Los Angeles herald., 1891-12-31
HOW THE COUNTRY LOOKS NOW.

The rain which commenced falling
Tuesday evening, and came down very
copiously at times, has had most re-
freshing and beneficial effect upon the
face of the country. We yesterday took
look at the fine lands south OF the
city, and extending to the ocean. The
dry, dusty and sterile appearance of the
long stretch of country had changed
to a rich, fat and misunderstanding belt of
soil. At points on the line of the Re-
dondo Beach road, where extensive
fields had been plowed and seeded
after the frst slight rain of the season,
streaks of green could be seen which, on
closer inspection, proved to be blades OF
barley and wheat, showing that the
early planted grain had already begun
to sprout. This development was pro-
duced by Tuesday nights showers. The
bleak and drying northers had swept
over the plowed fields and left them as
dry as Sahara; but just as soon as the
rain began to fall gently and to send its
revivifying moisture into the soil the
seed burst into active life, and sent
forth its green blades to the surface.
The men who in this region were fore
sighted enough to dry-plow, or to take
advantage OF the first or second light
rainfall, will be compensated with fine
crops.
Wherever we went we found the farm
ers either atield with their plows or get
fnr Wiz
campaign. There is ample time to put
in very wide acreage of grain, and with
the assurance we now have of all the
rain that is needed to produce an abun-
dant crop, there will be none OF the best,
and very little of the second-class soil
left untitled. The Sausal- l-Redondo ranch
will give fine agricultural account OF
itself this season. The broad mesas be-
yond Inglewood, and indeed all the fine
grainieds of the Centinela, clear to the
Sand dune range which shelters them
from the ocean, are all ready for the
campaign, and the acreage planted will
be as extensive as usual.
The farmers all are now sanguine
that we shall have phenomenally fine
season for crops. The rains have held
off for go long that nothing but start
ing downfall was required to enable
them to put the season on good agri-
cultural footing. They feel now that
their labor will not be wasted, as it has
go often been when they planted early
in the season, in consequence OF heavy
fall rains which have usually been fol-
lowed by a long midwinter season OF
drouth, involving the loss of their seed
and the necessity OF putting in another
crop. "We have always" they argue,
chad enough spring showers to bring
crop to maturity, and the chances in
favor such showers during this year are
greatly augmen led by the fact that we
have been altogether denied our
usual early rains" We believe they are
making calculations that will be verified
by the result, and that in place of an
unusually short crop, they will secure
an unusually full one.
From other parts OF the country we
hear the most encouraging reports. The
rain was a universal one in this section,
and fell so gently, whilst the atmosphere
was toned down to go mild and gracious
temperature, that every drop went
where it would do the most good. As
consequence, the soil has been so!tened
10 the plow everywhere, and there will
be no more waiting to commence the
good work of the Campaign" We
have all along been hopeful that the
season would be one of at least partial
success. The greatest drawback we
could foresee would be the diff
Guilty to plow and seed wide
area of soilif the rains held off too long.
But we are now disposed to abandon
this theory, and to cling to the idea that
as large an acreage aswe have ever had
will be cultivated this year. This we