Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-02-01
Strawberries I'm winter I'm Caiifor.

mia.
EDITORS WESTERN RURAL-It rains to-
day, not hard, but just enough to bring
out the umbrellas, overshoes and rubber
coats. This is the third rain we have
had this season thus far. 1t seems good
and is a pleasant sound to one accus.
toned to frequent showers to hear the
rain drops patter. The first rain
we had this season came on tie 18th
of November, and was followed
in about ten days with another,
which started the grass to grow
ing. Now the hills and valleys are as
green and beautiful as are fields of the
East in June. Atwenty mile drive into
the country a day in the early part OF the
week discovered to us not only an abund.
ance of new fresh grass, but all kinds OF
garden vegetables in all stages OF growth.
We could hardly realize as we read of the
cold wave through which you were
passing that we were in the midst OF all
the growth and indications of an Eastern
springtime. Peas were in bloom; toma-
toes ripening; potatoes just bursting
through the ground; hundreds of busy
husbandmen actively engaged in turning
the soil preparatory to the sowing of the
or ain and plantingsof the corn. Surely
| this is the home the for farmer. Shovel
| ing snow in Illinois and picking straw
berries in California, in December, are
occupations quite in contrast. Eastern
people are filling the hotels here now
quite rapidly, although the rush of travel
is not looked for until after the holidays.
The hotel accommodations of the Pacific
coast have been improved extensively in
the last year. Rents have been reduced
to a reasonable figure and business is
getting down to substantial basis. I'm
provements of all kinds 60 steadily on,
and to a careful observer the future oi
Los Angeles and the country surround.
ing it never looked brighter than to-day.
The Chamber of Commerce recently
established here is actively en-
gagged in working up the indus.
trial and manufacturing interests oi
the county. The reports from some
of the committees of this Board are
of an encouraging character. An expert
in the petroleum business reports Cali
fornia as being the best oil State in the
Union. An extensive coal bed has been
discovered contiguous to the city and
numerous indications of oil and natural
gas all point to the fact that cheap fuel,
which has stood in the way of success
full manufacturing, will no longer be
lacking. If this question be successfully
solved and Los Angeles turned into a
manufacturing city, it's growth in the
next ten years will exceed the anticipa-
tions of its most ardent admirers. 1t is a
pretty clearly settled fact now that the
great Salt Lake Railroad is to be built
| o,f 30
an avenue of business to this city which
will surely place Los Angeles in the
position of a strong rival to San Fran
cisco. Efforts are being made to i'm
prove San Pedro Harbor. which will let
vessels of the largest kind in for dis
charging or receiving freight. This will
be another important improvement for
this part of the State.
1t was stated in leading Los Angeles
daily journal not long ago that in Los
Angeles county alone there are 1000, 900
acres Of first class tillable land capable
of producing an annual yield of $50 per
acre. Not one-fourth of this is under
cultivation. A large proportion OF it can
be bought for IS to $40 per acre, and half
of it would not exceed $50 per acre. ii
this be so, we see no reason why this
country, with soil SO fertile and with a
climate so salubrious, should not become
densely populated. From real estate
dealers we learn that the demand of late
has been for small ten and twenty acre
farms, or as they are called here "fruit
ranches" We have met several of this
class of small farmers of late and their
reports are of an encouraging character.
How man can be more delightfully."-
situated than to own a ten-acre tract OF
land in Southern California, with fruits
Of every description yielding sustensnce
and wealth to the happy possessor, sur
rounded with all the delicious comforts
of this congenial climate, we cannot
imagine.
To sit by open windows and breathe
the delicious fragrance of a garden OF
lovely flowers and read Of billiards. and
snow on the other side of our continent
is no small inducement for one to look
about him for home in this land OF per.
petual sunshine.
The thermometer stands at 65 degrees
to-day the rain has ceased; the sun
shines out in all its brightness, lighting
up the snow upon the mountain tops
the green hills look greener; the birds
are singing their glad songs, and all is SC
full of sweet, soft springtime that it is
hard for us to realize this is winter
GEO. M. SMITH, in the Western Rural.