Loomis Library & Community Learning Center

06/01/2026

Welcome June!
What to plant in June:
Annuals - Direct seed Celosia, Cosmos, Marigold, Sunflower, Zinnia.
Perennials - Cornflower, Coreopsis, Dahlia, Daylily, Rudbeckis, Verbena, Yarrow.
Vegetables - Direct seed corn, summer squash. At higher elevations, plant bean seeds. Direct seed annual herbs.

-Don’t fertilize plants or trees during extreme hot weather. Fertilizers increase the plant’s growth and needs for water and nutrients. This adds to the stress of the plant.
-During the hot summer months, water your trees deeply and infrequently. This will encourage deeply rooted trees that are healthier and less prone to disease.
-Tie up vines; stake tall plants such as lilies, dahlias, and gladioli.
-If growing cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, or pluots, now is the time for the first summer pruning.
-In hot weather, check soil moisture to be sure you are irrigating sufficiently.
-A moisture meter will help determine water needs for hanging and potted plants.
-In really hot weather, plan to only be in the garden early morning or late evening.
-Dig and divide crowded bulbs when the tops have died down.
-Give your indoor plants a bath.
-Place a 1” board under pots sitting on pavement to insulate them from radiated heat.
-Heighten mower blades to reduce turf stress during the summer. Deep water lawns between midnight and 9 a.m.
-Monitor stink bugs on tomatoes, squash, etc.; hand pick or spray with insecticidal soap if needed.
-Deadhead roses for continuous blooms. Deep water and fertilize as needed.
-Thin grape clusters to promote larger grapes and better-quality fruit.
-To control corn earworms, apply 20 drops of mineral oil to the silks 3-7 days after the silks appear.
-Check compost pile for readiness and keep covered and moist if not ready.
-Feed camellias, azaleas, and other acid-loving plants with acid fertilizers.
-Deep-watering lawns, trees, and shrubs promotes healthier, deeper, more heat-tolerant roots. Depending on soil type or slope conditions, a watering schedule that cycles on and off several times a day may be needed to accomplish deep watering.
-Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to promote a second bloom in the fall.
-Continue mulching around plants to control weeds and conserve moisture.

05/30/2026

05/28/2026

LOOMIS BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S THROWBACK THURSDAY:
California Steam Washer

From the Placer Herald newspaper (Auburn, California), January 30, 1886:

“The ladies will be pleased to hear that, at last, some philanthropic person has invented an article simple in construction, perfect in its operation, and so easy to handle that a ten-year-old child is capable of doing the work with it that formerly required a person of more mature years to do in the old laborious way.

It is time that some such innovation upon the old system of household drudgery should be brought out to relieve the condition of many of the wives and daughters of the land. This long-felt want is now supplied by a machine known as the California Steam Washer.

There is no doubt that the ‘Lords of Creation’ will quickly take the hint and act as they always do when their own backs are breaking with their burdens, that is, open their purse strings and secure the labor saving device and, at the same time, make home bright and happy with the presence of one of these new washers.

We understand that J.F. Madden, of Newcastle, is the only dealer in this vicinity who has them for sale. He deserves liberal patronage for leading in the sale of such a useful article. “

From the Morning Times newspaper (Oakland, California), June 12, 1886:

“The greatest labor-saving invention of the age, the California Steam Washer (patented March 30, 1886).
No more strained back. No more Blue Mondays. Washing is a delight.
Can be used on an ordinary kitchen stove.
No rubbing of clothes. No acid ‘Washing Powders.’ No wear and tear in washing.
A child can operate it.
Washes clothes in from 5 to 30 minutes.”

05/21/2026

LOOMIS BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S THROWBACK THURSDAY MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE: Lance Cpl. Gary A. Holsclaw

Gary Holsclaw grew up in Loomis. He was a high school athlete, 6 feet 3 inches tall, earning varsity letters in football and track. He belonged to the Varsity Club, the Spanish Club and the Pep Club. He delighted others with his sense of humor. Gary made the Honor Roll his senior year and graduated from Del Oro in June 1966.

In October, Gary enlisted in the Marine Corps. He completed boot camp in February 1967, earning expert rifle, and was promoted meritoriously to private first class. After three weeks of individual combat training and a leave at home, he reported for his first Marine Corps assignment. He arrived in Vietnam on Easter, March 19.

Gary was part of the 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, known as “The Walking Dead.” His unit was engaged in a five-day battle when patrols stumbled on 16 North Vietnamese Army supply caves with extensive tunnel systems that led back to Laos. Members of the platoons were badly mauled before help arrived. Two weeks later, Bravo Company pushed through the demilitarized zone in Operation Hickory.

In a letter to his father, Gary described the feel of combat. “I’ve been in two more fire fights and we’ve pulled off one ambush. I wondered if I would have any guts while under fire, but when told to advance toward the enemy, I was more afraid of looking like a coward than of dying.”

He was promoted to lance corporal on June 1.

Gary’s battalion was guarding a strip under construction by Seabees south of the demilitarized zone extending from the ocean west of Con Thien. Construction was completed the end of June. In his final letter home, written on June 27, he informed his parents that he was scheduled to return to the frontline fighting.

On July 2, 1967, Gary’s unit was on a sweep and clear mission around the strip. His small group was attacked by a large force of North Vietnamese Army, wiping out his entire company. Gary was killed in action. He lay in a field for three days before anyone reached him. He was 19 years old.

05/14/2026

LOOMIS BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S THROWBACK THURSDAY: Pullman Strike

The Pullman Strike began on May 11, 1894, when workers at the Pullman factory near Chicago protested wage cuts. The American Railway Union got involved and led a massive boycott of trains carrying Pullman cars. The strike involved 250,000 workers across 27 states, crippling the national rail network west of Chicago.

In Placer County, the fruit was ripening. The panic of 1893 had weakened the economy. Many growers had mortgages; others were in debt. All of them expected to pay off loans with the current year’s crop. But as the strike dragged on, they became increasingly alarmed that they faced nothing but ruin. If the fruit rotted or became too ripe to ship, they could lose everything.

On June 30, the Sacramento Bee received the following telegrams:

From J.F. Madden, Newcastle: “Fruit shipments have all stopped. Crops are not being gathered. About 10,000 boxes are detained here, but are being well cared for in refrigerator cars. There is plenty of ice on hand. For a few days, no great loss will occur, but if the strike is protracted the losses will average $5,000 daily. A large part of the crop of Hale’s Early peaches had been moved prior to the strike. This is the only variety now ripe. Plums are not suffering. Apricots will be dried.”

From the Penryn Fruit Company, Penryn: “There are now at this point, loaded and unable to move on account of the strike, 150,000 pounds of green fruit. Had we not all, as shippers, stopped our growers from picking, this quantity would be doubled by tonight, and while our peach fruit is now very scarce by reason of the present variety being very early gone, this damage would be double this amount daily.”

From Porter Bros. Company, Loomis: “There are about two hundred carloads in this vicinity. If the strike continues our people will be at a great loss. Fruit is rotting on the trees now. The people are not millionaires here either. There is lots of fruit on hand and no transportation.”

The Pullman Strike ended on July 20. Fruit shipments resumed. The market was good. The situation was not nearly so bad as it might have been.

05/07/2026

LOOMIS BASIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S THROWBACK THURSDAY: Despicable Business Methods

In 1899, three refrigerator train car lines - Earl, Armour and Porter - had fruit growers in a stranglehold. Earl and Porter Bros were also fruit marketing and shipping firms.

Farmers were fighting back. By uniting growers state-wide into a co-operative alliance, they sought to deprive the Earl-Armour-Porter triumvirate of the power by which it was killing off small shippers and reducing growers to subjection. Placer was a big fruit county, and growers here had been given an impressive lesson in the triumvirate’s power.

The Newcastle Fruit Growers Union had made the mistake of fighting the box trust. To get box lumber (for fruit packing crates) cheaper than the trust would supply it, the Union contracted with a Nevada company. The local Towle Bros Lumber Co, their usual supplier, leased a considerable track of frontage in Newcastle from the Southern Pacific Railroad, then sub-leased a portion of it to the Union for shipping and packing houses. Towle Bros was in the box trust, and the box trust was on intimate business terms with the Earl-Armour-Porter combine. Thus, Towle Bros was the agency through which the combine dealt its death blow. The Union was refused renewal of its lease and, being deprived of its facilities for loading cars, it was forced out of business.

Other firms occupied fruit houses adjoining the Southern Pacific tracks. The terms of their leases were such that they could be forced to vacate on 30-days notice. Several shippers, including Schnabel Brothers, George D. Kellogg and W.J. Wilson and Son, feared that the railroad company would aid the Earl-Armour-Porter combine to drive them out of business.

W.R. Fountain, one of the district’s biggest growers, had for some years been the Eastern sales agent for the Union. He described the Earl and Porter companies as having “employed despicable methods to do up the smaller shippers.” They undercut fruit prices and made up the difference in refrigeration and shipping charges. “They did not care what the fruit sold for so long as they could give the Union a severe blow. The grower had to stand the loss.”