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Saratoga Stereopticon
When a disc drive involved a tractor
By Willys Peck
Long before disc drives, floppy discs--or even disc jockeys--became known in Saratoga, discs were highly important here. That's because they were the essential components of rolling harrows used for cultivating orchards. To disc an orchard meant dragging an implement, consisting of parallel rows of slightly concave steel discs 20 or so inches in diameter, over the rough clods, breaking them up. Today, the driver of a tractor pulling this implement might be thought of as a disc jockey, but the orchards hereabouts were mostly gone before that term ever became current.
This all came to mind recently while I was driving past the Community Library and saw Matt Novakovich on a tractor, discing Saratoga's Heritage Orchard. It was a tremendously reassuring sight. All at once, here was an essential element of the town's personality brought to life in tangible form. Here was a living re-creation of what we were all about in the Saratoga That Was. Think Blossom Festival. Think harvest time. Think acres of apricots and prunes laid out in trays to dry in the sun. By the way, we're talking prunes here; none of this dried-plum jazz. Of all the pathetic public relations ploys ever perpetrated in the name of marketing, this one plumbs (not plums) the depths.
OK, so color me sentimental, or over-sentimental. The sight of that tractor and disc harrow was evidence to me that there is balm in Gilead, that Saratoga has not yet succumbed entirely to the monster-house syndrome, that there is something left of that quality that made this one of the most desirable of all possible places to live. Ever heard of the Valley of Heart's Delight?
And what about harvest time? Hey, school's going to be out before long, and some kids are going to be concerned about earning money to buy school clothes for the fall. That's when they start thinking about hiring on someplace to cut apricots for a few weeks. How does 10 cents a box (back in 1937) sound? In a week or two, one could earn the price of a pair of corduroy pants, and maybe even a jacket with a zipper. Who's hiring 'cot-cutters?
In my case 64 years ago, it was the Walter Worden ranch at the corner of Herriman Avenue and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, where Saratoga High School is today. The cutting shed and dry yard were down by the creek, and it was a pleasant walk from where my family lived on Orchard Road, along Saratoga Avenue and down the present Seagraves Way to where the action was. Well, "action" may be putting it a bit strong. 'Cot-cutting in the 1930s was, or could be, an almost social occasion.
One quickly developed the technique of revolving the apricot in one hand against the cutting knife held in the other, twisting the knife to open the two halves, removing the pit with the thumb, then placing the halves on the tray. It got so one could perform the operation almost mechanically. I still have my cutting knife, now framed and hanging in the kitchen.
All the while, one could be carrying on a conversation with the others, even striking up an occasional song. 'Cot-cutting was almost a social event, and on top of that, we got paid.
The prune harvest was another matter. Prunes ripened in late summer, usually at the hottest time of the year, and the opening of school was sometimes delayed because of the harvest, since the kids were needed as pickers. Cutting 'cots may have had its social and recreational aspects, but picking prunes was just plain hard--and dirty--work.
While apricots were picked from the trees by men climbing on ladders, prunes were picked off the ground which, though it may have been broken up by discs, made picking a rough, though maybe not a harrowing, experience. Some prune-pickers (I prefer "prunepicker" without the hyphen) worked from a squatting position, but most were on their hands and knees.
These were some of the thoughts that came to mind as I watched that tractor and harrow at work. I don't think I am alone in my feeling of gratitude for the Heritage Orchard. Certainly we can never think of trying to bring back agriculture on the scale of generations ago, but I think it is important to recognize what it did mean in preserving this precious section of the state.
THANKS FOR THE MEMORY (as in Memorial): Once again, as it has for more than 70 years, the Saratoga Foothill Club sponsored the Memorial Day observance, starting at the Memorial Arch and continuing at Madronia Cemetery. It must have been the best-attended ceremony yet, and the address by World War II pilot George Cooper was a class act all the way. The high school musicians and singers were in great form too.
One contribution that deserves special mention was the furnishing of 500 folding chairs at the cemetery by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a typical gesture by the Mormons: They do things for the community, such as maintaining the lovely garden at the Historical Park. Saratoga has a lot to be thankful for in having people like these.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
