At some
other places in California, land is offered at a less price, but I can
sell some land at even 10 dollars per acre; yet that at 100 dollars per
acre is far cheaper, having regard to its advantages. Our land at 150
dollars per acre will favourably compare with lands fetching much higher
prices.
7. Free Conveyances will be given, with a perfectly clear and
satisfactory title.
8. Two-thirds of the purchase-money may remain on
mortgage.
9. Merced is only 14 days from London.
10. A liberal competence may be secured by a reasonably industrious
settler.
11. Merced is a very healthy locality, and is nearer to San Francisco
than other Fruit growing centres.
12. My clients, the owners, are well-known gentlemen of wealth and
position in California, and not irresponsible land speculators, members
of a syndicate with an unknown personality.
COMPARISON AND WARNING.
I have already said that applicants should verify for themselves the
statements made by persons who, like myself, would be personally
benefited by their settling upon the lands offered for sale. Letters
sent to this country, and advertised by agents as a guarantee of
advantages, written by persons soon after arrival in California, and who
have not compared the place of their location with other places, can
scarcely be a sufficient recommendation. Some parts of California
advertised in this country for sale have not a permanent water supply;
are too hot; are swept by winds; are at a considerable distance from a
railway station; have a poor, sandy soil, some even mixed with alkali;
and some are so situated as to be "notoriously unhealthy," and produce
chills, fevers, and general malaria, and, in one case, I have heard of
an embarrassed title: therefore, I say that intending settlers should
remember there is a California and a California - that it is not all gold
which glitters, and that they should, personally and intelligently,
investigate for themselves, on the spot, the statements made by those
who, at a distance, offer the lands for sale.
CAPITAL REQUIRED.
It is recommended that settlers intending to establish Fruit farms,
should have a capital of from L600 upwards; but those who have a smaller
capital - say, L300, or even L100 - may, in other ways, find some opening
for employing it, if accompanied with intelligent, industrious,
persevering work.
=A Start in Life.=
To ensure the stability of a building the foundation ought to be
substantial, so in like manner a good start in life goes a great way
towards ensuring a successful career. By success I do not mean the
making of a rapid fortune by leaps and bounds of prosperity, but I do
mean an ultimate prosperity, acquired through patient, persevering, and
intelligent labour. To make a large fortune quickly it is necessary to
have command of the requisite knowledge of the business in hand, the
requisite capital, untiring energy, and a trait of genius. Beyond these
it would be necessary to have the mind absorbed in the one thing, and
therefore, supposing one possessed the requisites, would it be worth
while to sacrifice all else to the mere accumulation of money? To live
for mere money making is a grovelling existence, and utterly unworthy
the aim of any man possessing the finer instincts of human nature and
the intelligence with which it is endowed.
No, I am not pretending to offer the means of making a rapid
fortune - such accidents fall to the lot of but few out of the millions
of our species - but I do claim to be able to offer to men willing to
live a steady industrious life, the opportunity of acquiring, on easy
terms, a small freehold estate, into which they can put the golden seed
of their own mental and physical effort with the certainty of reaping a
golden harvest proportionate to their area, their ability, and their
industry; for when once a Fruit farm is planted it increases in value
every year.
To own a freehold estate of 20, 40, or 100 acres, with a comfortable
house and buildings, and the land well stocked with choice Fruits, with
a ready market, presents a prospect, by the use of a small capital, with
the addition of muscle and brains, of future competence. When such a
property is fully matured, labour can be hired, and one's own personal
energies may be diverted, if preferred, into other channels, or
continued in the same with largely accumulating benefits.
I ask my readers requiring for themselves, or others in whom they are
interested, a start in life, to read these pages carefully, for I do not
know any calling, in the old or new world, where a small capitalist fond
of country life could find an occupation more congenial than the one I
offer at Merced, in California, and which is described herein.
Residence near to a young town, which will probably increase rapidly in
value, and which now possesses extensive commercial, locomotive, social
and religious advantages, a climate than which the surface of this globe
scarcely presents one more desirable, a fortnight's journey from London,
and a soil pregnant with inherent virtue, are amongst the considerations
of importance which will determine thoughtful investors to settle at
Merced.
I am prepared to show to applicants samples of the soils and fruits, and
also views, books, maps, &c., and to answer questions, if they will call
personally upon me, at my offices -
3, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London,
so that they may have every assistance in enabling them to come to a
decision as to whether the start in life I offer them at Merced, in
California, is one suitable in respect of their inclination, capital,
abilities, and energy.
WITHIN A FORTNIGHT OF LONDON.
To prove the convenient access of this land, called "British Colony"
from London, I may say that on November 22nd, 1890, I left Liverpool in
the Cunard steamer "Etruria," which reached New York on the following
Saturday evening, just too late for the Custom-house officers to examine
the luggage, so that we could not go on shore till the next morning.
