The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1893-10-12
Letter from Mr.. MOultOn.

| EDITOR ADvANCE:4--lt Is now aDOuL
three months since / arrived in South
ern California, giving me some time
since my last communication, to look
over portions of the state not hereto
fore visited, both inside and outside
of the citrus belt in the southern part
of the state. l was one of a party Of
six to visit the Chino sugar beat fac
tory, now three years old, situated in
the beautiful valley of Chino midway
between the north and south ranges
of mountains in the center of a 10000
acre tract of fine farming lands in
what is known as the moist belt. A
large portion Of it is under cultivation
in: grain and large alfalfa pastures
without irrigation. Large numbers
of fine horses and cattle as we'll as
grain are raised for market. 1t was q
delightful drive of sixteen miles north
west from South Riverside to this
large farm or ranch, so-called, on
which the owner, Mr.. Richard Gird,
has beautiful home where he resides.
Its beautiful park-lik grounds, fine
walks and driveways among the fruit,
| flowers and fountains would make
even the millionaires of New Yor-..
look with wishful. envious eyes.
To this generous manof large brain
and heart California is indebted for
this magnificent plant, costing $780,
600 and giving employment to nearly
one hundred men part OF the year,
and from three hundred to five hun
dred men during the cultivating sea-
son and two months in which the fac
tory is run to convert the five thou
sand to seven thousand acres of beets
into sugar. This Mr.. Gird gave the
company nearly two thousand acres
of land and agreed to put out three
thousand acres to beets the first year;
increasing to five thousand acres
afterwards at $3.50 per ton delivered
at the factory, as I understand it
They were making 80 tons of sugar
per day, requiring six hundred tons.
Of beets gathered from the fields for
that amount of sugar, making five
thousand four hundred tons or ten.
mil Lion nnd sea haslsana q
pounds for the season. It was an IN
teresting and novel sight to witness,
as we did, the various processes from
the unloading Of the beet till the juice
was converted into sugar and packed
or dropped into paper barrels ready
for shipment to San Francisco for re-
fining, at the rate of about eight-car-
loads day. It was a grand and busy
scene enjoyed by all, and many thanks
are returned to the gentlemanly Gov
ernment inspector who kindly con-
Quoted us through the different
stories, courteously explaining the
processes as we passed from room to
room.
also made trip from Los Angeles
to San Diego, down through beauti
full stretch of farming and deciduous
fruit country from ten to twenty miles
in width between the coast range of
mountains and the broad Pacific. 1t
is not unlike our finest Minnesota
prairie in appearance with fine, valu-
abl Improvements in many sections.
There are numerous thriving young
cities and villages of from 1900 to
5000 inhabitants, Anahiem, Orange,
Santa Ana and Oceanside among the
number. Fine groves of oranges,
walnuts and pears, with large fields
of grain and alfalfa between the towns
make beautiful picture, showing the
capabilities of the soil to raise the
general farm crops and large variety
of deciduous fruits without irrigation,
and everything with irrigation.
At Capistrano stands one of the
mission buildings built by the order
of St. Francis through an arrange
ment entered into with the Spanish
throne with a view to encourage colo
nization of it's territory, making these
missions the nuclei of future villages
and cities to which Spanish subjects
were encouraged to migrate. The
monk chosen to take charge of the
undertaking was Junipera Sierra, a
man of sanity piety and energetic
character, who in childhood desired
only that he might be priest and in
maturity earnestly wished to be a
martyr. He entered the bay of San