With the advent of the railroad and the introduction of refrigeration, wheat prices dropped, and fruit became a significant cash crop. As a result, in 1883 onwards until the start of the 20th century, grain ranches that had previously profited from wheat began to bankrupt and close; the original owners of the ranches soon died off, and the heirs deeded land to those who were seeking it; this era brought about a land boom, and the new fruit ranchers in the region made arable hundreds of thousands of acres through irrigation. However, the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 noticeably dampered the economic growth of Sacramento's agriculture. Despite the anti-Asian sentiment, all types of foreigners were drawn to the city starting in the 1890s, ranging from Europeans that had immigrated from Italy, Portugal, and Croatia to Japanese, Korean, Punjabi, and Filipino arrivals. Many of these immigrants aligned themselves with the local Democratic Party.