Appendices 361 



from civilisation, and discover too late that a little rough 

 shooting is but a sorry equivalent for poverty, isolation, 

 and wasted endeavours. 



In horticulture the best soil, the best climate, the best 

 advice are none too good for the man whose future happi- 

 ness and prosperity are at stake. And so, if prune-grow- 

 ing be the industry chosen, I would urge the settler to 

 buy land in Santa Clara county in preference to other 

 counties, not because the prune will not thrive elsewhere, 

 but because the prune output of this county is nearly 

 three times greater than the entire product of the rest of 

 America, and has a larger income from its fruit than any 

 other county in the world. In like manner, the man 

 who proposes to devote his energies and capital to the 

 cultivation of oranges and lemons would be justified, in 

 my opinion, in going south, to Orange, Eiverside, Los 

 Angeles, or San Bernardino counties, instead of north to 

 Oroville; not because the Oroville oranges are in any 

 respect inferior to those grown in the south, but because 

 the south is par excellence the citrus fruit belt of the 

 world. And let it be remembered that land (even in the 

 heart of Santa Clara county) varies immensely : you will 

 find thin, gravelly, unproductive soil side by side of the 

 richest alluvial deposits. 



The settler will ask — How can I, a stranger, tell the 

 good from the bad ? The answer is obvious, and lies on 

 the tip of a thousand tongues. In a thickly settled com- 

 munity scores of persons may be found who will tell you 

 the history of the piece of land in question. Find out what 

 crops grew thereon, who owned it in the past, the nature 

 of the subsoil, the depth to water, and so forth. It is 

 inexpedient to accept blindly the testimony of one wit- 

 ness as to the merit or demerit of any piece of land, parti- 

 cularly if that witness be owner or agent ; but Truth may 

 be found, if you seek for her diligently. 



