AND HORTICULTURIST. 



279 



Olympic Mountains; otherTOse all is water. There 

 is not a scrap of sea-weed floating on the surface, 

 not a gull or other bird floating around, not a sight 

 of a vessel of any kind now these five days since 

 we have been sailing towards the North Pole, — 

 even the whales which only two days ago disported 

 themselves in great numbers, have apparently 

 gone to rest. It would seem that the only use of 

 this vast water prairie is to bear our ship along ; 

 yet to me it has its lessons. Possibly this beauti- 

 ful world could not do with one ounce of water 

 less. The green fields, the succulent vegetables, 

 the luscious fruits of our Continent owe their de- 

 lightful character to this same Pacific Ocean. The 

 millions on millions of gallons of water which 

 every living thing evaporates, each gets from the 

 clouds. These myriad millions come chiefly from 

 this ocean. I forget exactly just now, but I think 

 ten gallons per square foot per hour, rise from 

 this mighty ocean in order to make horticulture a 

 certain thing. To say of the ocean that it is a 

 dreary waste of waters is a libel on creation. And 

 the Polar ice, are these gelid sheets also a mighty 

 waste? Just as this mighty ocean is our blessed 

 handmaiden, so are these solid blocks of ice. 

 There is no waste in water or ice. Everything 

 serves us well. 



Our Captain Morse said to me to-day, "the 

 Scripture tells us the ' the wind goeth where 'er it 

 listeth,' but it doesn't. It is just as much under 

 despotic law as the motion of the planets. Down 

 at the equator the sun warms the water and warms 

 the air, and these are lightened; a heavier body 

 pushes it out of place, motion begins. The cold 

 air and cold water are heavier than the warm, and 

 it comes down from the north to the south, the 

 warmer going north to get cool and returning 

 when cooled, so that so long as the sun's rays keep 

 disturbing the balance by making the air and 

 water lighter, there will always be a continuous 

 current of water and air going north in one direc- 

 tion and returning in another." Here we have the 

 proof. For five days that we have been on this 

 ocean, wind and stream have been from the north 

 southwardly ; on the land the same rule prevails. 

 High mountains surround valleys and the hot sun 

 pours down, lightening the air and making a 

 vacuum and then the heavier cool wind rushes in 

 from the most convenient spot. Captain Morse 

 does not believe in an open Polar Sea. In latitude 

 80° he has seen the upper strata coming up from 

 the south, sink there and return cooled, without 

 getting any further. " What then do you think," 

 said I, "of the suggestion that the ice is thickest at 



its outer edge and thinnest at the poles? This is 

 said to be a proof that the air is warmer where 

 the ice is thinnest." " By no means does it prove 

 this," was his reply, " if the atmosphere gives 

 out all its moisture, say at 80° there will be none 

 left for 85^, and the ice and snow will naturally be 

 thinnest there." We shall therefore have to leave 

 the question of the open Polar Sea rest for a 

 while, — only having full faith that whatever may 

 be the case, it is just what we need to make our 

 operations just what they are. 



But the water question will still go on. It is the 

 great question of questions with Californians. On 

 my arrival in San Francisco, almost everything 

 was parched and the thermometer 96°, a hot and 

 burning wind came down from the north. This 

 means that it came down over plains already 

 roasted by the sun, instead of being drawn in from 

 the ocean, as it was wont to do. There has been 

 a cool spell in the north and the warmer ocean 

 current had not been drawn in. It was funny to 

 hear the people talk of the scorching north wind, 

 the wind which we of the east receive with such 

 welcome, in our seething days; 96^ here however 

 means much worse for vegetation than with us. 

 We have moisture in the air. The air here already 

 dry, is a complete desiccator at 96°. I saw cur- 

 rants as completely dried up on the bushes as if 

 placed under Ryder's fruit dryer ; and the leaves 

 of the trees in many cases, turned quite brown. 

 At Hayward's, which is a remarkably extensive 

 fruit-growing region, I hear the estimated loss by 

 the northern wind placed at $500,000. There is 

 however some compensation in all these cases. 

 The fruit grower gets a higher price for that which 

 is left. I was amazed at the health and strength 

 of the currant at Hayward's. The water here is so 

 near the surface that the land is always cool and 

 moist without irrigation. I found here among the 

 fruit-growers proper, two very successful nursery- 

 men, O'Neil and Collins. The former has found 

 by experience that the Myrobalan Plum stock is 

 one of the best for the peach, apricot and plum 

 here. The trouble with the ordinary plum stock 

 is that in this climate, they throw up a forest of 

 suckers. The cherry plum, which is of the myro- 

 balan section, does this to some extent, though not 

 equal to the common plum. The .original myro- 

 balan seems to sucker scarcely at all. The cherry 

 plum thrives very well in California, and large 

 quantities are seen in the markets. They are not 

 as good as the regular plum, but their earliness 

 gives them a great place in profitable fruit culture. 

 In the east I have seen the peach do poorly on the 



