The lands I have for sale are situate in the County of Merced, in
California, about 150 miles by rail from the City of San Francisco, They
are designated "British Colony," and at the nearest point are just one
mile from the boundary of the town of Merced, and two miles from the
railway station, hotel, shops, etc. Merced town is lighted by gas and
electricity, has water laid on, telephones, telegraphs, Court House,
Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church, Cumberland Presbyterian Church,
Methodist Church, South Methodist Church, Baptist Church, and Catholic
Church, two schools, shops of various kinds; two railroads, the main one
running up to San Francisco, and down to Los Angeles and on to New
Orleans, etc., and the other, a branch line to Stockton, Sacramento,
etc. Merced is 175 feet above the level of the sea; it is a pleasant
little town, affords some congenial society, and I firmly believe will,
before many years have passed, become an important centre, because my
clients have brought water from the Merced River more than twenty miles
off, by a system of canals, and have formed a reservoir of 640 acres in
extent, with an average depth of 30 feet, and thus have given facilities
for irrigating the country round the town. It is certain to become a
great Fruit-growing district, as its soil is so fully adapted for the
purpose. It is much nearer to San Francisco than Los Angeles, and is
nearer also than Fresno and other districts which have already made
themselves a name for Fruit culture.
The country around Merced has a natural fall, and is drained by many
creeks, which are dry in summer, but contain more or less water in
winter.