Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-05-31
OUR CALIFORNIA LETTER.
NEwroRr. CAr.. nav Q. 1853,

NEWPORT, CAL, Nay Q, 1883.
To ~ Edsto, n a. Es9ls.
So You have plumed yourself anew for q
loftier and . longerAight. You have scared
proudly and screaned risht lustily alrthese
eleven long years since You first sailed full.
fiedged from little wooden building away
up Main street. have watched you with
much interest ever since, and have eagerly
awaited your week. y visits. You can now
well afford to perch on that rock Tin Wig.
nctte), Zap your wings and scream, Is you
gaze upon . scene TO which you yourself
have contributed no Insignificant portion
Wichita City Eagle you are no longer
but "THE EAGLE par excellence! Lei
Brooklyn and other minor cities append
their names to their respective " Eagles I; u
let THE EAGLE /" suffice for you.
How long before you will attain your ma.
jority, and signalize the same by assuming
the quarto form and essaying daily flights
This must surely follow closely upon the
heels OF street ears and electric lights
Success to Sedgwick county and her stan
dard-bearerl
We Of California, especially Of Los Ange'
los county, are prospecting, despite this dry
winter. Crops on dry mesa that cannot be
irrigated will be minus quantity; blu,
people do not rely upon such lands, but
consider their cultivation game ofchance
The rainfall has varied very much within
short distances. Our Santa Ana reporter
gives nine inches rainfall this season
have no idea that more than half that has
fallen in this vi cinity. Los Angeles reports
eleven inches, and in the foothills there
has been much more. Most of the rain ha:
come late-too late to be OF much use; in
fact, we have had quite little shower thi,
week, to the detriment OF alfalfa hay, the
first crop OF which is being made.
This is the fourth dry year In this region
and in connection with our great immigra
ton it has made prices ofproduce rule high
Corn and barley are 75c per bushel, hay slt
to sl7 per ton. sold the prodnct of TWEEN.
ty acres of barley hay for $3.50 cash. Thi,
was volunteer crop that grew up where
last years crop had been "hogged of, y
and cost nothing until harvest, or rather
haying.
Our season has been rather cool ant
backward, and cd settlers cali last winter
the coolest since they came here. lee
formed in exposed places to the thickness.
Of seven-sixteenth of an inch.
No barley has been cut yet. Apple tree,
are still in bloom, and corn is just coming
up. by the way, apples raised in this coun
ty, and notably in Newport precinct, are
considered equal to any ..grown on thii
coast, even in Oregon in fact, they are sc
pronounced by State experts. And at the
same time the oranges raised a few miles
inland equal any in the market for size and
flavor.
1t is said, and truthfully, that one great
cause OF the high price of our lands is ouI
climate; that many come here to enjoy for.
tunes made elsewhere, and are willing to
pay high prices to secure what they want,
just as they will pay fancy prices for su.
burban property near our large cities. But
our lands are intrinsieafiy valuable. Al
Riverside Mr.. A. j. Twogood has an orange
grove Of eight acres, ten years old, This
contains 400 trees, and has Melted him this
year $1,000, or over 800 per acre. This
land he took as homestead twelve years
ago. How much is such property worth as
an inyestmenty And his trees are just be.
ginning to yield fairly. They will continue
to grew in size and increase in yield for
twenty years to come. These trees yielded
nearly 900 oranges per tree this season
when at maturity they will yield four or
five times as many. saw in Florida or.
ange trees forty feet high and broad In pro-
portion.
Il sew industry is being developed in
county About two miles from here there
is an ostrich farm, on which there are at
present twenty-five ostriches. These were
brought from the Cape Of Good Hope, and
were in New York awhile, at Barnum's l
think. They were then brought to San
Francisco, where saw them last winter in
Woodward's Gardens. They were brought
here soon after. They seem healthy. They
are laying, and the eggs, valued at 800
each, are Matched in incubators. The birds
are MORALLY afraid Of dogs, and the visiting
public are requested to leave their dogs at
home. Should the venture prove as profit
able as it bids fair to do, ostrich-farming
will take prominent place among our in
dustries, adding another source of wealth
to our already wonderful variety of produc-
tons as shown by our shipments of apples,
pears, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums,
hops grapes, raisins, figs. strawberries,
beans, peas, cabbages, potatoes, onions,
peppers, mustard, hay, wool, corn, wheat,
barley, hogs, eggs, chickens, butter, cheese,
cattle, horses, sheep, coal, gold, silver, Pc
troleum, olives, oranges, lemons, lines, cit
rons, honey, sharks oil and fins, fish, oys-
tiers, clans, wooden blankets of the finest
and best, ETC., etc.
Add to all this our climate, in which it is
literally true that December is as pleasant
as May, and in fact warmer and brighter
and dryer this year, and we have home
which even your "Happy Valley" offers
US no inducements to leave.
Respectfully,
JUSTIN M. COPELAND.