Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-03-18
MON uAY, MARCH IS, 1888.
A Marked Contrast.

We have heretofore referred 10 tno duC@
ton sales of lands in Fresno county. We
have done so in an entirely friendly
spirit. No journal of California surpasses
the HERALD in admiration of the enter
prise of that people, of the special rich
ness of the soil, or in the energy and in
dustry which are now making the erst-
while deserts of that section blossom as
the rose. Yesterday we referred to an
auction sale ia Fresno county in which
the average price realized for lands To-
Gated at O remove of seven miles from
the city of the same name was $l60 an
acre. We do not believe that this figure
was excessive. In fact, in view OF the re-
munerative production in Fresno county,
we think it was very moderate. These
lands would pay high interest on $500
an acre. And yet they are situated in
the very center of the State OF
California, and their owners are
absolutely subject to a single rail
way corporation. For all purposes
of the Fresno county horticulturist or
farmer, there might as well be no ocean
at all. In midsummer the mercury in
that section sometimes ettains III
degrees Fahrenheit, and the consoling
breezes of the ocean are not nearer than
the bay of San Francisco or Santa
Monica, points both about equi-distant.
When we come TO Los Angeles county,
on the other hand, we strike one of the
greatest railway eenters on the continent.
With three transcontinental railways al
ready in being, we have the early pros
pect of two more. Local railways grid.
iron the county, and we have coast line
of nearly one hundred miles in extent
with number of acceptable harbors.
Our marine summer resorts extorted the
admiration of DR.. Russell, of @fBull
Run" fame, when he accompanied the
Duke of Sutherland here some years ago.
We can grow everything that can be
grown in Fresno county, under
q temperature that is the per-
fection of human comfort. We can grow
many things that Fresno county can't
raise, such as oranges, lemons, hines,
pomegranates and bananas. And yet
when a Los Angeles county property
owner presumes to ask $3.50 an acre for
the best lands on the footstool, at re-
move from the semi-tropical metropolis
not greater than the lands which brought
$3.50 an acre in Fresno county, people are
shoeked-that is some people are, and
they belong to the tribe of Doestick's Is
friend, Damphool. We take great deal
of pleasure in these late Fresno county
sales. They show that people are slowly
but surely beginning to realize the value
of the unapproachedand unapproachable
lands of Southern California. It takes
some time to create an orange grove, fol
instance, but, when once created, the
results are often magical. Eight years
ago Mr.. Dalton, of this city, who haf
since died, received $500 for the oranges
which were raised from a quarter
which he owned in the Southern
portion of the city of Los Angeles. Thil
was large sum, no doubt, and it wal
realized because Mr.. Dalton attended tc
his trees, and had planted go6d stock
But it would really puzzle any cne tc
determine the low down commercial
value of an acre of ground which shoulC
yield at that rate, the gross return beinl
So, ,2e0.
The truth is that the value of thu
limited amount of land in Southern
California which is capable Of raising thl
citrus and other semi-tropical fruits il
Just now very low. 1t could be doubled
and trebled, and even quadrupled, with
out approaching the figures that will b,
in vogue here two or three years from
now.