 Afterwards, land only useful for dryland farming could be turned into residential towns, and irrigated crops and orchards.The Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company, in the "biggest land transaction ever recorded in Los Angeles County", was a syndicate led by Harry Chandler, business manager of the "Los Angeles Times", with Isaac Van Nuys, Hobart Johnstone Whitley, and James Boone Lankershim that acquired "Tract 1000" in 1909.It was acquired from the Los Angeles Farming and Milling Company owned Van Nuys and Lankershim.