JOHN P. KOCH
Bio-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES:
residing on Curtner Avenue, in the Willow District, is the owner of a splendid orchard, of eleven acres, which he purchased in 1885, paying $750 per acre. He is amply supplied for irrigation by a pump, which has a capacity of 800 gallons per minute, using a fifteen-horse power. This fine orchard is in full bearing, being seven years old this season (1888). It produces cherries, prunes, apricots, and peaches. In 1887 101 peach trees yielded a crop which sold for $602. The fruit was exceptionally fine, averaging two and a half inches in diameter. The orchard, in 1887, yielded a revenue, above all expenses, of over $1,400. In 1886 Mr. Koch bought out the McGarry estate, a three-year-old orchard of nine and a half acres, in apricots and peaches. He also has an interest in one of the fine properties in the Sacramento Valley, of 100 acres, which is all in fruit.
Mr. Koch is a native of Holland, in which country he was born in January, 1855. He was reared and educated in Germany, but at nineteen years of age went to South Africa, where for several years he led an active business life. He was unfortunate enough to suffer a sunstroke, which made a change of some kind absolutely indispensable to a man of his active habits. He therefore left that tropical country and in February, 1885, became identified with the horticultural interests of Santa Clara County.
Mr. Koch married, in Capetown, South Africa, in May, 1878. The birthplaces of his three children indicate somewhat his active busy life, with its frequent changes of residence. His eldest child was born in Holland, the second in South Africa, while the youngest claims London as the place of his nativity.
Mr. Koch is a thoroughly enthusiastic horticulturist, understanding and enjoying his work. His orchards were well started when he purchased them, and their thrifty condition and the abundant harvests which they yield are strong evidences of the good care which he gives them. His brother, Robert D. Koch (born in Holland, in 1864), owns and resides upon an estate of eleven acres, which adjoins his on the west. This property Mr. R. D. Koch bought of J. C. Arthur, in December, 1885, and for it he paid $4,500. The orchard is now seven years old, and comprises cherry, prune, peach, apricot and a few plum trees. It is very thrifty, and has proved a profitable investment.
A sister of John
P. and Robert D. Koch, Miss Ellie Ann Koch, owns ten acres on the corner of
Plummer Avenue and the Foxworthy road. This orchard is four years old, and
consists of peach, prune, and plum trees. Miss Koch purchased this property in
March, 1888, paying for it $7,750. These three representatives of the Koch
family may well be considered fortunate in the possession of such valuable
estates in so enjoyable a country as California, with its equable climate and
fertile soil.
Pen Pictures From The
Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated.
- Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
Pg. 579-580
SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight