Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-01-26
xhe Csep Prsspscss-Our Local Ad
vansages.


The Chronicle, encouraged by the
rain which began to fall In that
atty on Wednesday, and which has
oontlnued with intermisslons since,
thinks It not too late for . fair
crop. The Alta takes q more des-
pondent view. drouth peering out
With startling distinctness from
every line of its crop vaccinations.
We are inclined to think, however,
that II the present rainfall contin-
uss for some days tho Chronicle
takes the juster view of the matter.
In no event, however, can large
crop be relied upon except in
Southern California. The Chroni-
Gle says that the total rainfall In
that city during the season of
1878 was 32.l5 inches. OF this
quantity, $50 had been precipitated
prlo. 30 January 10, 1878. This in
dieates that three-fourths of the
eutlre rainfall of last season was
h'.i after that date. Up to the be-
r.nniag IF the storm last Wednes-
jky n!ghs The fall In San Francisco
ras about As inches for the season.
Should the Same ratio be preserved
thls year that mirk2i last year,
then tho fall would equal is inches
double the quantity of the dry
year Of 1857, when only o inches
fell. It is not only probable that
this ratio will be preserved, but
there 10 . possibility that the rains
may yet prove sufficiently abund-
ant to make the fall for the season
exceed 20 inches.
The correspondent Of the Post,
writing from rulare, says that the
farmers of the San Joaquin valley
have been kept in condition of
anxious expectancy since New
Year. As u most unusual occur
renee, December Of 1873, like De-
csmbsr of 1877, was almost rain
less. Yet 1t partly redeemed itself
By n rain on its last days amount
ing to 0.s4 Of an inch, making, with
the 0.97 which fell in October and
November, a total Of 1.3l, or about
an Inch and third, up to January
1st. Twice since then the clouds
have gathered ominously, promis-
Ing heavy rains, but passed away
with ole on the 18th and O.12 on
the 14th. Here, then, is O meager
total of 1.62 inches for
the season. These figures
are from measurements made at
Borden, Fresno county-quite a
central point for San Joaquin val
lsy-with an cid standard instru-
ment of the Smithsonian Institute,
recommended by the lamented Pro.
fessor Joseph Henry, and which |
has measured all the rains of San
Joaquin valley since the winter of
1859. Hence i. affords q faithful
means Of comparison with the rains
OF former seasons. OF couree, with |
more than half Of January gone,
this is no flatteripg outlook. The
only consolation Is that since sew
eral Inches must fall during the
season the bulk of rain will now
come towards Its close, in this way |
benefiting such crops as can be put |
In much more than If it had been
thrown away on the early part of
the winter.
But he is Indeed a sanguine man
who expects anything like full
crop from even the Sacramento
valley this year, while the San
Joaquin is almost without hope. |
This state of things outlines very
conspicuously the specially favora-
BILE surroundings of the Los Anga.
les farmer. We have actually had
already o sufficient rainfall, with
the shower of yesterday, to guaran-
fse Us crops. The wheat In the San
Fernando valley only needs q few |
mere inches TO mature into splen-
Fi harvest. 1t is, in fact, doubtful |
Y t needs any other rain than al
y - characterizes a Los Angeles
sprlag.
Even with a dry year here, which,
- .he VA, the HERALD has all |
al & predicted we should not have,
the splendid and peculiar advant-
ages OF Los Angeles county would |
have shown resplendently through |
her possession Of extensive areas Of |
moist and irrigated lands. The su.
psrabundant rains Of last year have |
filed up all the springs and sources
OF our rivers and streams. They
gave our bottom lands soaking
which 1t will take several years to
pareh out of them, although, by
the way, these bottom lands never
lack moisture even in the dryest
years. Our irrigating facilities, be-
sides, are far more extensive than
the outside worll dreams Of. What |
with the Los Angeles, san Gabriel |
and Santa Ana rivers, the Arroyo
Honda, the hundred yelling sources
OF water supply in the San Gabriel
AMI other valleys, 1t is not too