Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-14

SlO0,000,000 which inures to the people of
| the State of California by reason of their
agricultural, horticultural and mining in
dustries. Thus, orer 80 per cent. Of all the
lcealh produced IN this commonwealth today
must be credited to the northern and middle
portions Of the State And yet it remains
true that the said portions of the State
have not received anything approximating
their fair share of that immigration which
all the thinly populated portions of our
country are attracting. This has been due
TO variety of causes, among which a few
will be specified.
SOME PERTINENT REASONS STATED.
First-It may be stated that region of
! country wherein the lands are rewarding
their owners by satisfactory annual profit
will not as a general thing be upon the
market for sale. Where there is no gen
eral desire to sell the land holdings, there
! will be no consensus of action in the line
of advertising the climatic and other adj
vantages Of that section, and the locality
thus kept in unobtrusive retirement will be
overlooked and forgotten. The lands in
Central and Northern California did not
require vast expenditure of money TO give
them value. They were reasonably proita-
bic to their owners, and still remain so.
The whole country, therefore, was not
upon the market Land-owning in Cen
trail and Northern California had reference
chiefly to the product of the soil, whereas
land-owning in Southern California has
been had with reference to a constant
enhancement due to immigration effort.
LARGE HOLDINGS OF FERTILE LANDS.
r
Northern and Middle California are owned
in large holdings. The idea that no man
can grow rich on 100 acres of land in this
State is one of the baneful traditions de-
scended to us from early times, and largely
a legacy of that remnant of barbarism, the
grazing industry. 1t is fact, however,
that large holdings of fertile land receiv-
ing an annual precipitation of rainfall suf-
ficient to mature crops of cereals was more
profitable, for economic reasons which will
not be introduced here, than small hold
ings. Land holding, in short, was profit
| able. The inhabitants of Middle and
Northern California had little conception
of the use of the land beyond the agri-
culture of the temperate zone. Horticult-
ure in its various branches has made con-
| siderable progress, but Notwithstanding
that progress, it remains true that 90 per
cent. of the agricultural lands of Califor-
MIA are devoted to wheat-raising. There
is very narrow limit to the price which
can be offered in purchase of wheat land.
Hence the holder of large tracts of land
| found it
MORE PROFITABLE TO OWN THAN TO
SELL.
The purchaser could not pay him
price for twenty, forty, eighty or one hun
dred and sixty acres of land for wheat
raising, in excess of the value of that num-
large holdings. The exact reverse of all
this was true in Southern California.
There the land was practically worthless,
except through development requiring
large expenditure of capital The expend-
iture once made, however, the land imme-
diately acquired very high value and
value chiefly in the direction of small and
| dilligent cultivation. Lands worthless
except for value which requires an ex-
penditure of capital in their development
will naturally rely upon the development
to attract that capital. The money placed
upon the land to produce its value had to
be obtained from the land to reimburse
the capitalist. The idea, therefore, of in
vesting the capital necessary to produce
the development. and breaking the land
into small holdings, in order to obtain a
very high rate, was a most natural and
feasible suggestion. Thus, Southern Cali
fornia owes its development largely to the
original worthlessness of the region, while
Middle and Northern California owe the
hardness of their growth to an original
and natural high intrinsic value.
CITRUS FRUIT PRODUCTION IN CENTRAL
AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
Third-There has been an almost total
! abstinence of immigration literature and
immigration effort in the middle and
northern portions of the State. The sec
ton has heretofore not received an influx
of enterprisng people. There is a marked
tendency of provincialism in any section
of the country where there has been but
few newcomers. The community which
! has not received an infusion of new blood
becomes more conservative year by year.
1t Is not 4 little surprising to find in the
Eastern States 4 prevailing opinion that
citrus culture III California is confined ex-
clusively to Los Angeles and San Bernar-
dino counties. But it is still more sur
! prising to find among the inhabitants of
! California itself conserving opinion. The
recent citrus fair held at Sacramento fully
established the capacity of both Central
and Northern California for the produc-
| ton of citrus fruit, and the most remark
able incident connected with the exhibit
ton was the continued expressions of
surprise on the part of old Californians at
| the extent Of the exhibition and the ir-
| Ell hla anpnluctn,, 20, al ..
| that the very best oranges of this State are
grown at Newcastle, Marysville and Oro-
Vile. Reflection, however, will convince
the reader that this evidence of the lack
of knowledge of the resources of the State
| should not surprise us. Grape-growine
passed through similar stage of doubt
and uncertainty. At the beginning there
were few localities where grape culture
had met with high degree of success, and
Tor many years the opinion prevailed that
the capabilities for grape production were
confined to these few localities. 1t is within
comparative recent times that Sonoma, San
Gabriel and a few other localities were
mentioned as places peculiarly favorable
for vltlculture, and when, four years ago,
the grapes exhibited at the State Fair from
Colfax, an elevation of $500 feet above the
icNcl Vi the sSSi, tOOh the urSt premium,
the expressions of surprise throughout the
State were almost universal.
THE FULL SIGNIFICANCE
Is not even yet understood, and the opin-
ion is frequently encountered that fruit
growing in the foothill region is confined
to few localities where enterprise and
industry has proven that it can be made
profitable Every industry which, in itself,
was departure from the agriculture and
horticulture which obtained in the tenn
perate zone, has made headway in this
State only against strongly-opposing doubt,
thus proving the strength and tenacity of
early traditions. The citrus exhibi-
ton held recently at Sacramento
furnishes the clearest possible demon
stration of the existence of great
citrus belt extending all along the
foothill regions from Shasta to Tehach-
api, and embracing largely the entire
alluvial area exhibited upon the map
and yet the exhibitors were beset constantly