San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HARRY H. LADD
Horticultural Commissioner Harry H.
Ladd has rendered signal service to San Joaquin County’s diversified domain,
where hardly an acre can be found not suitable for profitable culture. As state quarantine guardian he has kept
parasites from entering, and as horticultural commissioner his skill serves to
stimulate crop production. Born in
Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa, July 15, 1875, Mr. Ladd came west to Vacaville,
Solano County, with his father; and there, on his father’s fruit ranch,
developed that authoritative knowledge of plant life that has made him a quoted
expert. At the age of twelve he learned
to know fruit, picking it when he had to stand on boxes to reach the lower
limbs. He became thoroughly acquainted
with every department, watching the cultivation, drying, picking, packing,
orchard processes and shipping of the fruit.
For four years thereafter he was foreman of a fruit ranch near
Vacaville, owned by New Yorkers, and conducted many interesting and valuable
experiments.
In 1900 Mr. Ladd located in
Stockton, his first employment there being with the William Wills wholesale and
retail fruit interests. About that time,
in a small way at first, began the horticultural commission’s work in San
Joaquin County, the three commissioners serving without pay, yet doing much to
put forward the county’s increasing horticultural activities. He was a member, and ever since has been
identified with this bulwark of California’s prosperity. Along in 1908 the law was changed, and under
state examination a state official was assigned to San Joaquin County. William Garden was the first
commissioner. Mr. Ladd served as chief
inspector; and in 1914, on Mr. Garden’s death, he was named by the San Joaquin
County supervisors as commissioner, which position he occupies today. He has ten men under his jurisdiction.
Mr. Ladd is a firm believer in and
advocate of the profuse use of fertilizer in orchards to keep up the standard
of the trees. His theory is that if the
trees are strong and sturdy, attacks from disease and parasites will be far
less menacing. In recent years San
Joaquin County has made notable strides horticulturally,
especially in the production of cherries.
While all kinds of fruit are grown abundantly, the county has won a
world-wide reputation for Tokay grapes.
Thousands of acres of this famed variety are under cultivation
here. Mr. Ladd believes that only a beginning
has been made, and that the future will dwarf the past. The irrigation systems have grown rapidly;
and with practically no waste and useless acreage in the county, no limit can
be set. As commissioner, Mr. Ladd has
rigidly maintained packing standards which are highly regarded in the east.
Few persons realize how, as state
quarantine guardian, he has to maintain an endless fight against the
importation of dreaded pests and parasites, whether through shipments by mail,
parcel post, and express, or otherwise, from other states and from abroad,
innocently or maliciously. Even
livestock is inspected to guard against the introduction of parasites. Mr. Ladd’s administration has saved millions
to fruit growers, and his counsel has been freely at the disposal of any
seeker, which accounts for his unquestioned popularity. Since irrigation has started in south San
Joaquin County, this section has entered a new era in which
growers directly and indirectly share the wealth and stimulate the
prosperity of the entire district. In
his fraternal associations, Mr. Ladd maintains membership in Morning Star Lodge
of Masons, at Stockton.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
919. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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