Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-04-26

and lucrative home, that gentleman
having concluded, some time ago, that
Los Angeles county was the ideal Of
his dreams. Without entering into
details to a fatiguing extent. we will
simply add that the prosperity Of Santa
Ana Is founded upon a large present
production and upon the possibility Of
an indefinitely expanded production in
the immediate future. Both to the east,
south and north Of the place the visitor
encounters no end of charming home.
steads, planted in the citrus and decid-
uous fruits.
The winery Of Peter Eschclbach last
year turned out one hundred and twenty
five thousand gallons Of wine. Joseph
Young. also In the immediate neighbor.
hood OF Santa Ana, made between
thirty.fve and forty thousand gallons of
wine. This, for vineyards which are
yet in their infancy, speaks volumes.
Extensive regions are also devoted to
the raisin grape, Of which we shall have
something to say, in detail, tomorrow.
THE VALLEY PROPER AND ITS WATER
SUPPLY.
The old Santa Ana ranch contained
some sixty-two thousand acres, of which
about %, 900 are along the foothills. OF
the remainder 10000 acres are damp
lands, requiring no irrigation. Thirty
thousand acres are adapted to irrigation,
and the water supply, we are assured,
is ample for that purpose. The best
fruit lands lie to the east and northwest
of the town. Their prices to-day range
from $3.50 to 5000 an acre, which is not
an excessive figure when one considers
the large income, Of which more anon,
that can be realized from this property.
Whether il is regarded as large or small,
however, nothing on this earth is more
certain than that these prices will be
greatly enhanced in the immediate
future, when settlement and consequent
development shall have made them
selves felt in more pronounced man
ner. There are plenty of people of
means who are ready, after careful
inspection. to announce their purpose Of
making the Santa Ana valley their
home for aye, and they are ready to pay
the sums needed to make their footing
good.
The water resources Of the Santa Ana
valley are said to be ample for oil pur-
poses. There is no monopoly Of it, the
settlers owning it themselves and appor-
tioning it on equitable principles. To
each acre of land sold goes one share of
water stock, which costs the purchaser
ell.65, Thus, if man buys one hun.
dred acres Of valley land, he pays 81 1866
for the water needed to irrigate it, and
so on. The Water Company does not
aim to make my money, but simply to
create a reserved fund sufficient to keep
the bitches in repair. They now have
some $1,000 overplus in the treasury,
which can be devoted to that purpose,
and to such improvements as may be
needed in the progress of the colony.
The water used for irrigation com.
prises some twenty.eight or thirty
heads, hundred miners inches making
a head The bitches are large and well
made, the water being taken out in the
Santa Ana cahon. The principal con.
duit is sixteen miles long. The Water
Company is now considering the propo.
sition to sink a submerged dam at the
source of the water supply. The matter
has been under advisement, for
some time past, by Mr.. Lambie, who at
length reported that such dam would
result in increasing the water supply of
the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Com
pany by fully one hundred heads.
There is no doubt but that the dam will
be built, thus furnishing to this mag
nificent domain practically unlimited
supply of water. We should omit very
material strong point of the Santa Ana
valley were we to fail to add that it
possesses numerous artesian wells, which
are reached at depths varying from
forty to two hundred feet
GOSPEL SWAMP.
We availed ourselves of the politeness
of Mr.. Meyberg, of the Crystal Palace
store, to take an early ride over the
famous Gospel Swamp" The late
"norther" has visited that section with
some severity, only those portions of the
cereals which are irrigated giving any
promise of crop. This is the worst
season of the year in which to see the
Swamp as it is mainly corn and
hog country, and the farmers are now
busy putting in the former, here and
there some corn peeping above the
ground. 1t is celebrated for yielding the
largest crops of maize, the biggest pump
kins and the most colossal beets ever
raised in the Golden State. Mr.. j. W.
Layman, the present proprietor of the
Santa Ana Hotel, informed us that,
while a farmer in the Swamp, some
years ago, he harvested as high as one
hundred and thirty.tive bushels of corn
to the acre. The country around New.
port-the people of that section repel
with disdain the appellation of Gospel
Swamp'-is the home of the fat hog,
who may be seen multitudinously dis
porting amongst the alfalfa, and in
the barley which the north wind has
devastated. So prolific is this region of
hogs that Mr.. Kuffel alone has sold
$50, 600 worth of them during the past
year. BY the way, this gentleman has
builthimselfan elegant residence near the
Newport store. Innumerable chickens,
which flourish finely on alfalfa, contrib.
ute to the income of the farmers of this
section who, in the main, are quite
prOsnerOus and who can snnnort n dry