Miscellaneous Back Matter [pp. RA01-RC36]

iJ er imne Ouestaz Grade to San Luis Obispo.
OVER THE CUESTA GRADE TO SAN LUIS OBISPO.
;~;~;-~ ~'F the drives in California,
?:~i~'fX ~few are prettier than that
. - from El Paso de Robles
to Templeton, a thriving
, /*-,_J little town only six miles
~?{ < " l,//I south. In I886, when the
Southern Pacific Rail ~~:' - ~, road reached this point,
;' ^ 1~F'~. it was practically an un _-; peopled wilderness: today it has
a population of over five hundred
souls, and peace, contentment.
and prosperity, are seen on every hand.
Leaving E1 Paso de Robles, driving
over a hard, clean, well-made road, and
ascending the hill by a gradual incline,
a beautiful panorama is spread out to
the view; majestic oaks on every side,
and looking over the Salinas River, run ning nearly parallel with the road, a
scene of grandeur is presented.
The gently undulating hills dotted
over with small farms and orchards, with
good, substantial, and attractive dwell ings, verify the fact that this is the par adise of the orchardist. For miles in
every direction the land is under culti vation, and the results have been of the
happiest. Coincident with the estab lishment of this place, several exten sive ranches, covering many thousands
of acres, wvere subdivided and put upon
the market. And in the few years that
have elapsed almost the entire region
has been disposed of to settlers, and
there are thousands of acres yet to be
offered.
Here is a question that naturally
arises at this point. It is true that
wheat will grow in almost any part of
California, in some places better than
others; this has been largely taken ad vantage of by many, because it yields a
speedy return; but when that return is
not adequate to the investment, why
continue to raise wheat, when the land
will yield a larger profit with something
else? The land here seems particularly
adapted to fruit growing; the apricot,
peach, olive, nectarine, apple, pear, and
almond, all grow abundantly, but the
prune seems to produce the best re sults. Why not then use the land for
fruit? Any one with ten acres of land
in prunes need not toil very hard in five
or six years. The wine and raisin grape
also grow luxuriantly, and it is delight ful to see the hillsides covered with
these vines. It can readily be observed
that success attends these enterprises:
here a prune orchard of five acres in
fine condition, well kept and cared for;
there a ten-acre tract of olives, with
every appearance of being ready to
yield a good crop to the owner, indicat ing that his labors have not been in
vain. Success and prosperity greet
you on every hand. Here, near the en trance to the town, is the beautiful resi dence of W. Wessel, President of the
Bank in Templeton. It is a substantial
house, pleasant and inviting; he hasa
fine orchard of prunes just cominginto
bearing.
H. Peterson and W. Horstman have
eighty acres in prunes about half a mile
north of Templeton. Five years ago
this land was not cleared; this season
twelve acres of prunes will yield their
first fruits, being the first planted; in
one and two years more, if all goes well,
the balance of the orchard will be in
bearing; and six acres of apples fruiting this season. In the vicinity are a
number of large orchard enterprises
whose development is of the utmost importance. Of these, particularly noteworthy is the prune orchard of Baron
von Schroeder, covering some 250 acres
and now in full bearing.
Templeton has a bank, water works,
large grain warehouses, schools, and
churches, a fine park in progress,-it is
tastefully laid out in ornamental trees,
p.-A
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