aEMI-PHoPIC I'.ILIFOKNIA. 
11 
THE GOLDEN FtJTUKE, 
BY R, M. XVItWBY. 
IN February, 1808, the writer, then a resi- 
1 (lent of one of the middle counties, 
called upon a merchant from Los Angeles 
who was on business in San Francisco. Tim 
object of the call was to ascertain facts a- 
to the then condition of Los Woles 
county, and its future. The picture painted 
by that merchant, though an old resident, 
was uninviting in the extreme. Said he, 
It is a small place, mostly hill.<. very 
little pasturp, dry ground only f.t f nr stock, 
and hardly fit for that; no cultivation ex¬ 
cept on one or two small places of two or 
see how the country was. Riding out from 
the seaport, Wilmington, l found that the 
country consisted of table, or mesa h.-d 
undulating hills, level valley and high] 
rugged mountains in tho distance. There 
were about 500,000 acres of table land ami 
undulating hills; about 300^)00 of v*li.. v 
lands. These lands were covered with it 
rank, rich growth of wild clover, alfilimn 
malva ami mustard. Tim crop would have 
averaged, over the gOO.OftO acres, at least 
two tons to Uio acre. Tho clover and all,|. 
aria were over two feet high; llm mustard 
from ten feet In fifteen feet high. 1 he 
soil was a deep, rich, sandy loam; the 
warm sun from a cloudless sky, sent its 
mins; but this does not often occur” I 
said to him: “ Here is the rank growth of 
this year; there stand the dead stalks of 
an equally rich growth of last year; there 
m broken fragments, lie the stalks of a 
similar growth of the preceding year; and 
over the ground under those is the doeorn- 
posing matter from the previous years; and 
n that wash, cut to the depth of several 
feet, is exposed the dooomposed vegetable 
muter, mixed with earth, showing that for 
long centuries post nature has been grow¬ 
ing luxuriant crop* of vegetation. Where 
| nature can rais© such magnificent crops of 
"mods, man can raise any crop of grain 
| which has in it no more water nf 
I.uii hr it Yard or Jackson, Kkiu muikv a CV*nkh, Los Avicik*. 
throe Hundred acres where water can bo 
Imd for irrigation. Tho water is nil taken 
up, and no more land ean be irrigated. 
Tho place is overdone and will go down 
again. A few oranges are raised in the 
city, but they cannot bo raised any other 
place. Dry years kill off all the stock,and 
the place is of no account.” 
Such I found to be the general opinion 
of Los Angeles in 1808. Howovor, I took 
tho steamer, ami, passing Los Angeles, 
wont to San Diego. There was no town 
there; it was before the oxoitoment arose 
as to that placo. Returning, I ventured to 
stop in Los Angolcs to look around and 
llifo-piving rays upon the landscape of semi 
tropical luxuriance. “This is a grand 
country, this i« the finest and richest largi 
body of land I have over seen; theagn 
cultural possibilities of this p|*o.< are 
grand,” I oxeluimml to ihu parson with me, 
who was then a resident of several years in 
the county. 
With a look of surprise, incredulity, and 
pity, mixed, bo said: “This is not an ugri -1 
eultural county; farmers cannot do nnv 
thing here. This is'a dry place; nol.hii.g { 
can be raised here without irrigation;: 
farmers would starve to death; this year' 
there is a rank growth on account of heavy | 
I green growth th in the weeds, pmep/vi/ man 
puts ill the grain under the same favorable 
I circumstances that nature puts in the seed 
of the weeds; that is, he must plant the 
1 seed before the mins fall, and thus got the 
I whole benefit of the rain-fall. Del eastern 
farmers in here, ami see what can bo done.” 
" Well, muvl'c there is something in 
that,” he replied. 
At that time I,os Angeles city and coun¬ 
ty imported from San Froricisoo all of its 
butler, breads tu If*. vegetables, ami fruit; 
also, nearly all of its grain, cured meats. 
Outside of live stock ami wool, the 
