Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-08-06

III ERE Is beginning W ue u Beu,
eral feeling amongst those who
have looked over Los Angeles
that the great bulk of her
eligible lands ought to be devoted
to the grape. Hitherto the Pueblo
and the San Gabriel valley have
arrogated to themselves the dis.
tinction Of being, par excellence,
the vineyard region of the county.
Experiments which have been
made by Mr.. Burke and others, in
Los Nietos valley, show that the
yield of the vine there, without a
particle of irrigation, is exception
ally large, greatly exceeding that
of the San Gabriel valley, great as
the latter is. While experience
has proved that there may be a
glut of oranges, and while we know
that the scale-bug and other pests
are ugly existing facts, the pro-
ducts of the wine press command q
market in all quarters of the world,
and their value increases the
longer they are kept. The enter
prising farmer OF Los Nietos val
ley who had the courage to drop
corn and barley and plant grapes
realized 5000 an acre. What pref
tier life is there in the world than
that of man who, In the nearly
perfect climate of Los Angeles
buys from thirty to forty acres OF
land and makes himself q vineyard?
On the supposition that his grapes
would yield him only $50 an acre
net, he would have an income OF
from $1,000 to $1,000 a year. But
there is absolutely no exaggeration
in putting the net yield per acre al
$75 to 500, and where the vine.
yardist also makes his own wine,
at much higher figures. OF course,
there is 10 income until the third
year, and even then the grape
vines are not in full bearing order;
but, once fairly under way, they
live practically forever. There are
vineyards in the San Gabriel val
ley which are quite one hundred
years old, and that are even now
prolific bearers. Mr.. w. Fl. Work.
man last year netted $500 an acre
from a portion of his vineyard
which is over sixty years old
Thus the delay and inconvenience
of waiting are we'll repaid, in the
end. No man, however, should
attempt the experiment unless he
likes an open air life and has
money enough to see the thing
through. He should be able tc
buy his land and put upon it the
necessary mprovements, with an
overplus sufficient to see him
through the probationary period.
In a country where the rates of in
terest are high it is the sheerest
folly to get into debt. Of course
there are many instances of men
of unlimited energy and persever-
anse who have gone into debt and
created completeness for them
selves out of nothing in Los Apge.
les county. But these are the ex-
ceptions which simply prove the
rule, and 1t is right to caution tyros
against too much self-copfidence.
The Inducements held out by Los
Angeles county are to those who
have at least small means, and to
such the return is large If not i'm
mediate. There is nothing like it
on the American continent, or even
in France. The yield of the grape
is something to marvel at, ranging
from four to, in some extreme
cases, fifteen tons to the acre. The
more valuable grapes, such as the
Blaue Elben and Berger, are un-
usually prolific, yielding much
more and selling for u much
higher price than the Mission va.
riety. Last year grapes cold fol
from 500 to $25 ton, some very
choice grapes going as high as $3(
to the ton. Eligible lands fol
vineyards. can be had anywhere fol
from Sis to $40 per acre, according
to quality and location. Righl
here is the genuine bonanza o.
Southern California.