260 Beyond the Sierras. 



anil the north to the wine irrape. Perli.ips I mistiike in giving tlie hrst 

 place to the raisin grape in tlie Tulare district. The apricot orchards are 

 among the finest. Here we become acquainted with the process of drying 

 this fruit, and other fruits as well, by the action merely of sun and air. Be 

 it known that in this California atmosphere vegetiible and animal tissues 

 alike are exempt from decay. Fruits and living bodies of all sorts simply 

 dry up into untainted mummies of themselves. No artificial means of 

 preservation are required; and the best of it is that the essential essences, 

 flesh and flivors of the fruits are preserved within the unbroken skins 

 which held them when they were gathered in summer. It thus happens 

 that a California Muscat grape has a raisin for its next form. So, also, of the 

 apricot and the prune, fresh and dried. 



We were now introduced to the processes of thus preserving the Califor- 

 nia fruits by mere natural agencies, and also in the great drying-house of Mr 

 Morton, of Tulare. It is the simplest thing in the world. The fruits are gath- 

 ered, in their season, into shallow wooden trays about three feet sfjaare and 

 three inches deep. When the trays are filled they are set on the ground in the 

 open sunshine between the rows of the grape-vines, of apricot or prune trees, 

 and in a few days the work is done. In the case of the apricots the fruit is cut 

 in halves and the seeds are taken out. The eastern man will immediately im- 

 agine the hazards of dews and rains; but the Californian smiles with confi- 

 dence. He knows that the rain-storm is not going to visit him at this time of 

 the year. He knows that the mere water-juices of his fruits will be carried olT 

 by this dry, hot air and contributed to the lakes and snow-banks of the'Sierras. 

 His fruits mainly dry into a beautiful wax like substance, semi-transparent as 

 it respects the apricot and raisin, and delicious in the highest degree. As 

 for your cured prune, he remains, as he was before, a veritable Ethiopian. 



Before leaving Tulare a message had reached us from Fresno inviting 

 us to stop at that place and enjoy an entertainment. This invitation was 

 also accepted. In the forenoon of the Slst we arrived at this thriving young 

 city, and made our headquarters at the Hotel Hughes. Almost the only 

 drawback upon our enjoyment on several of these reception occasions was 

 the fact that we were there in the season of rain-fall. The California valleys 

 are capable, like other parts of our poor planet, of becoming muddy on slight 

 provocation. This is especially true in places where the soil is much worked 

 up, as in roads and streets. The boulevards of Fresno were canals of mud 

 when we were there, and there was much slopping around ; but the people 

 had out their carriages and cabs, and the under-foot condition was as nothing 

 to us. 



One thing should be added in this connection, and that is that a Cal- 

 ifornia mud-bath is of short duration. .Tust give the clear air and sun.shine 

 a few hours of executive freedom, and away goes your nuul. I noticed one 

 thing peculiar about the thin slop of the.se broad streets in Fresno, and that 

 was that the shining wheels of the vehicles rolling through it were almost 

 as little defiled by its contamination a^ though thoy had been driven through 



