Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-29
Produce Earliest Sugar

This same company already has a big
factory at Visalia which has the dis
tinction of being the first plant this
season on the Pacific coast to manu-
facture beet sugar
For years agricultural lands in these
counties have been held by San Francisco
banks, which had mortgages on them and
their cultivation was not encouraged.
Since the invasion of Los Angeles
capital, represented mainly by the Pacific
Coast Sugar company and the Security
Land and Loan company, revival has
been started in the lower San Joaquin
valley which is making even California
sit up. The lower valley, it may be stated,
Is about the size of the state of Illinois.
Until the Pacific sugar people. led by
Mayor A. c. Harper, Nathan Cole, jr,
and others began to demonstrate what
California soils would do, it was thought
that alkali lands were absolutely worth
less.
Beets Grow In AIkali
Around Visalia are few stretches of
land which had been regarded as desert
and worthless though surrounded by
thousands of fertile acres.
Sugar beets were planted on these bare
spots and the crops they produced have
furnished asremarkable series of photo
graphs besides furnishing dividends for
the sugar interests and for the growers
who sold the products of these ranches.
The excursion late Sunday from Los
Angeles will be on a special train
rendered by the Santa Fe management.
There will be six Pullmans for the pill
grims, who will live on the train on their
Journey The Southern Pacific Line
parallels lne Santa Fe, but the latter's
line runs closer to the new factory.
Departing Sunday night they will reach
Visalia Monday morning and partake of
a breakfast as guests of the board Of
trade there.
Seeing Sugar Made
The Visalia sugar factory will then be
inspected leisurely and the train will
proceed twenty-five miles back to Cor
coran.
Tradition says an old contractor named
Corcoran once pitched his tent there,
hence the name, but others insist 1t
takes it's name from the Corcoran art
gallery. At any rate there Will soon be
a beautiful modern town around the pro-
posed million dollar sugar factory there
A bank, stores, church, schools and
other buildings have been erected.
The ceremonies here will be the corner
stone laying, at which Mayor Harper VIII
preside. Several other well known men
will make speeches.
The next stage OF the journey Will pe
to Bakersfield, where a banquet will be
enjoyed late Monday.
The train is scheduled to reach Los
Angeles again Tuesday morning.
Los Angeles Territory
LOS Angeles is rightfully entitled to
the trade of those three neighboring
counties and we hope to see an awaken
ing in that direction" said William c.
Petchner of the Pacific company yester-
day.
I'VE sold twenty carloads of sugar from
our visalia plant right here in Los An
geles this month, and it is only starter.
"The Security Land & Loan company
gave us a big bonus to build the Cor
coran factory and we are going ahead
with it.
1.-The visalia plant has a capacity of
400 tons a day; the Corcoran plant will
produce 600 TONS This size is as large as
factory should be to be operated sue
cessfully.
Lake Tulare is the largest body of
fresh water in the state. while near us
is Mount Whitney, which, through its
waters, furnishes energy which operates
our factories and all the irrigating plants
in that section.
Land is cheap there now and we mean
to assist in developing the empire of the
lower San Joaquin valley"