Cultivating California: Growers, Specialty Crops, and Labor, 1875-1920

Abstract

California's climate and geography divide the state into a number of diverse and productive subregions, each with its own specialty crops, economy and cultural identity. Yet, ever since journalist Carey McWilliams coined the phrase factories in the field, students of California agriculture have largely characterized speciality crop growers in monolithic terms - as people devoid of any ideology or culture except the desire to cut costs and maximize profits. In the early years, every grower was not in fact like every other, David Vaught argues, whether one examines their labour systems, recruiting methodds, harvest needs, marketing strategies, farm size, or their relationships with their communites, unions and the state. In this work, Vaught shows how fruit and nut growers were neither industrialists nor agrarians. From the outset, he explains, these horticulturalists saw themselves as guardians of California's unique culture - raising crops for market while self-consciously building healthy and prosperous communities. The hard work, foresight and devotion to detail required to nurture an orchard or vineyard made them, they insisted, cultivators of a better society. This heightened self-image gained credence as California became synonymous, in the minds of millions of Americans, with fresh fruit and produce. Over time, Vaught concludes, labour relations, seasonal and other pressures beyond their control, the vagaries of distant markets and their own racial ambivalence undermined the growers' horticultural ideal.