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California By Oscar Otis Sorrfe Reasons for Breakup of Amarillo People Filling Up San Fernando Valley . Breeders Laud Appointment of Koester HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 10.— Decision of the John Hertzes to dispose of their California thoroughbred production interests was not entirely unexpected, for a com bination of circumstances made a drastic cutting down imperative. It is with considerable regret that Californians learned of the decision, but be that as it may, the whole state feels it owe£ a debt of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Hertz for leading the way toward new * production greatness out this way following the dispersal of the L. B. Mayer turf empire. We have commented before, and will do so again now, that the Hertz operation at Amarillo Farm, by example, set new standards for California bloodstock operation and the firm and unshakeable confidence that Hertz, originally considered as a Kentucky breeder, had in California as a prime place among the prime locales of the world to raise fine thoroughbreds, gave a discernible "lift" to the morale of breeders throughout the West. One as yet undisclosed reason behind the selling of most of Amarillo Farm to the subdividers is that it can be revealed that the pressure from population made the farm almost untenable as a thoroughbred center. When the Hertzes purchased the acreage in • 1947, the area was a pleasant rural one. Now the place is all but surrounded by homes. While we are fully aware that horses can be raised in metropolitan areas, as witness the "Yards" in France, it is hard to do so in the United States, where different conditions prevail. The population pressure in the San Fernando Valley is so great that we feel not a single farm in the Valley can survive for any great length of time. The horse industry will have to move elsewhere. Only a few days ago, the Los Angeles Times revealed the population of the Valley at 507,000, and told of plans to re-zone the whole area for a planned population within 10 years, of 1,300,000.
