806 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



the flowers, fruits, and vegetables which grace this pavilion, and which 

 have been gathered from nearly every section of the tillable portion of the 

 county. Travel over the county and these evidences confront you at nearly 

 every turn, in the thrifty orchards, rank vegetables, and luxuriant grains 

 and grasses, that abound wherever thrift, industry, and irrigation have 

 called them into existence. Even in old deserted orchards, the fruit trees 

 continue to bear in spite of neglect. A remarkable illustration of this ten- 

 dency can be seen to-day at Rough and Ready, once a lively mining camp, 

 now a sleepy, half deserted hamlet. There the peach trees may be seen 

 growing along the highway, in the fence corners, and even among the rock 

 piles, unpruned and uncultivated, yet loaded down with fine luscious fruit, 

 inviting alike to the sight and 'the taste. The same is true, to a less 

 extent, however, of the fig tree, while the apple, plum, pear, and quince 

 grow to absolute perfection. Time will not permit that I should enlarge 

 upon the lessons which we are to learn from the extensive peach orchards 

 in the western part of the county; of the raisin vineyards at Indian Springs, 

 and elsewhere; of the excellent quality of the wine grapes grown on the 

 steep hillsides, and in the seemingly sterile soil of the more rocky portions 

 of the county; of the orange and olive trees that testify to the mildness of 

 the winters; of the nurseries and orchards on the granite hills, or a profit- 

 able garden and orchard on the still more barren, decaying bedrock of an 

 old exhausted mining claim, from which the surface soil has been washed 

 into the rivers. The evidences are sufficient to convince the most skeptical 

 that these pine-clad hills are all capable of being converted into orchards, 

 and that lands that are now selling at from $5 to $10 per acre, will, with 

 orchards and vineyards planted on them, readily command prices varying 

 from $100 to $150 per acre. 



The question is often asked, "What shall we do with our boys and girls?" 

 In Auburn and the vicinity are over one thousand boys and girls, and in 

 the towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City are over twenty-five hundred 

 children, all growing up without an occupation, and many of them with 

 no other aim or purpose in life than mere subsistence. What shall we do 

 for the rising generation ? Permit me to suggest a solution of this question. 



Let every head of a family go and secure from twenty to forty acres of 

 these foothill fruit lands. Cut down the trees and sell the wood, grub out 

 the brush, clear the land, plow the soil, plant a young orchard, prune and 

 protect the trees: plant between the rows cabbages, beets, beans, berries, 

 or any other crop that will yield a profitable return while you are waiting 

 for the trees to mature. Raise fowls, swine, and cattle. Teach and require 

 your children to cultivate the soil, to plant, to prune, to pick the crops, to 

 dry and preserve fruits, to milk, churn, and make cheese, and to market 

 the products of their labor; give them industrious habits and a profitable 

 industry in place of the street vices which are now so prevalent; and thus 

 shall these pine-clad hills become converted into gardens and orchards, 

 and these vales become meadows teeming with dairies. Pleasant homes 

 will spring up everywhere, surrounded by profitable acres, the world will 

 become a market for our fruits, our meager population of twenty thousand 

 souls will swell to the grand proportions of one hundred thousand; the 

 lands will become the true and reliable source of wealth, and these foot- 

 hills become the habitation of a thrifty, industrious, and prosperous people. 



Above all, let us acquire the habit of speaking well of the county in 

 which we reside; of its climate; of its soil; of its prospects; and of its people. 

 Condemn all croakers in unmeasured terms of disapprobation. Class with 

 the public enemies all those who seek to delay public prosperity, by belit- 

 tling and belying the resources and capabilities of our soil and climate. 



