Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-06
ANTELOPE VALLEY
LAND PRODUCTIVE
RAPID DEVELOPMENT WITH
WATER ABUNDANT
Section Is Becoming One of the Rich
est Agricultural and Fruit
Districts of Southern
California

That great stretch of level, smooth
land in the northern part of Los An
geles county, known as the Antelope
valley, is now receiving the attention
and recognition that it's great natural
resources have long demanded. Until
the last five or six years 1t was COM
monty supposed that there was no sup
ply of that most essential quality,
water available for the transforma-
ton of this wide plain, covered in its
natural state with sage brush and oc-
casionally punches of grotesque yucca
palms, into a region of green fields,
productive orchards and prosperous
homes. 1t was known to few that
there was a great body of artesian
water underlying a large amount Of
the land in the valley, but unfor-
tunate circumstances in the past had
caused people generally to be skeptical
and actual developments along farm
ing lines were slow to come. A few
hardy spirits, however, believed that
there would soon be something doing,
and began developing wells and lrrl-
eating plants, and put in small areas
to alfalfa, grain and fruits. These
experiments proved conclusively that
there was not only water under this
fine, smooth, rich land, but that there
is an abundance of water for all pur-
poses and all times.
WlIlln IDe laSI TWO years lllSIt ia o
been installed a large number of mod
ern pumping plants, and hundreds of
artesian flowing and pumping wells
have been drilled. Now the casual OBJ
server may see dozens of beautlful
fields of alfalfa, stretches of grain,
and young apple and pear orchards on
both sides of and right at the edge
of Lancaster.
Conditions Are Ideal
Conditions are ideal in the Antelope
valley for the production of the high
est quality of pears and apples, be-
sides other varieties of deciduous
fruits, the elevation of the valley being
from 1850 to 270O feet, and the dry at
mosphere affording the proper condi-
tions for clean, rigorous growth. Even
at this stage of development there are
q few orchards which are turning out
crops of the finest commercial apples,
apples that bring the top prices on
the Los Angeles markets. Bartlett
pears have for some years been a
well demonstrated proposition in this
locality, the orchards at Little Rock
having been particularly noted for the
immense yields and excellent quality
of their fruit.
Oregon and Colorado have for many
years been given the credit of produc-
ing the most famous apples in the
WOTlu, ana dpple III LllOSt ulS-
tricts, established on sage brush land
in the high valleys of those states,
are held at prices that even rival the
highest prices put on our best orange
groves. There are parts of California
that are as we'll adapted to the Scien-
tific commercial production of top
quality apples as in the states above
mentioned, and the people of this state
are finally awakening to this fact.
But the alfalfa proposition has even
a stronger attraction for many than
the fruit business, and this is not sur
prising, when it is considered that the
normal yield of an acre of well tended
alfalfa in this valley is from eight to
ten tons per year. There are even
larger yields on record. Six crops a
year is the average thing, and expert
alfalfa men state invariably that they
have never seen superior stands nor a
finer quality of alfalfa in any country.
With these developed ranches as a
criterion OF the capabilities of the soil,
and with the example of hard d-headed
business men who are investing and