The Lincoln County herald., 1873-03-05


class of people. sheep raising is good
husiscss here. They increase vesy vap.
idly. sns buS seldom If eves bave fatal
diseases. But the country, L think, aill
soon he eSerstockeu sith them. specially
if shere should come Sailure in grass,
o. was tae case in 1868; aud even gear
beforo last THOUSANDS haa to be removed
90 the mountains 40 save them.
A good busiuess here Is the culti-atios
Of fruit trees, particularly che orange,
lemou aud limo. Tes aces even 10 bear
ing orange Wees will yield s. handsome
income. J know Of lot OF zen acres OF
Iearing trees, the owner of shich refused
20 take 100000 for. But the Sfficelty,
Is, for a man s,ar,,ag into that business
it requires about cen gears before hs Gag
receive any income from it. That is, an
orange trec requires to bo ,es years old
to get into full bearing; lemon tree seven
~ eight years, and lime five to seven.
The latter named are now paying best.
1t seems long time for man to wait /;
besides he mSst have some way to live
while the trees are coming on. All the
fruits | believe do veil here that are
grown in Missouri except the cherry.
Small fruits do well the black berry,
raspberry, currant and strawberry. The
latter is raised, l believe, all the year
round. All kinds of vegetables | think
do well here. Pumpkins and squashes
that weigh $50 pounds are not uncom-
mon. We make as fine butter in this
country as | ever saw. am making
now about sixty pounds week, though
it is only worth 25 cents; is usually
worth 37A to 80 cents, but there being an
abundance Of grass feed now everywhere,
tho price will be low for three or four
months. We get from 90 to so cents for
eggs. Potatoes are worth now So per
hundred corn 81, and barley 81.
Well, | commenced to tell you Of some
Of the bad features OF the country. First
is tho occasional failure of sufficient
quantity Of rain, perhaps every five or
.ix years; have plenty this winter. The
grasshoppers some years are SO numerous
as to be very destructive on growing
crops of grain and young trees. 1t,s
also healthy country for the flea. !
know you have made his acquaintance in
Missouri long ago. They are some times
very annoying here in places where pro-
per care is not taken to guard against
Them. The ground squirrels and gophers
give US some trouble, but can easily be
killed off.
We havc wind storms in some locali
tics, blowing up, in dry weather, clouds
of sand and dust, lasting usually about
~ hours. These winds, in localities
shielded by the mountains, are never felt
TO any extent. l believe We have had
only two OF these winds here where l
live for about a year past.
Now, in regard to the society. lam
sorry to say that it is not what could be
desired. In the first place we have a
very mixed society, composed of Amer.
cans, Mexcans, Indians, Germans, Irish,
Italians, French. Almost every Lation
Of Europe is represented here. Such
being the case, We could not expect to
fud that harmony of feeling and social
state that exists in older communities,
though there are many persons here Of
culture and refinement; yet think there
is moro selGshness among the Americans
than there ought to be. We have in the
city one Roman Catholic church, (the
Catholic cathedral now building is to
cost slO0,O0O); Episcopal, Congrega
tional and Methodist churches. No other
denominations have church edfces
though several others have preaching. n
public school house just completed cost
$4,000. There are good public schools
generally throughout the state.
The Jews have almost entire control
Of tho mercantile business on the whole
coast; do no, know of a dry goods
house in Los Angeles except those owned
by Israclites.
There are many things-I could not
mention all-that persons of business
habits and industry might do we'll at
here, as elsewhere.
| have written in . disconnected way
what has occurred to me that might in
terest you, and although this country l
find to be just about the climae to suit
me, and expect to make it my home while
l live, yet my advice TO you, as well as
others, would be to come and see for
yourself. As | know that everybody can
not see alike, and what suits one, another
would be d'ssusted with, l would not
wish to influence any one to come here
upon what might say about it, aud be
fore you mako any arrangements, come
and take u look for yourself.
One other thing | should have men
toned, we are to have The Southern Pa
eifc railroad to pass our city; work is to
be commenced here this spring.
* X X X X
As ever, yours most truly,
TUOs ID. HANCOCK.