200 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



When one speaks of Riverside he means the whole settlement that 

 is irrigated, and to live in Riverside may mean to live in town, or it 

 may mean a suburban residence ten miles away. In the latter locality 

 the benefits of the country are happily combined with the luxuries of 

 city life. Street cars run from the center of the business part of town 

 down to the end of the settlement. It is a cheap way to view the set- 

 tlement to board one of these early cars. You can see as much as any 

 one may care to see, but of course cannot stop and examine. The 

 whole drive is one not to be matched anywhere else. From the mo- 

 ment you leave town you pass orchards and vineyards separated from 

 each other by only a road or cypress hedge. Every foot of ground is 

 taken up. The main effort of all the settlers appears to be to make 

 everything attractive, from the very sidewalk to the elaborate garden 

 and the villa, Nearer town, every street has sidewalks of cement, and 

 bordering them are continuous hedges of cypress trimmed in various 

 styles, and in front of every house are lawns and plats of shrubbery 

 and flowers, as neatly kept as if visitors were expected day or night. 

 Some of the villas partake of the character of mansions, with towers, 

 balconies and painted windows, while here and there in some of the 

 finest orchards are yet seen some of the first houses built, small and 

 unpretentious. The individual tastes of the owners are clearly dis- 

 cernible. One has a row of palms running along his sidewalk, an- 

 other has palms and grevilleas, while others prefer the pepper and gum. 

 The manner of trimming the hedges is charming; it has here become 

 quite an art. Some hedges have square, others roofed tops, and at 

 every corner there is a little pillar of cypress with diamond or globular 

 top, not at all artificial or stiff. 



The vast majority of the plantations consist of orange groves. The 

 color of the trees is splendid, every leaf being bright and shining, and 

 there is no sign of smut or scale. The large and upright Seedlings 

 are easily distinguished from the smaller but bushy Navels. The 

 tendency is now to plant mostly the latter, and most of the old Seed- 

 ling trees are being budded over. The original Navel tree, which is 

 the prime cause of the prosperity of Riverside and of the fame of its 

 oranges, is yet standing by a modest cottage, which appears not to 

 have kept pace with the times. The tree is small, perhaps twelve feet 

 high, having been constantly cut back for buds. From this tree have 

 sprung all the rest. No other Navel tree imported from Brazil or 

 Australia resembles it in quality of fruit or in bearing capacity. It is 

 probably a chance "sport" originally imported by the Agricultural De- 

 partment at Washington, its companion trees being different in the most 

 essential points which make this variety so valuable and so famous. 

 This beautiful and choice orange, now generally known as the ' ' Wash- 

 ington Navel," is slightly oblong or egg-shaped, and the skin is very 

 smooth, with no ridges at the poles, the latter being characteristic of 

 the other Navel varieties. The crop of Navels this year is good. 

 Many growers expect from three to four boxes to the tree, and, as each 

 box brings from three to four dollars, it is evident the business pays. 

 The valuable and permanent improvements everywhere show this to 

 be the case; the account books of the grower need not be searched to 



