Los Angeles daily herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1873-1876, 1874-01-18


when we imported our flour from the
east. To-day we are astonishing the
world by exporting forty million bush
els of wheat from last years crop,with
every prospect of doing better this
year Los Angeles wants to contribute
its share of exporting small grain in
the future as it does tropical fruit to-
day, and see no reason we should not
raise wheat, barley, rye and other
cereals, without irrigation as success
fullyas any other parts of the State.
This little valley, where we live,
about IA miles long by miles wide,
containing over $4,000 acres of rich
agricultural land, every acre of which
will produce, with proper cultivation,
from 20Etp go bushels of grain, and
watered by numerous small springs of
pure water, has until lately only been
occupied by a few old adobe houses
with bands of cattle. and sheep roam.
ing ut large over the country. Thanks
to our No-Fence law, passed by
the Legislature two years ago, things
have changed materially, and u few
years more will undoubtedly see this
entire valley dotted with nice farm
houses and grain-tields.
Three years ago was told by ma
jority of the old settlers here that
"dry land" would not produce in
more than one year out of five. L
shall never believe an old settler any
more; for.I can prove that "dry land'
has produced a good. crop in the last
two years, and it will do so again for
fifty years to come, with proper man
agement. Now, Mr.. Editor, let us
stop a moment. /. think you have
seen that same told settler" that
fooled me; for l saw you in your pa
per couple of weeks ago, advise peo-
pie to buy only such land as co uld be
irrigated, or that was naturally moist,
as the upland could not be relied on
for crop. Your advice is well for
those who have money enough to pay
from $50 to $500 per acre, which is the
market price to-day for irrigable or
moist land, when the same shall be of
a good quality and desirable location
The capitalist who buys land for an
orchard or homestead, must have
means to irrigate, and he will gener-
ally for such purpose find the highest
priced land the cheapest, taking eve
rything into consideration; but the
farmer with limited means, who can
not afford to plant orange trees and
wait ten years for the golden fruit to
come to maturity, wants land that
will raise grain with equal certainty
as other parts of the State, and the
question is simply whether Los Ange-
les county has any such land for sale
at prices that will not scare the farm
err away before he arrives here?
As a gentleman, lately from Iowa,
ted me yesterday: III have promised
to write to my friends who want to
come here, about the price of farming
land, but am, almost afraid to tell
them" And that is what is the mat
ter. Ifonly irrigabie or moist land is
fit for agriculture, Los Angeles has no
room for farmers, it is just what it was
considered 20 years ago, fit only for
cattle and sheep with few choice To-
calities for orange, and grape. said
before that I could prove that dry
land will produce in ordinary seasons.
In November 1871, l sowed Is acres of
summer-fallowed land with barley,
from which l cut and sent to market
A tons of hay. If the grain had
been allowed to. mature, it would GER
tainly have gone over SO bushels per
acfes kept on putting in grain that
That which was seeded in January
turned out about 20 bushels per acre.
All put in after the 10th of February
did not mature at all. s4..,..=..zz
Next year | thought l would have.
my grain in early so l sowed about 40
pounds of barley to the acre, which |
narrowed over twice with q common
harrow, in land plowed the year be-
fore, and although we did not have a
drop of rain after the 9th of February.
l threshed $500 bushels from 134
acres.
put in some rye the 9th of Febru-
airy; it did not get a drop rain, but
enough OF it matured to make it a
good volunteer crop this year, and this
on ground where there is twenty-five
feet to water mn atsaa H4f >.
,4 Summer-fallow, pillow deep and sow
early, and there is very little land in
this county, fit for the pillow, that will
not secure a good crop mostly every
year. Scratch the ground little after
we have had our heaviest rains, and
you may get crop, but it is doubtful.
The grain should have the benefit of
all the rain or as much of it as pos
sible. ~ ~ .Il.5.'..=.4 -. - +.
Tropical trees require undoubtedly
to be watered during the summer;
! ordinary fruit trees and grape vines, I
think, would '"go it'' without irriga-
ton if the ground is kept loose and
clean from weeds; but where provi-
dence has blessed us with rains and
streams, the temptation to "force" the
tree and see it make an almost un-
natural growth is too great for human
mortals to resist hence the doctrine
that all trees must be irrigated or die.
Santa Barbara, our baby sister, is not
'3irrigating her trees, wines, or grain..
And why? because she has not got
the water to do it with, and still every.
thing grows there without. irriga-
tion." The climate of Los Angeles
and Santa Barbara is so nearly alike
that what will grow in one place with
out watering, will certainly also grow
! . NE { farm farm ems sm / the old Eastern
States and in Europe, where the cul-
tivation of land is brought down to
science, are still every day making
improvements. What must not Cali
fornia farmers learn before they know
how to manage the soil intelligentiy,
with u climate so peculiar and a coun-
try so new? But stop! 4 am Alto
gether going too far. | did not intend
to lecture on. farming, but only to give
you a few "local fiews;' so if you
find my letter too long, condemn it,
with others of its kind, to the waste
paper basl1et.yt1 no qt1e w.
Ranch four miles Nest of Los An