Daily Los Angeles herald., 1881-09-10
NARRow.eAyeE RAILROAD.
Report Of Gen. ]. H. Shields on the Capacity
Of thS Belt Embraced by the Proposed Route
to Sustain Railroad.


We below present the report
made by General J. Fl. Shields,
statistician to the narrow-gauge
railroad reconnoisance, to the rail-
road meeting held at the Pavilion
last Wednesday, and which was
unanimously dopted AID ordered
published:
Mr. President and gentleman:
There are two systems, or rather
one great system, of narrow-gaug g
railways proposed for the counties
of Los Angeles and San Bernardo
no, consisting Of an exterior line
and of interior lines, connecting
the sides Of the exterior line.
The excellent engravings pre-.
sented to the meeting through the
libsrality of the Rural Press, afford
the utmost facility for q clear COM
prehsnsion Of the entire system of
exterior and interior proposed mar
row-gauges and their belts. The
exterior line, the only one contem-
plated by this meeting, proceeds
from, and returns to, the city of
Los Angeles by way of Pasadena, =,
San Bernardino city, Riverside,
Newport, Wilmington and Cent?
nela Spring. The exterior lire
would be about 1870 miles long.
There are about 900 square miles of
land nearer to the proposed exteri.
or narrow-gAuge railway than to
the existing and proposed standard
gauges. OF this area about $40
square miles are first class land,
and the remainder as follows:
About SO square miles of arroyo
and river bed; about 100 square
miles Of arid sand; about SO square
miles Of mountain, and about 80
square miles of alkali; altogether
about 230 square miles, perhaps,
equivalent to about SO square miles
of fret class land. 1t is inn possible
to approximate the productive ca
pacities Of the inferior 230 square
miles, and for this reason that area
is entirely excluded from the fol-
lowing estimates.
The $40 square miles of first class
land may be classified as follows:
About 200 square miles Of wheat
and barley lAndr about 100 square
miles of corn, alfalfa, beet, pump.
kin and dairy land; about 320
square miles OF land adapted to
grapes and other deciduous fruits
and to nuts, and about fifty square
miles adapted to citrous fruits and
to olives.
The smallest average annual
yields of the 50 classified first class
lands, in every instance expressed
In the number Of ten ton car loads
to the square mile, respectively,
are as follows: OF wheat and bar.
ley, about 25 car loads; of corn,
about 40 car loads; Of alfalfa hay,
about 400 car loads; of sugar beets,
about 600 car loads; of mangels,
about 1900 car loads; of pumpkins,
about 900 car loads; Of cheese, about
10 ear loads; Of grapes Of ten year
old vineyards, about 128 car loads;
of fruit of ten year old deciduous
trees, the average OF all varieties
taken together, about l28 ear loads; !;
of fruit Of fifteen year old orange
trees, about 800 car loadsj nuts,
lines, lemons and olives l pass for
the want OF sufficient data
1 have, In every instance, reject
cd yields above u low average, and
excluded all lands below first class.
Many may regard my estimates rs
too low. None can truthfully say
they are too high.
Nothing, however, Is more de-
lusive than generalizations upon
the productive capacities of u
whole region, based upsn even fair
averages and numerous we'll dis
tributed cases of production. Low
as my averages are, while l would
not lower them, l would rather
lower the final generalization so
per cent. than to Increase 1t l per
cent.
At the given rates of production
the go square miles of first.cla
land could be 60 planted as to fig
ure out yield annually of 100, 900
ten ton carloads. At the rates of
actual production the same area
could be so planted as to figure out
ayield annually of 200, 900 ten ton
carloads. / have classified the
areas as SO much vineyard, orange,
grain land, ETC., not because the
vineyard, the orange grove, grain
fields, etc., will prosper only on
the respectively assigned areas, for
ia reality, with the exception of
citrus fruits, meadow grasses, corn,
cheese and pumpkins, the other
enumerated products and many
not enumerated will prosper al.
most everywhere on the $40 square
miles. have made the classlfics-
tion in the interest of economic
syMmetry anu proportion of the
various branches of tillage.
Reducing the yield to an average
OF only one ton to the acre, the
428, 500 acres in the $40 square
miles would yield 42,SS0 ten ton
carloads. Again reduce, and this
time one-half, for home use and
unforeseen deficiency, and there
remain 90, $50 ten ton carloads, as
the part that would become rail-
way freight. Much of this would
become freight twice-first, to the
factory, and again from the fac.
tory. Thus reduced the estimates
are absolutely unimpeachable.
Merely to emphasize the abso-
lutte conservatism and unimpeaeh-
ability Of my severely scaled gen.
eralization, but not to Increase it
by an ounce, 1 Introduce a few we'll
known cases of production. First,
/ 60 back to the rejected inferior
land, not to bring 1t into my esti-
mates but to prove o resistance to
the temptation OF swelling the
freight generalization by known
II