194 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



hotels, with airy balconies, verandas and lookout towers, swept by the 

 fresh breezes of the sea. The vicinity of every such station is heralded 

 by the characteristic white stakes that mark the town lots, and by 

 rows of small, intensely blue, gums ; by a sprinkling of cottages, 

 small and large, perhaps a mile or two before the whistle of the steam- 

 engine brings us to a standstill. The first things that meet our eye at 

 every station are large and splendid lawns, young plantations of palm 

 trees and other plants characteristic of the Southern coast climate, 

 flowers of brightest hue, all started by the enterprising immigrants 

 who came here to buy climate, sun and air, and to enjoy the breakers 

 and the ocean every day in the year. After Oceanside, we touch at 

 Carlsbad and Del Mar, both seaside resorts with magnificent villas 

 costing from twenty to forty thousand dollars each, and with fine but 

 young plantations and gardens. I was especially charmed with Del 

 Mar, with its large, tasteful hotel on the bluff, and quite a large col- 

 on}'' of villas and mansions in various sizes and styles close around, a 

 bright and charming picture, a place where a traveler feels at home at 

 once, where he would like to pass the balance of all the days he can 

 spare from business and toil. 



The scene changes again as the cars carry us through the foothills, 

 along the bed of creeks, or across lagoons connected with the sea, or 

 over gaping chasms. We look down deep into the valleys below, 

 where shady sycamores and white cottages mark the farmers' homes, 

 and where vine-clad hills offset the native brown of the country. I 

 am surprised to see how the grapevines thrive so luxuriantly so very 

 close to the shore. In some places there are fine and thrifty vines within 

 a stone's throw of the breakers, only protected by a slight undulation 

 in the ground from the most direct wind. Of course, grapes on those 

 vines cannot be expected to be very sweet ; it is wonderful enough that 

 they are there at all. 



The water supply of this part of San Diego county has been very 

 much underrated. The railroad crosses perhaps a dozen different 

 creeks, all showing living water, and which are far from being entirely 

 dried up. With a Supreme Court more enlightened, and with proper 

 legislation as to the needs of the country, San Diego county may yet 

 be able to store water enough to irrigate very large areas of land, where 

 colonies of thrifty farmers may create and maintain prosperous 

 orchards and vineyards as a support and backbone to the many 

 pleasure resorts. 



But we are out of the hills. Smiling and glistening in the evening 

 sun lies San Diego Bay, with the elevated Point I,oma, the ever-pres- 

 ent breakers on the bar, and away out on the low peninsula the 

 gigantic and turreted pile of the Hotel del Coronado, to say nothing of 

 San Diego itself, with its miles of marked town lots and villas. But I 

 shall not endeavor to describe this town and its bay and climate. The 

 latter may possibly not be excelled anywhere ; the former lacks a 

 most essential thing, an abundance of trees and vegetation. Still, 

 with the water that has lately been brought here the trees and flowers 

 will come soon enough we hope, when green lawns, bananas and 

 palms will be ready to tell the tale, and young plantations will be 



