Glenn County
Biographies
THE JAMES MILLS ORCHARDS
In the extensive James Mills
Orchards is reflected all the natural beauty of California’s horticultural
inheritance. Through the vast acres of
sunny orange and lemon groves, through the hundreds of rows of trees of peach,
pear, prune, olive, apricot, and almond, may be
witnessed the state a symbol of life in its ideal conception. In addition, these tremendous tracts of
growing things are indicative of the systematic, modern and efficient methods
now employed in the development of fruit cultivation. The study of the technique followed by James
Mills and his son, James Mills, Jr., in the operation of their wide interests
would convey to one complete and adequate knowledge of
California’s greatest industry, and a truer appreciation of how artistic
endeavor may assist even nature in her beauteous modeling.
The James Mill Orchards form one of
the most important industries of northern California. They comprise two separate units. The first of these units lies near the site
of Hamilton City, about seven miles east of Orland, California, and consists of
nearly twelve hundred and fifty acres.
The second unit is situated at Maxwell, Colusa County, California, and
embraces approximately seventy-three hundred acres, making a total area for the
two orchards of about eighty-five hundred acres, all of which is owned by the
James Mills Orchard Corporation, a subsidiary of the American Water Works &
Electric Company of New York, and is managed by the Mills, father and son. The Orland unit of the Mills Orchards
contains about three hundred and twenty acres of citrus fruits, mostly oranges,
and five hundred and seventy acres of the deciduous fruits such as prunes,
pears, peaches, apricots, almonds, and olives.
This orchard is improved in the most up-to-date fashion, with a
dehydrating plant, and every modern convenience for the care of the trees and
their products. The second unit of the
Mills Orchards, at Maxwell, has within its area the second largest lemon grove
in the world, seven hundred acres of lemon trees diffusing their glorious fragrance
with the clear air of the Sacramento Valley, and second in extent only to the
famous Limoneira grove in Ventura County,
California. Here also the Mills have an
extensive acreage in grapefruit, in peaches, and in nectarines; and some two
hundred acres in Honeydew and Persian melons.
Five thousand sheep are likewise being raised on the sunlit hillsides of
this rancho, and eight thousand turkeys are being fattened for the market.
The development of the two Mills
Orchards began in the year 1912, previous to which time the land had been
utilized for the cultivation of grain.
Prior to the above date, also, James Mills had many years of experience
in the fruit business, having been the managing head of one of the largest
citrus orchards in southern California, located at Riverside. He had under his direction more employees
than were in any other orchard property in the Southland; consequently during
this interval he acquired the knowledge, experience and inspiration to embark
upon his present stupendous enterprise in northern California. The Mills now employ from four hundred to
five hundred people in the operation of their fruit-growing interests, and have
provided well for the comfort of those who serve them. The Mills offices are at present situated on
the first unit, near Hamilton City, and from here both units are operated. Large and commodious office quarters are
provided, and placed in a setting beautiful as only California flowers and
orange trees can make. Indeed, the idea
of beauty, its essential character, has been a
governing factor in the business as conducted by the Mills. To one who drives through these estates,
along the flower-bordered highways and perceives the gorgeous profusion of
nature’s colorful and fragrant creations so artistically placed, there comes
the realization that intelligence of a high order was used in the planning of
this industry, and that the whole closely approaches absolute perfection.
The figures pertaining to the amount
of fruit raised on the Mills estates during a year might seem fictitious to the
uninformed. The Mills, for instance, are
the largest growers of dried prunes in the world, having reached a quantity of
sixteen hundred dried tons in one year. Likewise, as high as one hundred and twenty-five cars of oranges
are shipped each year. The oldest
orange trees are about seventeen years of age now.
James Mills, Sr., has lived in the
state of California for about forty-five years, and now resides on his orchards
in Glenn and Colusa counties, consulting with his son, James Jr., who has
active charge of all the operations.
James Mills, Sr., is a native of the Dominion of Canada, and came to
California during the early days. He has
always been active in the fruit industry, and is an acknowledged authority upon
every phase of it, and he has also manifested throughout his career those
qualities which stamp him as a one hundred per cent American citizen.
James Mills, Jr., is a graduate of
the University of California with the class of 1917, and is fulfilling the
duties of his present responsible position with credit to himself and honor to
his worthy preceptor. He is interested
in civic and public affairs, has served as foreman of the grand jury, and is
now a member of the school board, and prominent in Masonic circles. James Mills, Jr., married Miss Kenneth Ross,
of Boise, Idaho, and they have become the parents of two children, James (III)
and Mary Katherine.
In closing this necessarily brief
description of the Mills Orchards and their owners, it is well to make citation
of the economic value to the state, and to the Sacramento Valley, of such
mammoth horticultural enterprises. Such
efforts as have been made in the development of these acres advertise
California to the world; the presence of such industries as these gives impetus
to the growth of the state, and brings hundreds of people from other parts of
the country, many of whom are enabled to make their living in just such
occupations or in the employ of those who are captains of their trade. So, to repeat, the glory of California is
truly reflected in the marvelous creations known as the Mills Orchards.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 379-381. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Glenn County Biographies