San Benito County History

This section is excerpted from A Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California by Henry D. Barrows and Luther A. Ingersoll, and published by The Lewis Publishing Company in 1893.

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"Hollister Hay."

The quantity of hay shipped by the Southern Pacific railroad from the Hollister station from June 1, to August 18, 1892, as shown by the record, was 492 carloads of eleven tons each; or 5,412 tons, which is estimated to be less than one-fifth of the total quantity which will be shipped from that station during this calendar year.

Mr. R. P. Lathrop, who has been in the hay business here since 1876, and who has been over all that portion of San Benito county which is tributary to Hollister railroad station, and who has taken careful statistics of existing stocks, states that the quantity of hay, which will be shipped from this station, of this year's crop, will not be less than 27,000 tons, in addition to what will be consumed locally. The hay raised about Hollister commands the highest price in the San Francisco and neighboring markets, and "Hollister hay" is well and favorably known from San Diego to Seattle. The reasons are: Climatic conditions, quality of soil, no fog, and the education of the farmers in the art of making and curing hay. A stranger visiting Hollister, especially during the haying season, is struck with the sight of trains of hay-loaded cars, trailing hay-loaded wagons, and the loading and unloading by tackle and block of endless bales of hay, hay, hay?

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This section is excerpted from A Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California by Henry D. Barrows and Luther A. Ingersoll, and published by The Lewis Publishing Company in 1893.