Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-10
FROM EAST TO WEST.
Editor Craig Makes Some Remarks on
California
From the Redlands Citrograph. j


From the Redlands Citrograph,1
A gentleman by the name of w. K. Whit
son, of Asheville. North Carolina, this fall
made trip to California, occupying nearly
four weeks. La this time he travelled over
1000 miles. Travelling continuously by
/ rail this would consume fifteen days, leav-
ing him thirteen days for sightseeing. He
speaks of visiting Los Angeles and San
Francisco Salt Lake City and Denver.
And yet he is thoroughly competent to
judge about the wonderful possibilities of
this most wonderful Statei Just listen to
him:
What of California? Well, the State of
California on the Pacific slope is certainly
a very fine country, naturally, but very
poor one for farming man to move to
now. The price of farming lands is SO in
fiated that no poor man can afford to buy,
and no rich one either, if he expects to
make interest on his money. The idea of
paying from three TO ten hundred dollars
an acre for lands on which to grow wheat,
grapes, pears, and the ike, is preposerous.
From what / could learn, say nearly all
the farming industries in California are be-
ing overdone. Everybody seems TO under
stand this, and in my opinion ten years
from now the lands on which are grown
the sweet grape, pears, oranges, etc, will
not command the money they now bring"
Without saying anything about the State
OF California-a State four times as large as
North Carolina, with thousand miles of
sea coast and extending north and south
equal to the distance from Asheville 10
Boston, producing every known cereal and
fruit somewhere within her borders and
almost every known mineral-let us Lar
row our vision to the one county in which
we live.
We find here almost every climate, from
the tropical to the Arctic Portions of the
county are below the sea level, while the
highest peak is more than Il, 600 feet above.
A portion is irreclaimable desert, while
other portions are as rich farming land as
lies out doors. We produce ell the cereals
and every known fruit. We have found
almost every known metal within our
borders. Were an impossible wall built
around this one county, we would not only
be enabled to live, but we could produce
every luxury desired, both for table and
personal use.
AS to his assertion that farming" land
in California sells for $500 to 81 900 an
acre, II he possesses spoonful of brains or
an atom of common sense, he knows the
assertion is false and knew it when he
made it. Farming land in profusion can
be purchased at from SIS to $50 an acre.
Fruit land suitable for grapes and decidu
GUS fruits runs from $40 to 500 an acre
sometimes reaching $3.50 to $500, but only
in exceptionally good raisin localities.
Orange land with plenty of water for irri-
CATION can yet be bought for 5000 to $500
an acre, but prices will not remain long at
these low figures.
When one stops to figure up the profits
to be realized in California for these differ
ent characters of land, we make the asser-
ton, and defy successful contradiction, that
California lands to-day are the cheapest in
the whole world, taking everything into
consideration.
As for the good North Carolina citizen,
whose remarks we have quoted, if he will
come to California and spend four years in
travelling over the State he will know
much more than he does now, and will be
very far from knowing all then.