywhere in the county - can be had at $60 an acre. First-class
bean land can be bought and paid for with two years' crops. No bean land
can be bought in the Santa Clara Valley the alleged home of the bean - for
less than $100 an acre, and most of it runs from $150 to $200. The latter
price would seem enormously high to the Eastern farmer unacquainted with
the profits of bean raising. A California bean field often embraces
hundreds of acres, all in sight from a given point. The vines run along
the ground and not on poles as in the Eastern States. Next to fruit
growing, bean raising is undoubtedly the most profitable industry in the
farming line in Ventura county; and it is more profitable than some kinds
of fruit growing. OTHER PRODUCTS No spot in
California can excel the Santa Clara Valley in the production of corn. It
grows without irrigation and has reached high as 72 centals or 120 bushels
to the acre. It is planted in April or May after the rains are over, and
frequently nothing more is required till it is ready for gathering in
autumn. Should it rain after the ground is planted the farmer frequently
finds it advantageous to plow it up and plant it a second time; otherwise
cultivation will be necessary to overcome the weeds. After the corn is
gathered and husked it may be thrown into open pits and left uncovered for
a year or more, if not sooner shelled or fed to stock. Everything in
connection with corn-raising except the gathering is performed by
machinery. Until lately corn was raised extensively here and fed to hogs,
but now, notwithstanding the heavy yield per acre, the ground is generally
considered more profitable for some other kinds of crops. Ventura is the
only county in Southern California where corn is raised without
irrigation. Barley is the
chief cereal crop of Ventura County. Its yield is large in the Santa Clara
and other valleys. On the west side of the river it has reached 52 cent.,
or 104 bushels, to the acre. There is always a demand for barley, and
there is so much land in the county exactly suited for its production that
it is likely to continue one of its staple products. It may be sown after
the autumn rains or early in the spring. Cut green it is used for hay, and
is highly relished by stock. Year in and year out the profits from barley-
raising will average from $15 to $20 per acre. The Simi Valley yields
larger crops than any other portion of the county. Wheat is an
important crop in Southern California, but is not as extensively grown in
Ventura County as barley. The Ojai Valley. Simi and Conejo plateaus are
better adapted to wheat than the land immediately on the coast as they are
less subject to fogs which occur in some seasons of the year. Wheat-
raising in California is another and different thing from what it is in
the East. After it ripens it may be left standing for weeks with impunity,
the husk closing around the grain and holding it intact. When the farmer
is ready he enters the field with headers and a thresher and cuts,
threshes and sacks the grain the same day. The sacks are put in large
piles and left in the field uncovered for weeks, or even for months, until
he is ready to haul them to market. The wheat of California has a
worldwide reputation. The State ships on an average some 15,000,000
bushels annually. Alfalfa, or
lucerne, which is being extensively grown in Ventura County, is known
botanically as Medicago sativa. It has been grown in Greece for
about 3,000 years as forage plant and for hay. The Romans esteemed it very
highly, and Columella wrote that it yielded four to six crops a year. In
France it is known as lucerne and in Spain as alfalfa. It came from Spain
to South America, and thence by way of Mexico to California It is grown
extensively in Southern Europe. It is a most successful crop in this
county, but in most places needs irrigation. From six to eight cuttings
are harvested in a year. It yields from two to three tons to the cutting,
and readily nets from $60 to $75 to the acre. It is fed to cows, horses,
hogs and poultry, all of which thrive upon it. While oats are
not extensively raised here, yet they grow to perfection and make
excellent feed. In some portions of the county oats grow wild, covering
foot-hills and sides of mountains, and they are prized by stock-men for
all kinds of stock, including sheep. In this connection should be
mentioned bur clover, which covers the mountains, foothills and valleys in
winter with a carpet of green. It bears a bur which contains small seeds,
which are highly relished by cattle, horses, sheep, goats, hogs, and upon
which they thrive. About the first of June it dies and drops the burs
containing the seed, sometimes covering the ground to the depth of an inch
or more, and remains good until the November rains. When the country was
new no provision was made to feed stock any season of the year. They were
sustained during the winter and spring months by the abundance of grass
which grows luxuriantly in the valleys and on the mountains, and during
the summer and autumn lived on bur clover. Vegetable
raising has been largely relegated to the Chinese, who pay as high as $25
an acre rent for land. Of late, however, white men are turning their
attention to this important industry in Southern California. Of late,
white men have begun to see that there are possibilities for profit in the
humble cabbage, cauliflower, tomato and potato, not exceeded even by the
noble orange. Train-loads of vegetables are now sent East from Southern
California every winter, although not by any means so many as should be
sent These vegetables arrive East when everything is frozen, and fetch
very high prices. The industry is growing rapidly, and offers excellent
opportunities to men of moderate means, as it is not necessary to wait
several years for a return. A thrifty man can support a family
Potatoes yield two crops a year and bring as much as $200 an acre.
At present there is not enough raised in the county, and, with the demand
East, ought to develop into a great industry in the rich valleys of
Ventura County. Sweet potatoes yield immense crops and always command a
good price.
Tomatoes ripen nearly all the year round, the same vines bearing
for years in the more sheltered spots. Asparagus, onions, beans of all
kinds, peas, cabbage and cauliflower, squashes, melons, pumpkins, and in
short, nearly or quite every vegetable know to the northern or semi-tropic
climes grow here to perfection.
Fruit culture in Ventura County is yet in its infancy, but it is
growing rapidly. There are a few spots on earth so favored by nature, and
none where the horticulturist receives larger profits for his labor. The
possibilities of horticulture in this county seem almost without limit.
Year by year the area devoted to it is being enlarged, and as the county
is settled up orchards and vineyards increase and multiply. The profits
are much greater than from grain-growing, while the labor is much lighter
and pleasanter. It requires no extraordinary stretch of the imagination to
see the county in a few years transformed into one vast orchard and
vineyard; to see the large farms now in grain subdivided into small
tracts, with a happy home in each surrounded by fruits and flowers. The
great Simi, the Las Posas, all the great ranchos now supposed to be good
for little but grain, will one day be an unbroken line of orchards. The
growth of some of the most populous and wealthy countries of the old world
has been based upon horticulture and viticulture. The chief income of the
Mediterranean countries, occupying a similar latitude to Southern
California - Asia Minor, Greece, the Ionian Islands, Italy, Southern
France, Spain and Portugal - is derived from their export of oranges,
lemons, figs, olives, olive oil, dates, raisins, dried prunes, chestnuts,
preserved fruits, wines and brandies. The United States imports annually
$15,000,000 to $20,000,000 of fruits and nuts, all of which, in quantity
to supply the United States, may be grown within the limits of Ventura
County, and, in addition, thereto, all the wine and brandy which is
consumed in this country, with a large surplus for export.
Horticulture, therefor, furnishes a pretty solid basis for a large
population in this county, apart from its other numerous resources. Fruits are at home in Southern California, and particularly in Ventura County. They seem at once to take kindly to its soil and climate, no matter whence they are brought. In the early days - during the '50s - there were only a few inferior varieties of grapes and oranges grown in Southern California. The Mission grape was about the only variety grown in California at that time. There were a few old orange trees in Los Angeles County, around the missions, introduced by the Catholic fathers a century ago. The success of these led to others being planted in other sections, and so the orange industry has increased until the present day. There are seedling pear trees at the missions a hundred years old. The first grafted fruit trees were brought to California in 1851, 1852 and 1853. Fruit trees at that time were a dollar apiece, and the fruits were sold at enormously high prices - from $1 to $2 per pound. As time passed, more fruits trees were planted, nurseries established, and the price of fruit and trees diminished, and before railroads reached our coast the price of fruit was not remunerative, orchardists lost their interest in fruit raising, and it was some years before fruit was shipped East with profit. The olive is
said to be the most valuable tree known to man. This is undoubtedly true
in Ventura County as elsewhere. It will grow in almost any kind of soil,
although it is a mistake to imagine that it prefers soil nearly destitute
of life-giving qualities. The olive will grow on the hill side, among
rocks, and flourish where other trees would die. But that is no reason the
olive prefers that kind of soil. It will do better in rich soil, which is
natural. But the cheap lands of Ventura County - the hillsides now covered
with chapparal - will undoubtedly be most used in the cultivation of the
olive, for these lands would not be suitable to other trees. Such land can
be procured at from $10 to $30 an acre. The profits
from olive-growing are enormous. Olive trees are planted twenty feet
apart, or 108 to the acre. The olive grows from cuttings, which can be had
at from five to ten cents each. At present the cost of setting out an
olive orchard in Ventura County, including cost of land, trees and
planting, would scarcely exceed $30 an acre. This is a reasonable estimate
and may be too high. The olive bears at six or seven years from the
cutting. At seven years
an olive tree will bear about 120 pounds to the tree. About twelve pounds
will make one large bottle of oil, which will sell readily at from $1.50
to $2 a bottle. Mr. Cooper
originally sold his at $1 per bottle, but the demand was so great that he
was compelled to raise the price to $2. Twelve pounds to the bottle would
be ten bottles to the tree, or in round numbers 1,000 to the acre. At
$1.50 per bottle this would be $1,500 income from an acre of
seven-year-old trees. Say that in curing the olive and making the oil and
keeping the trees clean, two-thirds - an over estimate - of this sum is
expended, we have left as profit the enormous sum of $500 an acre. These
are At present
there are but two varieties of the olive most largely grown, that is, the
Mission and Picholine. Both have advantages. The Mission will perhaps grow
on a drier and poorer soil than the Picholine. The planting of the Mission
is much advocated by many, because the fruit is a large berry and the tree
a rapid grower. The walnut
prefers a moist rich soil, and is at home in Ventura County. The older
variety of the trees are very slow in coming into bearing, requiring about
ten years or more, and this fact has discouraged many an orchardist from
setting out this valuable fruit; but there is a variety of soft shell
walnut that requires but six years in which to bear, and once bearing it
keeps on increasing (as is the case with all kinds of walnuts) its crop
for fifty years or more. Sometimes these soft-shell walnut trees bear in
five years - four years from the nursery - and this year there are some
five-year-old trees in the county - notably at the Rice & Bell place
on the Las Posas - that are loaded with nuts. This is an exception,
however, the tree not usually bearing short of six years. The walnut
groves of Ventura County will and do net their owners an average of $100
per acre year in and year out, and there are some groves of old trees that
net yearly twice that sum. No crop is more easily gathered than the
walnut, and it is ready to be gathered after all other crops are in. The
best thing about the walnut is that it is not perishable, and the owner of
a grove is never forced to sell his crop at a loss or small profit to keep
it from spoiling on his hands. Then another thing is that the area in
which the walnut will thrive is so small that there can never be any
danger of an overstocked market. Walnut lands in Ventura County sell for
from $100 to $400 an acre, according to location, and any of it, after an
orchard has been in bearing a couple or three years, will pay ten per
cent. interest on $1,000 an acre. There is
abundant acreage in Ventura County adapted to culture of the almond, but
as yet little has been done in this direction. Mr. Joseph Hobart some
fifteen years ago put out 300 almond trees in the Upper Ojai Valley, and
he is almost the only grower of this article. So satisfactory does he find
the enterprise that he is planting out a large number of these trees,
which he regards, each for each, as more profitable than apricots, prunes,
or peaches. Some of the pleasant features of this business are as follows:
its successful treatment requires neither great haste nor a large crew of
workers; the gathering of the crop comes in cold weather, and wet days can
be utilized for hulling; the care of the orchard is less than with other
fruit trees, and the cost of handling a crop of almonds is only about
twenty-five per cent of what it costs to handle apricots, peaches, etc. Probably all
kinds of apples that can be grown in any country are grown here. They are
of very superior quality and there is no place in the United States where
they keep better than in this climate. The dried apples sent from this
county here commanded double the price of ordinary dried fruit. Pears of
superior quality are raised here and are found profitable both for drying
and canning purposes. The soil of
this section seems to be exactly suited to the apricot. Here it finds its
special adaptation, yielding immense quantities of fruit of large size and
excellent flavor. This is a very profitable industry and is becoming a
source of immense revenue to the county. As the district of country in
which they can grow to such perfection is limited, it is not likely the
business will be overdone, but there will be an increasing demand for this
fine fruit year after year. So far the apricot has had no natural enemy.
Neither insect nor disease of any kind has ever attacked it in this
region. As instances of the profit derived from this fruit we may cite the
following: A farmer sold the fruit of a nine acre orchard of four-year-old
trees for $1,000, their purchaser gathering the fruit, from which he also
derived a handsome profit, having obtained it for about one cent per
pound. The fruit in another orchard of five year-old trees sold for $200
per acre, the purchaser in this instance also realizing a handsome profit
by drying the fruit. In another orchard three years old, the owner
gathered fifty pounds to a tree, which more than paid for the trees and
their cultivation up to that time. A gentleman planted seventy-live acres
of apricot trees on land which cost $25 per acre; he raised two crops of
beans between the trees, which more than paid the cost of cultivation of
his orchard and the third year sold it for $100 per acre. This is not a
solitary instance for there are scores of individuals in this county who
are quadrupling the value of their land in a similar manner. One of the
largest orange and lemon orchards in the county is near Santa Paula. The growing of
oranges and lemons has been successfully tested at the Camulos, Sespe,
Ojai, Matilija and other portions of the county. There are also thousands
of acres on the Simi, Las Posas and other portions of the county that will
doubtless produce oranges, lemons and limes of good quality. This industry
is yet in its infancy in Ventura County, while its possibilities are
beyond computation. Farmers and
fruit growers have not turned their attention largely to grape culture,
but as far as tried they do remarkably well. Raisin grapes are grown
successfully and produce the finest raisins in the land. This is
especially true at Sespe and Ojai valleys. At the Camulos, in the northern
part of the county, a fine quality of wine has been successfully
manufactured for years. The county contains thousands of acres of land not
yet brought under cultivation, where every variety of grape known on the
west can be successfully and probably grown. For size and flavor the
grapes grown in this county will compare favorably with the best. A few
miles from Ventura is one of the largest grape-vines in the world. Prunes do well
and yield profitable crops. The French prune grows to great perfection,
yielding largely, and promises to become one of the paying industries of
the future. Peaches of all varieties do exceedingly well in this county.
They seldom or never fail; and this may be said of nearly all kinds of
fruits grown here. Some years the yield is not as great as others, but is
never a total failure. In addition to the fruits mentioned above, the
following also do very well in Ventura's soil: Limes, guavas, loquats,
currants, pears (which bear enormously), cherries, plums, figs of all
kinds at all seasons, pomegranates, nectarines, persimmons (Japan),
strawberries (ripe the year round), raspberries and blackberries. THIS YEAR'S EXPORTS The barley product of Ventura County for this year is about 120,000 sacks, the average yield being about 350,000 sacks; the low product this year is due to last year's unusually wet winter. Of wheat there were about 20,000 sacks, which is a fair average, comparatively little land being sown to wheat. Of hay are raised about 2,500 tons annually. This year hay is more abundant than usual in this county. Of corn about 150,000 will be this year's harvest, the average yield increasing from year to year, as barley-raising is abandoned for the culture of corn and beans. Of beans - that great Ventura staple - 18,200 acres were this year sown to Lima beans, yielding about 1,000 pounds to the acre, this being somewhat below the average of 1,500 pounds to the acre. About 2,500
acres were put to other varieties of beans, yielding about 1,500 pounds to
the acre. The apricot and walnut yield was very large also, about 300 car
loads of green apricots having been shipped to Newhall alone, for the
purpose of sun-drying. The shipment
from this county of fresh apricots, delivered at the railway stations at
$20 per ton, amounted to about $100,000 last season. So abundant was
the crop that one grower, Mr. A. D. Barnard, of the Canada Large Rancho,
invited through the newspapers all parties who would, to take away from
his orchard all of this fruit that they would haul without money or price.
Of walnuts twelve to fifteen carloads, or 240,000 pounds, will have been
shipped this year. 'There are about 200 acres of walnut trees bearing, and
350 acres not yet bearing, in this county. Of oranges and
lemons, the total value will probably approach $40,000. Olives will not
reach a large figure, outside of the Camulos Rancho. Peanuts enter into
the exports, as many as 500 sacks, or 25,000 pounds, having gone out;
potatoes amount to about 200 carloads; a variety of promiscuous products
also are exported, including hogs, of which a large number are raised,
sometimes as many as 10,000 a year. The yield for this year is not
determinable. STOCK RAISING This industry
has been carried on in Ventura somewhat extensively for many years. When
under Mexican role it consisted solely of cattle and horses, bat when the
Americans took possession they made sheep-raising a specialty. Under their
supervision the county has supported as many as 250,000 head at one time.
At the present time there is somewhat over 75,000 head in the county.
Recently imported draft and other horses have been introduced, the
assessment roll indicating several thousand American horses, some 3,000 of
which are graded. Percheron, Hambletonian, Belgian, Morgan and other
breeds have been imported. Among cattle there have been imported Durham,
Shorthorn, Jersey and Holstein breeds, making the grade of cattle the very
best. The county is far in advance of many others in the best breed of
horses and cattle, farmers having reached the conclusion that good stock
can be as easily raised as the poorer varieties and to much greater
profit. The raising of hogs is also engaged in extensively and profitably.
Diseases among stock are unknown here, except scab in sheep, which has not
proved destructive. A gentleman of
Santa Paula imported twenty-one head of Holstein cows four years ago and
has already sold $11,000 worth from their increase, while keeping up the
original number. This is a fair sample of what is being done in this and
other portions of the county in improved stock of nearly every kind. The resources
and capabilities of Ventura County in this regard may be best judged by
the following resume of the fine stock ranchos in this county: Three miles
from The property
embraces 630 acres of the La Colonia ranch, and is as desirably located
and composed as as good soil as any part of the 40,000 acres of this
magnificent property. The whole ranch is very nearly a mile square, and is
fenced and moss-fenced into suitable fields for tillage, grain or grazing. The owner of
this valuable place is doing much toward the improvement of horses in this
section. Several years ago J. C. Simpson, of Oakland, brought to
California from Chicago the beautiful dapple-gray stallion, A. W.
Richmond, which he sold to a Mr. Patrick, the latter to H. Johnson, he to
Hill & Greis, and finally Mr. Greis sold his interest to Mr. Hill, the
horse dying on the latter's hands last November, at the age of
twenty-seven years. This horse was said to be one of the finest, if not
the hest, carriage or driving horses on the continent. He was the sire of
Joe Romero, record 2:19 1/2; Arrow, record 2:13 1/4; Columbine - the dam
of Anteo and Anterolo, the only mare in the world that has produced two
sons to beat 2:20; Rosewall, who has just made himself a record, taking
six straight races, against stock imported to beat him; and a host of the
finest driving stock on this coast. Being owned by Mr. Hill and Hill &
Greis for some five or six years, his colts have become numerous, and are
considered the best stock in the county. Most of the colts strongly
resemble the sire, being showy and of a gentle disposition. Some of his
progeny develop great speed, but more of them become intelligent,
attractive family carriage horses, and are owned and prized by many of the
best families in this part of the State. Chief among the
valuable horses Mr. Hill has at the present time is Ulster Wilkes, a
two-year-old stallion by Guy Wilkes, record dam by Ulster Chief by
Hambletonian No. 10, second dam by May Queen, record 2:24. This is
considered one of the finest-bred colts in America. He is very handsome
and will without doubt, make an extra fine horse. Fayette King, a dark
brown stallion, three years old, by The King, son of George Wilkes, first
dam by Beecher, second dam by imported Consternation, full thoroughbred.
This is a fine horse. Sterlingwood, another chestnut stallion, three years
old, by Sterling, first dam by Nutwood, second dam by John Nelson. This is
also a valuable animal. Another
beautiful black two-year-old stallion, Steve White, by A. W. Richmond,
first dam by Ben Wade (thoroughbred), second dam by Traveler, third dam by
Son of John Morgan, fourth dam by Tiger Whip, is one of the prettiest
colts in the county. Aside from the
above list Mr. Hill has other fine stallions and some splendid mares by
Joe Daniels, Ben Wade, Wild Idler, Corbitt and other horses of high
record, in all about 120, the majority of which are unusually fine
animals. He has a three-quarters of a mile track on the ranch, and keeps a
man who thoroughly understands the business to train his stock. Aside from
running horses., one of which is Dottie Dimple, record 48 3/4, half mile,
this breeder gives his attention almost exclusively to carriage and
trotting horses, and has certainly done Ventura County much good in
introducing a class that would do credit to the blue-grass region of
Kentucky or any other section of America or the world. This rancho is
supplied with every necessary appliance, commodious buildings, well
watered and fenced, and is one of the best for stock-raising on the
Pacific coast. Aside from his stock of horses, Mr. Hill keeps some 400
hogs, and raises large quantities of corn, hay and barley. About a mile
from the above rancho is that of J. D. Patterson, of Geneva, New York,
covering 6,000 acres. This was also a part of the La Colonia property, and
is probably the largest horse rancho on the south side of the Santa Clara
River. The whole of this, however, is not devoted to stock, 1,000 acres or
more being planted to barley, the product of which was 27,000 sacks last
year. This farm keeps 500 head of horses, mostly of the French
draft species. Of this number 150 are brood mares. Mr. Patterson
is the owner of the celebrated Montebello, a pure Boulornais stallion a
beautiful mahogany bay, foaled at Jabeka, Belgium, in 1875, and imported
into this country in August, 1878. His weight is 1,800 pounds. He has
taken first premiums wherever exhibited, as well he might, for a finer
horse of its kind would be hard to find. Another noble
stallion of this ranch is Black Lewis, a California-raised black fellow,
nearly as heavy as his sire. This horse is five years old. Leopold,
another son of Montebello, a beautiful dapper-bay stallion, weighing 1,850
pounds, a pure blood, three years old. Caesar, another three-year-old, and
Philipi, another of the same age, Victor, Bonita and Patera, the last
three yearlings, are all fine stallions by same sire out of the imported
six-year-old mares Marie and Lady Henrietta, and the pure blood,
three-year-old, California-raised mare Florence, and are all splendid
specimens of this species of horses. The owner of
this property began raising this breed of horses in 1880, and has been
very successful. He sells them all over this coast and farther east. To Mr.
Patterson is due the credit of introducing an excellent strain of draft
horses. This ranch, besides raising barley and horses, also produces large
quantities of hay and corn; also keeps some 2,000 hogs. The location, soil
and equipments are all superb. The fences are good and everything bears
the unmistakable evidence of thrift and prosperity. On the same old
La Colonia, about Coon miles from these, is located another horse ranch
owned by J. K. Greis, of Nordhoff, and Thomas Bell, of New Jerusalem,
known as the Gries & Bell Ranch. This is a smaller one than the
others, containing only about 425 acres, but on it are kept some very fine
horses, mostly of the Richmond breed. This rancho keeps several fine
stallions; and, like the two above mentioned, keeps a large number of fine
brood mares, and makes a business of raising colts that develop into the
best carriage and family horses. They pay special attention to the
breeding of fine carriage stock and train them for this purpose, not, of
course, discouraging speed in trotting or racing. Their place, which is
located near Springville, is a valuable one, and is kept in
"apple-pie order," being like the other two a credit to the
owners and to the county. Such marked
success has attended the development of this industry here that it seems
hardly extravagant to predict that the day will come when California shall
lead the world in fine horses. The desirable mountain ranges of Ventura
County, with the rich alfalfa fields of the valleys, are just the thing to
develop the fine form and strong limb of this noble animal; and it would
be no unnatural thing for this little seaside county BEE KEEPING. There are about
18,000 hives of bees in this county. In a good year the county produces
about 3,000,000 pounds of honey, sufficient to fill 150 cars. In many
cases 400 pounds of honey to the hive have been produced. One apiary of
700 hives, and surrounded by bees amounting in all to 1,800 hives within
the radius of two miles, averaged 130 pounds each. Another apiary,
containing 443 hives in the spring, increased to about 1,200 and yielded
eighty tons of honey. These are presented as fair examples of the products
of the honey bee in this section. The beekeepers
of this county use honey extractors, replacing the comb. They have learned
to handle it economically in a wholesale way, and receive their full share
of the profits. The Langstroth hive in its simplest form is almost the
only one in use. The principal part of the honey is put up for shipment in
sixty-pound tins, two tins in a case. Some is put up in twelve pound tins,
and considerable in one and two pound tins for the English market. But the
larger portion is sold by commission merchants in San Francisco, orders
being received by them, from all parts of the world. Some send their honey
by the car-load to the interior States, at a cost of about two and
one-half cents a pound; others send it by sailing vessels around Cape Horn
to the Eastern States, at a cost of less than one cent a pound. This industry
can be greatly extended in this county. The best locations are at the
mouths of canons where water is plentiful. Some apiarists cultivate a
little land while taking care of their bees, and others indulge in
stock-raising. MINING. Mining in
Ventura is as yet comparatively undeveloped. The mountains
of this county are as yet but partly explored, and the most scientific
explorers who have visited this section are unacquainted with much they
contain. They will yet doubtless yield valuable returns to the faithful
investigator in precious metals, valuable minerals and not unlikely gems. Piru Mining
District. This district is several miles in extent, and in scenery,
abundance of timber, excellency of water, salubrity of climate in summer
and healthfulness, is hard to excel. The mountains are covered with pine
and oak timber; and in the Lockwood and Piru creeks, which traverse the
entire district, and are never failing streams fed by springs, abundance
of water can he procured for running stamp mills and other mining
purposes. Most of the ore is easily accessible and can be worked with
comparatively small cost. Considerable placer mining has been done in this
district, in which dry and wet washers have been used. Men have made from
$1.50 to $1 a day, but the principal wealth lies in the quartz ledges,
which require stamp mills to reduce the ore. Some of the
mineral-bearing peaks rise 8,000 feet, and one. Mount Pinos, over 9,000
feel above sea level. Gold was discovered here long before the excitement
of 1849. The territory of this district on the northern line of the county
has the honor of furnishing the first gold mines discovered and worked in
the State. Professor
Whitney says it was somewhere in this vicinity that gold was first
obtained in California in considerable quantity and that was as early as
1841. M. Duflot de Mofras says that the locality was in the mountains six
leagues from San Fernando and fifteen leagues from Los Angeles, where gold
was first discovered. Bancroft makes mention of the fact of this locality
having been worked more or less during the first half of the present
century. It is evident that the yield of gold and silver of this locality
has amounted to a large sum in the aggregate. The director of
the mint, in one of his annual reports to the Government, claims that
Frazer mountain alone had yielded $1,000,000 in gold. To preserve the
chronological symmetry of the present work, is introduced an extract from
the report of the director of the mint for the year 1882. Dr. Bowers gives
this at the end of his own paper on three mines, to which recurrence will
be made hereafter: "The Piru
District takes its name from the Piru Creek, which runs through it in
southerly direction, carrying, according to season, from 100 to 1,000
inches of water, and has placer diggings along its banks that have been
profitably worked. It is about fifty miles in length by twenty-five in
width, and is a strongly-marked mineral belt, carrying mineral veins of
almost every kind, such as gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, iron, bismuth
and antimony. It is abundantly supplied with timber of all kinds and
grass. It seems never to have attracted the attention of that class of men
who get up booms in mining camps. Those who frequent it are poor men, who
go there to make a raise, working "The
principal lode is called the Fraser mine. Daring the time it was worked, a "Some of
the most valuable lodes cannot be worked by the free-milling process,
because they contain lead, and therefore lie idle for the present. One of
these, the Mountain Chief, a large well-defined vein, gives an average of
$31 in gold and $40 in silver per ton. The ore is also charged with rich
sulphates. Probably one of the most valuable lodes in the district, if it
were in some other place, is a vein of magnetic iron fifty feet in width,
containing fifty-two per cent, of this useful metal. "1n this district are Frazer, Fitzgerald, Alamo, Brown and other mountains, all within the boundary line of Ventura County. In these are found true fissure quartz veins with granite walls, yielding gold and silver in paying quantities. Unfortunately for the development of these ledges they have generally fallen into the hands of persons who have had little or no capital to work them. They are
holding their claims by doing the year necessary assesssment work from
year to year, awaiting the advent of men who can command the means to
purchase and develop them. "Gold has
also been found in the Guadalasca range on the eastern side of the county,
not far from the sea shore. The mountains rise trom 3,000 to 4,000 feet
above the sea level a few miles back from the ocean, and contain numerous
quartz deposits in which free gold is found. It has never been
successfully mined in this locality, but prospectors have recently brought
in some fine looking ore carrying a considerable quantity of free gold.
This section still lacks thorough scientific investigation. "The San
Emidio Antimony Mine was located by as present owners in 1872. It is
claimed that this ledge was known to the Jesuit Fathers at an early day
and was worked under their direction. I learn that there is a record to
this effect in some of the old missions, and that implements have been
found here and elsewhere in this portion of the country, indicating their
use in these mines many years ago. "Professor
William R. Blake, who visited this locality in 1853 as geologist and
mineralogist of the expedition surveying a route for the Pacific Railroad,
refers to this deposit of antimony and says that in one place he found the
remains of some old smelting works. Mr. Blake revisited this locality some
years afterward, being much impressed with the character of its mineral
deposits. In his reports he believed the antimony of sufficient importance
to pay for its transportation to San Pedro on mules, a distance of over
100 miles, to what was then the nearest seaport. The ore is principally
sulphuret of antimony. The vein crops out on the summit of the San Emidio
Range, and is from thirty to 100 feet in width. The hanging and foot walls
are composed of granite. The ore is carried on donkeys over a trail two
and one-half miles to smelting works in San Emidio Canon, which is 2,500
feet below the vein at the place where it is being mined. Here is a
pulverizer and three concentrators, with other machinery, run by steam
power. "Messrs.
Bonchey & Co , the owners of this mine, are preparing to erect a
tramway or slide from the mine to the works, which will be about one and
one-half mile in length. There is an abundance of pine timber growing near
by that may be utilized for the purpose, while in the canon where the
smelting works are located is a never-failing stream of water. The ore
averages from thirty to thirty-five per cent. of antimony. It is also
stated that it contains from $4 to $16 per ton in gold, and from $10 to
$14 in silver. *** The mountain west of this ledge is capped with
metamorphic sandstones, which Mr. Bouchey has tested for lining the
furnaces of his smelting works, and pronounces it equal to the best
imported fire-bricks." A large bed of
gypsum occurs in the Ojai Valley, crossing the hill below the grade road
that ascends to the upper valley. There is an exposure in the canon on the
south side of the road, some fifteen or twenty feet wide, dipping slightly
to the east. It disappears under the mountain, but crops out nearly a mile
distant on the opposite side. It is situated so that it eau be easily
worked, requiring the construction of a wagon road but about 2,000 feet
along the side of the canon. A large deposit of gypsum is reported to have
been found recently in the western portion of the county. It is also found
in small quantities in other portions of the county.
A ledge of bituminous rock was discovered a few months since in Diablo
Canon, about five miles from Ventura, and is worked by Messrs. Cyrus
Bellah & Son. It is on the side of the canon, and has been prospected
a distance of forty feet and forty feet deep. The deposit gradually
increases in thickness, and gives promise of being practically
inexhaustible. It has been tested by the Southern Pacific Company and
others, who pronounce it of most excellent quality. The town authorities
of San Buenaventura have ordered sidewalks to be constructed of this
material on one of its principal streets, which will test its durability
and value for paving purposes. Small deposits of this mineral are found in
the upper Ojai Valley and other places tin the county. The county
abounds in hot and cold mineral springs. The most noted of these are
situated in the Matilija Canon, fifteen or eighteen miles from San
Buenaventura. They have been in use several years by persons suffering
from rheumatism, indigestion, and cutaneous and other diseases. They are
found somewhat abundantly for two or three miles along the canon, varying
in temperature from cold to hot. Several medicinal springs are found on
the Piru and at other portions of the county, but they have not been
brought to the notice of the public. Already all the
following named minerals have been found in Ventura County, and doubtless
others will be discovered in other portions of the section that as yet
have not been critically examined: Agate, analcite,
actinolite, aragonite, antimony, amygdaloid, azurite, alabaster,
auriferous quartz, argillaceous ironstone. Bitumen,
basalt, bromide of silver, bituminous rock, breccia, banded agate, brown
coal, bituminous shale. Copper,
calcite, cinnabar, chalcedony, chert, chrysolite, conglomerate, calcareous
tufa, carbonaceous shale, chrysocolla, compact gypsum, coal, chimney rock. Dolomite,
dendrite, dogtooth spar, diorite, diatomaceous earth. Epsomite. Feldspar,
fortification agate. Gold, garnets,
granite, graphite, galenite, gypsum, granular gypsum, fibrous gypsum,
graphic granite, gneiss, grit rock, granular quartz, gray kip ore. Hornblende,
hornblendic gneiss, hyalite. Iron,
ironstone, iron pyrites, infusorial earth, jasper, jelsonite. Kaolinite,
lava; limestone lignite. Mercury,
marble, moss-agate, manganese, magnetic iron, marl, mica, mica schist,
mottled jasper, massive calcite, micaceous granite, massive gypsum. Natrolite,
native sulphur, nickel (?), naphtha. Opal, obsidian,
oxide of iron, orthoclase. Porphyry,
petroleum, pumice-stone, pudding-stone, pitch-stone, potters' clay,
petrified wood, pyrites, picrolite (?). Quartz,
quartzose granite. Rose agate,
ruby silver. Silver, satin
spar, salt, sulphur, shale, silica, silt, stalactite, stalagmite, slate,
syenite, steatite, serpentine, selenite, semi-opal, shell marble. Tin (?),
trachyte, tale, talcose slate, tufa, trap, travertine, vesicular basalt,
wood opal, zeolite. Potters' clay,
pipe clay, brick clay and several other kinds that may be utilized and
their manufacture grow into important industries, are found in this
county. Also Ventura County
contains enough good building stone to supply the State of California for
centuries to come. A ledge of brown sandstone begins at the Sespe and
continues in a westerly direction (probably curving northwardly) for over
twenty-five miles to the ocean. It is several miles wide and of unknown
depth. It crops out in various accessible places and varies in texture and
hardness. But in every instance, so far as known, it is an excellent
building stone. In some places this vast ledge has been lifted to a
vertical position and in others it is horizontal. It can be quarried in
any size required by builders. This stone is
being used extensively for the finest buildings in San Francisco and Los
Angeles, and this promises to be one of the permanent and profitable
industries of the county, whose development will furnish employment for
thousands of workmen, skilled and unskilled. Other building
stone is found in various portions of the county, as greenish and gray
sandstone. In some places these are found in extensive ledges, but they
are not equal in texture and beauty to the red sandstone above described.
In the northern portion of the county may be found millions of tons
of granite, syenite and mica slate. The former contains large rose-colored
crystals of orthoclase, giving it a most beautiful appearance, which is
heightened by polishing. The mica, feldspar and quartz are distributed in
such a manner as to make the granite durable and valuable for building and
monumental purposes. The syenite is exceedingly tough and durable. In
other portions of the county vast quantities of compact slate rock may be
obtained, and also diorite. Compact basaltic rocks in almost unlimited
quantity may he found at the southeastern and northwestern portions of the
county. Altogether the
building stone of Ventura County is inexhaustible. In quality it is
probably unexcelled in the State. Hence-forward the "Ventura
brownstone" will go into the finest buildings in every city in
California. The asphaltum
or bituminous rock mines form one of the coming great interests of Ventura
County. Up to this time a vast quantity has been shipped to various cities
for street paving, etc., and large contracts are being filled for
contractors working in Colorado and Utah. The output over the Ventura
wharf will average perhaps ten tons daily. New deposits have been
discovered lately, and preparations are making to ship in large quantities
as far east as New York. It is hoped that this county will be able to
supply the demand for this article, formerly supplied from the Trinidad
Islands. These beds of asphalt, along the San Antonio Creek, were first
examined before the war, and before the oil discoveries in Pennsylvania,
by Professor Silliman of the Smithsonian Institute. His report called
attention to this territory, and led to the organization of the California
& Philadelphia Petroleum Company. MINERAL
OILS. (From
the State Mineralogical Report.)
Owing to the vast mineral oil deposits in this section, Ventura is
known as the "oil county " of California. The oil belt lies in
the mountains to the north of the Santa Clara River; it starts from near
the eastern boundary of the county, and runs in a southeasterly direction
to the San Buenaventura River. It is also found near the Conejo Rancho and
in other places in the county. The
wells are mostly situated from three to six miles north of the edge of the
Santa Clara Valley, in and about a series of canons which run southerly to
the Santa Clara River. The names of these canons in order from east to
west, are as follows: Piru, Hopper, Sespe, Santa Paula, Adams. Saltmarsh
(a branch of Adams), Wheeler, West Wheeler (a branch of Wheeler), Sulphur
and Coche (these two being branches of the Canada Larga). There are also a
few wells in the Ojai Valley. Westerly
from Santa Paula Creek, between the Ojai Valley on the north and the Santa
Clara Valley on the south, there extends an unbroken mountain ridge, whose
highest crest is about 2,000 feet above the sea, as far west as the San
Buenaventura River. This ridge is called "Sulphur Mountain," and
all the canons above named to the west of Santa Paula Canon lie on the
southern flank of Sulphur Mountain. Piru
Canon.—From
Camulos station it is about six miles to the well of Messrs. Rhodes &
Baker, head of Brea Canon. * * * The
well is about 250 feet north of the anticlinal axis, and is now (July 12,
1887) 715 feet deep. • • They have stopped drilling this well for a
while, because their water supply for the engine gave out. There is a
moderate quantity of gas in the water from this well.
The oil from the well is dark brown in color. This is said to be the only
well in or about Piru Canon. And certain it is that in the Piru Canon
itself thee visible surface indications of bituminous matter are very
slight. From 200 to 300 feet south of the well there is extensive deposit
of asphaltum mixed with surface sand, and numerous little springs of black
maltha scattered over perhaps an acre of ground. Next west of Piru Canon
comes Hopper
Canon—at whose mouth * * * a
well was drilled in 1887, by M. W. Beardsley, to a depth of 300 feet
* * * when the work was stopped for All
the way from here down to the mouth of the canon there is liquid oil
floating on top of the water in the creek. Some of it is green and some of
it is black. The aggregate quantity of oil which thus oozes away and
floats away on the water is, of course, not large;
nevertheless it is greater in this canon than in any other canon
yet seen in Southern California.
About
opposite Waring's house, in the hills on the south side of the Santa Clara
Valley, on the Simi Rancho, and on the northern slopes of the San Fernando
range of mountains, there is a large deposit of asphaltum, together with
extensive outflows of liquid petroleum where, some years ago a man
gathered for a while about ten barrels of oil per day. Oil men believe
that with the expenditure of a moderate amount of labor a surface flow of
forty barrels per day could he obtained there. Mr. Hugh Waring states that
this is the most westerly point where asphaltum is found In the San
Fernando Range. He also says that east of there, in the hills somewhere to
the south of Camulos, he has seen cattle mired and dead in pools of viscid
and muddy maltha. Sespe
Canon.
- Sespe Creek, occupying the canon next west of Hopper Canon, is the
largest and longest northern branch of the Santa Clara River in Ventura
County. It heads far back to the mountains to the north of the Ojai
Valley, and at first flows nearly east for a number of miles, passing
entirely around the head branches of Santa Paula Canon, then curves around
so that its general direction for the last ten or twelve miles of its
course in the mountains is nearly south. The mouth of the canon is
something like ten miles east if the town of Santa Paula. "Tar
Creek" and the "Little Sespe" are two different branches of
the main Sespe Canon, both of them coming in from the east, the mouth of
Tar Creek being several miles above that of the Little Sespe. The latter
is a short canon not more than four or five miles in length, but Tar Creek
is a longer stream. * * * Near the mouth of the main Sespe Canon one small
oil spring occurs in the bed of the Canon. In the Little Sespe there is a
nice little spring of water, and occasional small oil springs and
seepages. * * * In the Little Sespe are the so-called "Los
Angeles" wells, of which there are two. One of these is about 1,500
feet deep, and is said to have yielded at first, for some time, about 150
barrels per day. But about the year 1882, in the course of a "freeze
out" game amongst the owners, while still yielding some forty barrels
per day, it was maliciously plugged by somebody, and thus ruined. The
other one went down about 200 feet, when it became crooked. The present wells of the " Sespe Oil
Company" are scattered about the upper branches of Tar Creek. • •
• Well No.1 is on the right bank of the main Tar Creek. It was begun
January 26, 1887, and finished February 12, 1887; is 196 feet deep, and
pumps about forty barrels per day of a very dark-colored greenish-brown
oil. This well first started off at about 100 barrels per day. No.
2 is about 200 feet southeasterly from No. 1. It was drilled in April,
1887, and is 206 feet deep. It first started off at about 150 barrels per
day, but afterward fell off, and now flows about seventy-five barrels per
day of a dark green oil. It also produces considerable gas. No.
4 is probably 1,200 feet northwesterly from No. 1, and is a new well, not
yet drilled. Nos. 1, 2 and 4 are nearly in a straight line. No. 5 is on
Oil Creek. Here they have not begun yet begun drilling. No.
3 is down about 500 feet, and they are still drilling. No.
6 is located some 500 feet easterly from No.1. Here the grading has been
done, but the derrick is not yet erected. The
foregoing statements refer to the condition of the wells July 25, 1887.
Some months later No. 2 was reported pumping instead of flowing; beginning
with 225 barrels per day, it continued with about 140 per day. No. 4, now
about 400 feet deep, was pumping twenty-five barrels per day. Nos. 8 and
4, having gone down about 700 feet, proved dry holes. The report of
the State Mineralogist for 1888 contains the following: In
addition to the report relating to these deposits, publishing by the
Mining Bureau, last year, I have to say that work has steadily progressed,
and the output of oil for the last fiscal year has increased from 62,500
barrels to 226,050 barrels. The
following is a statement of the work which has been done in this district
during the year ending September 18: Hopper Canon. - Considerable work has been done here, but the returns have been meager. The formation is so broken up that it is not unlikely the oil exudes at the surface as rapidly as it is elaborated below. In order to thoroughly test this locality two wells have been drilled during the past year, one 400, and the other about 800, feet deep. In the deeper well a small amount of oil was struck, and a large flow of water. In the 400-foot well a flow of soda water was obtained, which is said to be of excellent quality, and may be profitably utilized. Piru
Canon.—Like
Hooper Canon this seems to be outside of the paying oil belt. Two new
wells have been drilled here during the past year. One was sunk to a depth
of 1,000 feet, but no oil was obtained, andd it was abandoned. Another
well was sunk one- fourth of a mile away, but it was abandoned for the
same reason. Sespe
Canon.—The
efforts of the oil company have been much more successful here. Eight new
wells have been dug here during the year, which, in the aggregate, yield a
large quantity of oil. No.
7 is located about thirty rods southwest of No. 5. The depth reached was
300 feet. When first completed the well produced twenty barrels a day, but
now yields ten barrels daily. No.
8, located about eighty rods north of No. 4, was drilled to a depth of 650
feet, and yielded seventy-five barrels a day; now reduced to forty-five
barrels daily. No.
9, located about 600 feet from No. 4, is down to a depth of 400 feet, and
is producing about eight barrels a day. No.
10 is about 500 feet south of No. 7. It is 350 feet deep and pumps
seventy-five barrels a day. No.
11 is southwest of No. 8, and is down to a depth of 400 feet. It produced
thirty or forty barrels a day, but quickly ran down to its present product
of about nine barrels. No.
12 is north of No. 8, and is about 650 feet deep. This well produces
seventy-five barrels daily. No.
13 is one-half mile north of No. 12, on Irelan Creek. It is 600 feet deep,
and pumps ten barrels a day. No.
14 is west of No. 13, and was drilled as a test well, going down 1,400
feet. About 500 feet below the surface a small deposit of oil was struck,
but the well is practically dry. No.
15 is south of No. 13, and is still drilling at a depth of 700 feet.
Considerable water has been struck, and a small quantity of oil. No.
16 is down about 100 feet, and still drilling. These
wells are located twenty-five miles from the ocean, at an altitude of
2,800 feet. Adams
Canon. -
Well No. 16, which was completed in January, at a depth of 750 feet, is
the largest flowing well ever struck in California. The oil, when reached,
shot up to the height of nearly 100 feet, and flowed at the rate of 800 or
900 barrels daily. Before it could be controlled it sent a stream down the
canon for a distance of seven miles. After the lapse of nine months it
continues to flow at the rate of 500 barrels daily. No.
17 is drilled to a depth of 1,400 feet, but is a small producer, barely
paying for pumping. No.
18 is located about 400 feet south of No. 9, and is about 900 feet deep
and still in process of drilling. The
Adams Canon wells are about the head of the canon, and most of them strung
along a very narrow belt about three-quarters of a mile long. These wells
are quite productive. No. 13, when one year old, had produced 74,000
barrels, and is still producing 220 barrels daily. There is considerable
asphaltum on the surface of the ground in Adams Canon. The largest patch
covers probably one or two acres of ground and contains numerous little
springs of black maltha. Adams Canon well, No. 16, is probably also the
largest gas well on the Pacific Coast. At the present time it is producing
sufficient gas to run all the works and machinery in the Canon. Saltmarsh
Canon,
- named after John Saltmarsh, promises well. Well
No. 1 was completed in January, 1888. It is 290 feet deep, and produces
seventy-five barrels daily. No.
2 was abandoned on account of "crooked hole" and caving, at 350
feet deep. No.
3 is finished to a depth of 400 feet. It is producing forty barrels per
day. Santa Paula Canon, - formerly called "Mupu Canon," contains the group called the "Scott" wells, situated about five miles from the town of Santa Paula. They are from three to ten years old. There were eleven or twelve in all, some five or six only of which are now producing an aggregate of about eleven barrels per day. They range from 200 to 1,000 feet deep. The oil is black. Wheeler
Canon
- contains three wells, drilled in 1887-'88, which yield only about ten
barrels per day in the aggregate. Aliso
Canon
- promises to produce oil in paying quantities During
1887-'88 the Hardison & Stewart Oil Company erected at Santa Paula
refining works which are claimed to be the most complete of the kind in
the country. The machinery and equipment in general include the latest
improvements for oil refining. This company manufactures benzine,
illuminating oil, gas and domestic fuel, distillates, wool oil, neutral
oil, lubricating oils, and maltha. The crude oil yields from fifteen to
twenty per cent. of illuminating oil, and from twenty to twenty-five per
cent.. of maltha or asphaltum. The illuminating oil is of excellent
quality, and claimed to be superior to any that has been made on the
Pacific Coast. It burns with a clear and steady flame, and is free from
smoke or disagreeable odor. The asphaltum is used for pipe dipping, for
the manufacture of paints and varnishes, and for coating roofs, bridges,
etc. It is a beautiful glossy black, absolutely impervious to water, and
particularly adapted to coating iron. The lubricating oil is said to have
a lower cold test than any other ever discovered in the United States. It
does not harden until it reaches a much lower degree of cold than any
other oil known, hence is adapted to locomotives and other machinery
subject to cold weather. The oil regions
of California have headquarters at Santa Paula, where there are six
companies, viz.: the Hardison & Stewart. Oil Company, Sespe Oil
Company, Torrey Canon Oil Company, Mission Transfer Oil Company, Ventura
Oil Company, and O'Hara Brothers. The most extensive petroleum oil
operations are on the Rancho ex-Mission, situated along the south side of
Sulphur Mountain, beginning about four miles northwest of the town, and
extending westerly eight miles. These works are owned and operated by the
Hardison & Stewart Company, incorporated with a capital stock of
$1,000,000. Lyman Stewart is president and general manager; W. L. Hardison,
vice-president and treasurer; Alex. Waldie, secretary. This company has
been most successful in its development, having a large production from
their many wells and tunnels. There is connected with the company's
offices at Santa Paula a complete telephone system. The region is a
network of pipe lines conveying the oil to Santa Paula, Ventura and
Hueneme. The next most extensive oil developments in this region are
located at Sespe, and are owned and operated by the Sespe Oil Company,
with its office Santa Paula. The company has a capital clock of $250,000.
Thomas R. Bard is president; D. McFarland, vice-president; W. L. Hardison,
treasurer and general manager; Alex. Waldie, secretary. The Torrey Canon
Oil Company is operating three miles south of Piru Station. Its officers
are: Thos. R. Bard, president; W. S. Chaffe, vice-president; I. H.
Warring, secretary; W. L. Hardison, superintendent. The production of the
region is also very large, and is piped to Santa Paula. The wells have
telephone connection with the main office. These four companies keep a
large force of men constantly engaged in the drilling of new oil wells;
and thus the production is being constantly augmented. The Mission
Transfer Company bas a capital stock of $500,000; T. R. Bard is president;
Lyman Stewart, vice-president; W. L. Hardison, treasurer and general
manager; I. H. Warring, secretary. This company has about 100 miles of
pipe lines and forty tanks, the largest one holding 30,000 barrels. They
have fifty-two oil-tank cars, and have a refinery, where they make all the
various products usually manufactured from petroleum, notably lubricating
oil, gas oil and naphtha. Asphaltum (maltha) is also refined in large
quantities, and is used extensively both on this coast and in the East for
coating pipe and other iron goods, for roofing, and for paving purposes.
No industry in the Golden State promises better results than its oil
developments; and nothing is more beneficial to Ventura County, and to
Santa Paula in particular, than the business of these four oil companies.
With an abundance of cheap petroleum for fuel no section offers better
advantages for manufacturing purposes than Santa Paula. The prospects
of this industry are now brighter than ever before. The Sespe Oil Company
has now drilled thirty-one wells, varying in depth from 450 to over 1,800
feet, yielding at this time an average product of 7,000 barrels monthly.
The last well, No, 29, promises to give 150 to 300 barrels per diem.
Developments have just began on the "Kentucky
Oil Claim" where, in well No. 2, was struck near the surface
sand-rock so full of oil that it could not be drilled over 200 feet; after
exhausting this well by pumping, work will be continued. The Sespe Oil
Company has a lease of about 7,000 acres of the best oil lands on the Simi
Rancho, and are beginning to drill thereon, the territory being deemed
rich in oil. The production of the Hardison & Stewart Company is
increasing very rapidly, being 8,000 to 9,000 barrels per month. Adams
Canon well, No. 18, opened August, 1887, has to date produced 125,000
barrels, which, at the average price of fuel oil—$1.75 per barrel—has
been a fortune in itself. They have in all drilled thirty-four wells, the
last of which, in Adams Canon, averages over 125 barrels per day. They
have at present three sets of tool, each employing four experienced
drillers, pushing developments more rapidly than ever before, and the
expectation is that 20,000 barrels per month will be reached before the
close of the year. No part of the development has paid better than the oil
tunnels. Adams' Tunnel, No. 3, where three men were killed in April, 1890,
by a gas explosion, was at that time 950 feet long; work has just been
resumed, and it is expected to reach 1,000 to 2,000 feet further into the
mountain, which it will drain of oil. In 1889 work was began in the Upper
Ojai Valley, and two wells are yielding average production, with a third
well now in process of drilling.
|