Riverside and Finis. 313 



face. He has that jet-black hair which we saw on the heads of the dwellers 

 in the adobe villages of Arizona. I hive forgotten how many pounds of hair 

 Absalom is said to hive worn about his neck and shoulders, but this Indian 

 might give him the advantage of a false balance and then outweigh his pro- 

 totype. His hair is twisted up in long curls, which hang down his back, 

 such a mass of them as I never saw on a human head before — that is. on a 

 human head behind. 



We are now away to Colton. The region about this town seems to be 

 rather sterile from the drift of mere sand in the vicinity. California sur- 

 prises by her sudden transitions from one scene to another quite unlike. 

 So it is in this neighborhood of Colton. We are met here in the early even- 

 ing by a deputation from Riverside, six miles away. The cro?s-line of the 

 Santa Fe railway carries us over thither, and, in the midst of much excite- 

 ment as to the possibilities of a night away from our Pullmans, we reach 

 the second principal terminus of our excursion. It is at this Riverside that 

 the last three days' session of the Society is now to be held, beginning on 

 the morrow. 



The two cities of San Jos4 and Riverside W3re selected by the officers 

 of the Society, and their correspondents on the Pacific coast, for the reason 

 that each is favorably situated for the production of the citrus fruits, and 

 that each proposed to hold, for the benefit of the Society and themselves, a 

 citrus fair coincident in time with our visit to California. In both cases the 

 programme was carried out to perfection. I have already spoken, in that 

 connection, of the fruit exhibit of San Jose; and it will remain, in the fol- 

 lowing paragraphs, to describe the like exposition given by the people of 

 Riverside. 



First, however, a word as to the meetings of the Society at the latter 

 place. On the morning of the 7th of February the first session was promptly 

 opened in the auditorium of the elegant Congregational church. The 

 formal proceedings are presented in detail, in loco approprio, in this volume. 

 Some general features are all that need our notice in this place. 



The President of the Society, Hon. Parker Earle, of Cobden, 111., has 

 again rejoined the Society, after several days of absence. He is in the chair 

 this morning, and opens the proceedings in his usual aftable and dignified 

 manner. Mr. Earle is one of the best of presiding officers. He is courteous 

 in the last degree — a man of fine presence, graceful, and easy in his man- 

 ners and speech. He is a long-time favorite among American horticult- 

 urists, and has been the presiding officer of their leading Society for many 

 years. His unanimous re-election, at the close of the three days' session, 

 attests his continued hold upon the respect and esteem of his fellow-work- 

 men from the gardens and orchards of our country. Hon. Wm. Henry 

 Ragan, of Indiana, the Secretary of the Society, must also come in for a 

 note of well-merited pr.iise. It is to his exertions, more than any other, 

 that we are indebted for the advantages arising from our great excursion 

 to the Pacific coast. He planned it, contrived it, managed it. He, too, has 



