Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-12-29
4 Csnnasssy Isdepesaens Of see.

0OH0s
The HRALD relterates for the if
tisth time that 1t 10 not afraid Of q
dry year. We would, of course,
prefer to have Q wet season, but we
have noticed that unspeaksble
blessings followed the dry year Of
1877. When the drear horrors OF
that dread season burst upon US We
were comparatively unprepAred,
although, Notwithstanding, we
were . thousand times better able
TO endure ayesr Of drouth than
were our people in 1861, when the
plains OF this county were Uttered
with skeletons. and sheep and cat
tie were slaughtered in myriads
simply for their pslts. AT that
time our stock raisers depended
upon the spontaneous natural
grasses for the sustenance of their
docks. When these failed every
thing went by the board. 90 great
was the strain In that memorable
year that even Don Abel StesIns
was shaken, in his business inter
ests, from center to circumference.
That gentleman, In that season,
parted with lands which to-day
would co institute q kings ransom,
and for mere song At that. Now
Los Angeles county is full of feed
for man aud beast. Where there
were little garden patches Of al
tAlfa then, scattered here and there,
there ale now Thousands Of acl es.
The corn bins Of our farmers are
full to bursting. Great stacks Of
barley fiil Naud's warehouse, and
Tous ml,l.wrights have still . con.
siderable reserve OF wheat. WhaI,
more than anything else, distin.
guishes Los Angeles county now
from the Los Angeles county Of
1881 10 the extent to which our fa..
eilitiss for irrigation have been d. :
vsloped. Although this work 10
~ yet but fractional and partial,
1t has already assumed proper
tioOs, and . com pletsness, whlch
dwarf the combiued irrigatiDg re.
sources Of the rest OF California. Il
10 worshy Of note that the large
shipments Of Los Angeles county
produce which have been sent to
Arisona and New Mexico, to Den
vsrand Kansas City, are excIu-
sively the products Of irrigated
lands. These are psrennislly pro-
ductive, whether the weather ciel K
Keeps school or goes on q half holi-
day. Rain or no rain, these same
products will be on hand during
the coming year.
It 10 needless to say that there ia
an immense range Of our products,
other than those referable to the
market garden, which are inds-
pendent Of what the rainfall of The
present season may be. The or.
ange crop, for instance, is already
An accom- plished fact. 1t needs
nothing but . good deal Of Janu.
ary sun-which is always reliable,
In all years-to thoroughly ripeu
1t, and 1t will rlpen far better in q
dry than In q wet January. 1t ia
larger and better than has ever
been known In our previous his
tory. Not only that, hut the mar
ket promises to be better than We
have ever known in the past
This y ear, for the first time, We
sball have several strings to oul
bow, snd shall not be dependent
absolutely upon the San Francl sec
demand. which has been our plight
for years. Careful Judges estimat .
that the orange crop alone
will turn one million dollars Into
Los Angeles county this season.
All who know anything about
grapes are aware that, with trifiipg
exceptions, every acre Of land In
Los Angeles county which is de-
voted to vineyard purposes 10 irri.
gated land. The probability is
that never in the history of this
county will SO much wine and
brandy be made 80 next year.
Our vignerons simply find 1t i'm.
possible to keep pace with the de.
mand from the EAst for these cd.
mirabls products Of our vine ards.
Millions of dollars will be poured
Into this county in 1882 from this
source.
Corn, wine and oil were the sta
pies Of the comm erce OF old, rang
Ing from Palestine to Greece and
Rome. In this cen nuectioo It would
be wrong to omit mention Of the
petroleum resources Of Los A nReles
county, which are being rapidly
developed. As to corn our farmers
are already flooding their lands,
preparatory to planting the larges.
crop Of this cereal ever known
hsrsabouts. A. Los Angeles coun.
~ II the statistics we're given cor
Rsctlys produces more corn than ell
the rest Of California put together,
this fsct 10 Of no mean siguificance.
should there be another year Of
oronth II would mean another
million dollars added to the In.
come Of those Los Angeles farmers
W0o are the nona osa0ra s,f N, nj AZ nj