PUBLISHER'S DEPARTMENT. 



KERN DELTA COLONIES FOR THE AVERAGE MAN. 



'"T'HE property of the Kern County Land Company 

 1 in California still ranks among the first of the 

 interesting and important irrigation enterprises in 

 this country. New properties of the kind are con- 

 stantly being developed, but it seems altogether 

 likely that for the next ten years, as for the past 

 three years, the Kern Delta Colonies will occupy the 

 foremost place in their line. 



The past season has been very successful for this 

 company but it may be confidently predicted that 

 next season's results will surpass anything in the 

 history of the enterprise. The advantages which the 

 company possesses are many and marked. While it 

 is true that California is relatively a small part of 

 Arid America as a whole, it cannot be denied that it 

 is the part in which the people of the wide world feel 

 the greatest interest to-day. Probably there is no 

 man in the United States who, if he has never visited 

 the Pacific coast, does not desire to do so at the first 

 favorable opportunity, just as every well-to-do Ameri- 

 can hopes sometime to visit Europe. California is 

 said to be about the only State in the West thoroughly 

 well known on the other side of the Atlantic. The 

 romance of the discovery of gold, the fascination of a 

 winterless climate, the prodigal production of fruit 

 and flower and tree, and of all the products of the 

 field and garden, the grandeur of the mountain scen- 

 ery these are the peculiar charms on which the 

 fame of California rests. Other states and territories 

 have charms of their own. The day will come when 

 they will be known, perhaps, as well and favorably 

 as California, but that will be in the future. Cali- 

 fornia is the land of to-day. 



Now, California presents a wonderful variety of re- 

 sources and even of climates. It is a very great 

 State. Its mountain topography is such that a man 



may gaze on great banks of snow while plucking 

 roses in his dooryard during the month of January. 

 There are places in California where land commands 

 very high prices and where water is mined from the 

 mountain side, just as gold is sought, and sells in an 

 eager and thirsty market for prices which suggest the 

 yellow metal again. Then there are other places 

 where land and water are very cheap. It is the 

 strength of the Kern county proposition that it repre- 

 sents a happy medium between these two extremes. 

 The high-priced land and water are only within the 

 reach of those who can command considerable money. 

 The low-priced land and water are located in new and 

 remote districts where the hardships of pioneer life 

 must be endured. Kern county is a field for the aver- 

 age man. It makes very moderate demands upon 

 the settler's means. The men who are guiding this 

 enterprise want good, honest settlers who shall locate 

 there with the desire and expectation of becoming a 

 productive and independent people. Knowing the 

 capabilities of the soil, they realize that nothing will 

 enhance the value of the land and command the con- 

 fidence of the public like a hundred examples of 

 prosperity on the part of a hundred new settlers. 

 Winter homes in California are all right, and Kern 

 county is a delightful place for them, but the aim 

 and object of the Kern Delta Colonies is to build up a 

 population composed of industrious and happy fami- 

 lies who shall enjoy an even prosperity won from the 

 soil by means of scientific irrigation. That makes a 

 country worth having and one that will endure 

 through all the vicissitudes of good, bad and indiffer- 

 ent times. And man who is ambitious to have a home, 

 and possesses a small amount of ready means, can 

 readily make a start in Kern county. What the 

 company seeks is the steady development of its 



COMMISSION 



WOO 



shed 1866 



SILBERMAN 



373 



