Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-05-13
views OF u Los Angeles Farmer.

We had the pleasure of long
conversation yesterday with Mr.. +.
J. Baldwin. This gentleman's un-
common personal sagacity, regis
tered In successful mining and
other transactions, has earned for
him the nickname Of Lucky"
Baldwin. Something besides blind
luck, we opIne, is required to tide
4 man through the shoals Of Cali
fornla mining speculation. How
ever this may be, we propose to
deal with Mr.. Baldwin as Los An
geles farmer and not as renowned
mining millionaire.
As every one knows, Mr.. Bald
win has invested nearly million
dollars In Los Angeles county, in
the shape OF real estate, loans on
bond and mortgage and improve
ments. His purchase Of the Santa
Anita ranch from the Messrs. New
mark for $200. 900 was his first con.
siderable operation in this county.
Since that time he has transformed
this splendid property into q valua-
BILE and improved homestead, law
ishing princely sums on it with a
view to making 1t the model ranch
Of Southern California. The prob
ability is that Mr.. Baldwin,
through foreclosures which are
now In process, will shortly become
the owner of several other lordly
estates hereabouts.
We asked him what his success
- . Los Angeles farmer, pure and
simple, had been. His reply was
that the Los Angeles farmer could
make money ii he could get his
products to tide-water cheaply. AS
the case was at present the rail-
way company could hardly afford
1, carry grain by rail to San Fran
cisco for less than they now carried
It, but the farmer could not afford
to pay such frelghts and have any,
thing left. A matter OF two dollars
: ton on grain make the difference
between profit and loss to the pro-
tiucer. One thing he thought the
railway company could do. They
could afford to give the Los Angeles
farmer the facilities and the low
rates on grain to tide-water that
they concede to the farming sec.
tlons around the Bay of San Fran
cisco. Thus, II they permitted the
Los Angeles farmer to ship his
grain to schooners at Wilmi ngton
for $i.50 ton, instead OF $3.50, the
present charge, schooners would
gladly carry it for $1.50 a ton from
the anchorage to San Francisco.
This view of the matter natural
" introduced the subject of the
South Santa Monica wharf which,
we learn, Is In energetic hands.
Mr.. Baldwin has subscribed $4,000
to this wharf, and he regards it as
the Keynote Of the pros
perity Of our farming in
terests. Should a rival railway be
built, even though 1t were only to
tlds-water, 1t would involve con-
siderable outlays aud the Southern
Pacific railway could probably kill
1t by competition. Bat no railway
can wage successful warfare against
an ordinary wagon-road and
wharf. The farmers own their own
teams and nothing can be more to
their interest than to employ them
rsmuneratively. Hauling their
7aHn. grain to the wharf they can
slusr rely upon return loal OF
some kind. Mr.. Baldwin has sat-
isfied himself, by careful calcula-
tion, that he could make money
by doing his own hauling to and
from such a wharf at 81 q ton.
To an inquiry as to how his
sheep farming had resulted pecuni.
arily, Mr.. Baldwin said that sheep
were not profitable on land which
exacted higher rent than twenty
five cents an acre. He looked upon
Texas and New Mexico as the fl.
ture great wool producers. 1t paid
him to have large flocks because he
needed something to eat up his
enormous spontaneous pastures. 1t
may not be generally known, but
Mr.. Baldwin has the largest flock
Of genuine Southdowns in Ca!ifor-
MIA. Should the Southern Pacific
Railway, Initiating the Eastern ex-
ample. put on refrigerator cars, he
would be able to supply the Bald
win hotel with the most delicious
mutton on the American continent.
Owing to the inability to ship
grain at present rates by rail, Mr..
Baldwin has turned his hogs into a
thousand acre field of the prettisst
barley that can be seen anywhere.
Apropos of hogs, the experiments
Of curing hams and bacon on the
Santa Anita ranch have eventuated
in . way that would delight the
heart of Chicago or Cincinnati
pork packer. The common idea
that this climate is not adapted to
producing first.class pork and bacon
has been exploded on the Santa
Anita. Mr.. Baldwin thinks that,