Sonoma County Biography
Melvin R. Crystal
In the raising of fruit as in other occupations of the present day the specialist has certain advantages over other horticulturists, for having devoted his land and energy to the perfection of some particular specie, he naturally acquires results which one whose interests are more scattered could not attain. One who has made a study of this subject and is now devoting his attention to the raising of apples and berries almost exclusively is Melvin R. Crystal, whose ranch on Rural Route No. 2 from Sebastopol is one of the show places of the county.
Though not a native of California, Mr. Crystal was born in the adjoining state of Oregon, in 1872, and has passed his entire life in the west. His parents were both natives of Iowa, but much of their mature life was passed west of the Rocky mountains. The father has passed from earth, but the mother is still living in a small home of her own near Sebastopol. When he was fifteen years of age, in 1887, Melvin R. Crystal came to California, and in 1895 he settled in Sonoma county. His first experience as a rancher in this locality was on property adjoining the Burbank ranch near Sebastopol, which he had purchased in 1898. After living there about four years he sold the property and rented the Hicks ranch in Green valley, remaining there one year. Upon giving it up in 1903 he purchased the property on which he now resides, near Sebastopol. The ranch was only partly cultivated and it remained for the purchaser to make of it what he could. Mr. Crystal's has been the master hand in bringing about the transformation that has since been wrought, all of which has been done in a quiet, methodical way, characteristic of the proprietor and noticeable in whatever he undertakes. Of the one hundred and sixty-three acres included in his property, known as the Formosa ranch, ten acres are in Gravenstein apples, ten acres in strawberries, logan and mammoth berries, ten acres in vineyard, and on a portion of the remainder he raises hogs, also horses for his own use, besides which he keeps cows to supply the needs of his household. The raising of fruits has been a subject of special interest to Mr. Crystal for a number of years, and in specializing on the raising of apples and berries the results would indicate that he has made no mistake in his selection. Having decided that the Gravenstein apple was the best adapted to the conditions that prevail in this locality, he set out ten acres to this variety, also devoted the same amount of land to berries, strawberry, logan and mammoth berries, and these two commodities are his specialties, although he also has a vineyard of ten acres which is in a very flourishing condition. His apple crop averages four hundred boxes to the acre and brings an average price of $1.50 per box. The fruits raised on the Formosa ranch have no equal in this section of the country, and are not only in constant demand, but bring the highest prices. The purchase price of the land was $16,000, and although Mr. Crystal has since disposed of eighty-eight acres, he holds the remaining acreage at $44,000, and even at this figure could not be tempted to part with it. In mentioning the fruit-raising possibilities of Formosa ranch all has not been said in its favor, for it includes a natural park of ten acres which has no equal in Sonoma county. This is entirely covered with a natural growth of trees, making a spot as beautiful as it is unusual.
In 1895 Mr. Crystal was united in marriage with Mrs. Sadie D. Ewing, a native of California. In his political sympathies he is a Republican, but he has never cared for nor sought official recognition, finding his greatest interest in the care and development of his ranch and doing his duty as a citizen in a quiet, unostentatious way.
History of Sonoma County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 1911
Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood
June 2008
Pages 482-485
Sonoma County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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