Los Angeles herald., 1891-01-18
An Earthly Paradise Of Most
Romantic Beauty.
The Upper San Gabriel Valley
with It's Charming Vistas.
Hundreds Of Thousands of Gallons of
Wine and Boxes Of Oranges.
A Region of 1dyllic Landscape Beauty
and of Phenomenal Profits from
the Cultivation of the
Fertile Soil.

yesterday Tue 1EhALD tramp TcpoEIcI
spent the day in the upper part of the
San Gabriel valley, making little study
OF the orange crop now on the trees and
Of the vintage OF last fall. 1t is too well
understood that the scale bugs and vine
disease in the past four years have
wrought great havoc in the orchards and
vineyards OF the region referred to. This
season change for the better has come,
and it was to study the extent of the
betterment the trip was taken.
THE SIERRA MADRE VINTAGE COMPANY.
Taking the Santa Fe train at 8 80
o'clock, very pleasant ride Of forty-five
minutes up the Arroyo Seco, through
Garvanza and past Pasadena, brings one
to Lamanda Park, one of the prettiest
suburbs OF this city, set in live park
and surrounded by fine orchards. Here
Mr.. Albert Brigden met the reporter,
and the business Of the day was soon in
hand. The cellars of the Sierra Madre
Vintage company were first inspected.
The plant is few hundred feet from the
depot, and is owned by Mr.. Brigden and
j. +. Crank. Last fall the vintage
reached gross sum of 175, 900 gallons of
wine, crushed from about 1900 tons of
grapes, all raised on the Crank and
Brigden vines, of which there are about
$50 acres. The varieties of vines are
the mission, muscat, zinfandel, blau
Elben, berger, Trusseau and others. As
to the vine disease, Mr.. Brigden ex-
pressed the opinion that it was about all
gone. But little trace of it was seen
last summer, and he expects to see none
OF itfthe coming season. But this will
be referred to later on.
The grapes are converted into sweet
and dry wines and brandies. Samples
OF clarets, ports, sherries and other sorts
OF wine were shown that would do
credit to any maker, to the stocks OF
any dealer, or the cellars of any con-
noisseur. They were fine in color and
flavor, OF good body, sound and palata-
BILE in the extreme.
TIE SIERRA MADRE TERRACE.
From this point the route lay to the
Sierra Madre villa and several places
Immediately thereabout. The main in
terest here is citrus fruit. The orchards
OF this bench of land and their products
were most famous until the scale bugs,
red and white, almost demolished the
trees. For several years the crop has
been absolutely nil. The trees present
ed two years ago an aspect discouraging
in the extreme. They ara now heavily
laden with crop OF excellent fruit. 1t
is estimated thar there are at least 1000
boxes of fruit on the trees. 1t is of
very even size, bright and clean, and
will bring $4,000 or $4,000. Twenty to
twenty-five carloads is great improve
ment over nothing, and that is exactly
the comparison between this season and
last. The trees look clean of smut and
scale bugs, and are in a fairly healthy
state.
Mrs. CARL, who has just bought this
property, has beauty npot and no mis-
take. There are fully 40 acres Of excel
lent fruit land in the property, Of which
so are already planted. The hotel build
ing and furniture Mr.. Cogswell says cost
much more than the money paid for the
place, $55, 900. Mrs. CARL is New
Haven lady, and such January day as
Yesterday must have been surprise to
her as compared with her own home.
1t is said that she will make the prop
erty a private residence.
Just back OF the hotel are the homes
OF James 0. Vosburg, Daniel o. Milti-
more and G. H. Brown. Mr.. Miltimore
is we'll known in Los Angeles. He
lived out by the University for years
and took much interest in that excel
lent institution. He has moved out to
Sierra Madre for the benefit of the
health of his family. G. HI. Brown is
an architect doing business in this city.
These three gentlemen are making ideal
homes here under the very shadow of
the great mountain chain. They have
cleared off the boulders and converted
them into roads, water courses and very
ornamental walls around their orchards.
The soil is exceptionally rich, and the
exposure is warm and pleasant, as the
slope lies right in the sun all day long,
the altitude lifts it above the reach OF
fog or frost, and the drainage is perfect.
The orange trees are thickly loaded with
fine fruit. 1t will run nearly all at 81 80
to $1.75 per box. 1t is very high color
and of delicious flavor.
THE SIERRA MADRE SETTLEMENT.
Just to the east of the villa lies a
broad stretch of territory, the G. G..
Hastings estate. Here is vineyard of
some $50 acres, where the vines are in
perfect health. They could hardly look
/ DcCC6Ts 1ut CIOp Wdb bOiO w OAdIAC5
Stern & Sons. of Los Angeles, last year.
Adjoining is the picturesque home Of
Mrs. Outhwaite, mother of the distin-
guished congressman from Ohio. East
erly still is the Sierra Madre settlement,
with is splendid views, its sunshine,
pure water. fine fruit crops, churches,
library, stores and good society. The
residences are peculiarly interesting, so
prettily are they planned. A new
church has recently been built and ded-
icated, by the Congregational society.
At the highest altitude on the most
picturesque site in the place is the
home of N. @. Carter.
E. j. BALDwIN's.
Below the Sierra Madre tract lies f..
J. Baldwin's Santa Anita home. A visit
was paid to the winery, where new
sherry house has recently been added to
the plant. 1t is arranged in such way
that it may be heated to temperature
of 15O degrees, The sherry is kept in
this for six months steadily. There
are 25O acres of vineyard on
the Santa Anita. and the output OF
wine was about 10000 gallons, half OF
which was converted to brandy. There
are 260 acres of bearing oranges on the
4 place, and Mr.. Unruh estimates that the
crop will aggregate $4,000 boxes. That
is about two boxes to the tree. 1t
is quite possible there are that many