Los Angeles herald., 1891-06-08
LANDS OF INEsrImABLE VALUE.

thirty-two page pamphlet issued by the
Los Angeles chamber Of commerce for,
we presume, gratuitous circulation. 1t
has been prepared by A. G. Fish, of Riv-
erside, and is replete with interesting
facts on the subject treated of, and
which are so familiar to readers of the
HERALD from their frequent recital in
these columns. 1t is profusely illus
trated. While we in Los Angeles and
Southern California know the immense
profits which reward the intelligent cul-
tivation of the citrus fruits in the rich
soil and under the genial sun of this Sec
ton, there are scores of millions of peo-
pie in the United States who are ignor-
ant of them, and who should be made
acquainted. with them through our press,
and through publications like that
which the chamber of commerce is dis
seminating. Mr.. Fish says that, in
August, 1887, he sent out little book
entitled Facts Concerning Southern Cal
ifornia, in which occurs the following:
"This region is discovery compared
with which the discovery of gold in '49
was of small account. In '49 the race
of adventurous spirits was for wealth
only-today there is race OF the world
for wealth, plus health and homes. The
addition of these last two elements gives
permanence to the movement and lifts
it far above the plane of an ordinary
boom, to the level of discovery. There
is more in the untold wealth of the soil
of Southern California than can be con-
densed into few sentences and crowded
into the pages of this little book, and
much more in the climate of this region
in its connection with the topic OF health
and homes than would fill book many
times larger than this.
"Give the foothill regions along the
mountains, not too lar from the ocean,
ten years to grow under the planting
and training of the people of wealth and
culture who are sure to seek them for
homes, and the fruitage, flowers, ever
green trees under tropic sun, tempered
by ocean breeze, will produce some of
the loveliest spots on the green earth.
Aided by a little engineering of man,
the talismanic waters may be sent over
the mesas, and the whole kingdom of
Flora set in holiday attire three hundred
and sixty-ive days in the year. Where
else can home, in such scenic and all the
year climatic surroundings, be set with
such perennial beauty ?''
In the present publication, after "a
lapse of four years, Mr.. Fish writes in
his recently issued brochure:
This rhetoric seems rosy. but four
years residence, with careful observa-
ton, justifes us in saying that lands
along the Cahuenga and Sierra Madre
foothills, in what is known as the 'warm
belt" from the westerly line of Jones &
Baker ranch, eastward, are more valua-
BILE today for what they will actually
produce in the way of citrus and decidu-
GUS fruits and early vegetables than the
most sanguine thought they were for
town lots in 1887.
The fact is that it is not easy to exag-
gerate the value or the possibilities OF
the lands of Southern California, and
this is especially true Of our foothills
generally and of the Cahuenga range in
particular. The astonishing profits of
the orange culture have obscured the
great results to be obtained from the
culture of early vegetables, such as to-
matoes and green peas, for the eastern
market. These specialties, with proper
transportation facilities, can be placed
on the tables of the people of New York
and Boston at Christmas tide and New
Years.
Although Mr.. Fish made his refer
ences to the Cahuenga foot hill region
and to the ranch of the Messrs. Jones
and Baker, and similar adjoining prop
critics, four years ago, they are still un-
divided. Their great possibilities are
left undeveloped. 1t is strange thing
that the richest lands of Los Angeles
county, like those of the Laguna, the
Rodeo de las Aguas. the ranches de los
Bueyes and San Vicente y Santa Monica,
are still held practically intact. Much
of this land is admirably adapted for
orange culture. Only the other day the
writer ate delicious orange grown in
the limits of Santa Monica herself.
AS to the San Gabriel valley, and
other favored spots of Los Angeles
county, there is no limit to their re-
munerative character or to their pros
pective value. Mr.. E. j. Baldwin is
now selling lands in the richest portion
of that valley, with good water right,
at figures which scarcely represent
years value OF the crops which an in
dustrious man can raise upon them.
These acres will go up to fabulous figures
during the next ten years, when the
San Gabriel valley is certain to be
largely settled. Nothing can arrest
this certain development. The HERALD
has no hesitation in saying that those
who buy acreage property anywhere in
Los Angeles county today are certain to
make large profits on their investments,
if prudently made, during the next
three or four years. There are many
places where this increase in values will
amount to hundred per cent. and up
wards during that time, and this is par
ticularly true where the lands are
adapted to the cultivation of the
which always has been and al
..v.I 1O e