Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-05-16
ANTELOPE VALLEY.
Improvements in Contempla-
tiOn in the Near Future.
MINES AND MINING INDUSTRIES.
Rabbit Drives to Exterminates the
Pests-Jumping Claims
Other Notes.

VthCA AFObCos
EDITOR HERALD The rapid increase
in population in the Eastern and Middle
States and the determination Of the peo-
pie to avail themselves of the genial
climate of South California, has created
mania among the newcomers for as
many acres Of the public domain as they
can buy or hold by location. They look
with concern at the wholesale appropria-
ton Of our public lands by the foreign syn
dicates and cattle leagues, who are cover
ing the lands of Uncle Sam in township
and league tracts, to the exclusion Of the
native born, who are yet too young to
make filing on Government lands.
With this condition of things staring
them in the face, the bona fde settlers
and home-seekers who have not ex-
exhausted their rights to locate Govern
ment land are Fastening to secure q
heritage for their children before it is toe
late. The old saying, that "Uncle Sam
is rich enough to give us all a farm, y
was all right ten years ago, but, since the
double dealing in the way of distribution
to corporations and thieving land syndi-
Gates, by the party IN power for twenty
years after the late civil war, has nearly
exhausted the arabic lands of the public
domain. Thinking men begin to look
about them for a piece of land large
enough to support a family and have a
place they can call their own. The
spectators, who have been receiving
lands here for the last twelve months,
have confined themselves principally to
railroad lands, as they are not compelled
to improve them, and are not required to
reside on them to acquire title.
JUMPING LANDS.
Within the last few months several
Government locations have been con-
tested by parties "who were late to the
feast" and who believe the location OF
lands under the Desert Act will never &C.
quire title. They claim that notwith-
standing General Hancock surveyed this
land and graded it as Desert" and that
the Department of the Interior have ac-
cepted the filings on these lands in good
faith, and in several instances have is-
sued patents to those who have reclaimed
and proven up that they still are not
desert lands in the strict meaning of the
word that by thorough cultivation and
constant application crop can be raised
on them without irrigation. While this
may be the case in isolated localities, or,
during an unusually moist season, it will
not do to depend on either in contest or
in practical farming.
The rainfall Of this valley has been
gradually increasing since it's first settle
ment, and now amounts to more than
double of that in the extreme southern
counties of the San Joaquin valley. 1t is
thought that in five years from this time
but little of the cultivated lands will need
irrigation. The character Of the soil is
such that by frequent cultivation the
moisture is brought to the surface by
capillary attraction and held near the
surface by the fineness of the soil and
the sweating process peculiar to this
locality.
ARTESIAN WELLS.
There are three flowing wells in this
valley and several more artesian wells
being bored. Mr.. Charles Eaton, for
merly of your city, has commenced a
well on section "a, in township 9 N, R.
Is W., S. B. M, on the ost elevated
portion of his section. He also has
secured the services of Mr.. James Fis-
Gus, who has had many years experience
in boring for oil in Pennsylvania, and
artesian water elsewhere. Mr.. James
G. Bower, of East Los Angeles, who has
also had considerable experience in we'll
boring and is member of the Antelope
we'll boring company, is also assisting in
the plant OF the machinery.
1t is the intention of the company to
sink some ten or twelve artesian wells on
lands in this section of the country this
season. Mr.. Eaton will have two, Mr..
Bower one or two, E. l.. Stern, of your
city, two or three, Mr.. Washburn one
Mr.. Bayles two or three, Mr.. Fiscus one,
Mr.. Wettich one or two, and H. w. Pat
ton one. These wells will enable parties
who own desert locations to prove up
and inaugurate development that, with
the building Of the Santa Fe road through
this valley, will make things very prom
Using.
| SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS.
| The experiment made on Mr.. Bayle's
school section near Rosamond, by Mr..
Schrader has settled the fact that fruit
trees and vines do as well, if not better,
here than elsewhere. The budded cherry
trees set in April, 1887, have fine crop
of cherries, while the fig trees have done
as well. Several of his grape cuttings
had grapes on last year, and his 2-year
old rooted vines have a fine crop of
grapes, considerably in advance of the
Los Angeles vines.
DR.. Sutton, Mr.. Titus, DR.. Frederick
son, DIR. Crandall and several others
have had corresponding success. Mr..
Dearborn, who has been living on the
head of Cottonwood Creek for twelve
years, has the choicest fruits and vines
in the State.
Charles Werth, who has a place one
mile north of Willow Springs, is SO well
pleased with his experiments on his home
place that he has secured eighty acres
just south OF the springs, and has dug a
ditch from the springs to his land. He
has his land cleared and has commenced
summer-fallowing it, so he can put in
trees and vines next winter. Mr. Eaton
has twenty-five acres summer-fallowed
on his homestead, which he will put 10
vines and trees as soon as the season
comes and h. gets his second artesian
well down. James Allen has a nice piece
OF his homestead near the springs under
cultivation, and will put it to trees and
vines this fall. Mr.. @. f. Bean has
something like hundred acres cleared
and part of it under cultivation. He has
also developed considerable water from
the cieRega on his place, and has put in a
substantial storage reservoir. with a sys-
tenn of Dipinp TO his orchards and GAR