9 8 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



short space of six months. When the first shovelful 

 of earth was turned on the 24th of June last, the site 

 chosen for the Fair was practically a wilderness of 

 sage brush and sand dunes, as uninviting as a desert. 

 When one now looks upon the hundred or more beau- 

 tiful structures, some of them gigantic, many of them 

 palatial, all of them attractive, the mind is lost in 

 astonishment, and in admiration of the courage, en- 

 ergy and generosity which have made possible the 

 transformation of this wilderness in the Golden Gate 

 Park enclosure to a most beautiful, picturesque and 

 captivating nook of fairyland. Nearly 160 acres are 

 now occupied by the buildings which were originally 

 designed to cover but a limited space, and the brush 

 patch of last summer is now the Cream city of the 

 Golden Gate. The architecture is of the most pleas- 

 ing type, and a distinct improvement upon the White 

 City by the great lake are the creamy tints that rest 

 the eye and appeal to the taste of visitors. The 

 wealth of 

 palms and 

 other semi- 

 tropic plants 

 added to the 

 flowers that 

 bloom peren- 

 nially make 

 the picture 

 one of tran- 

 scendantand 

 abiding at- 

 tractiveness. 

 While t h e 

 displays 

 mad e by 

 eastern and 

 foreign ex- 

 hibitors are 

 liberal, taste- 

 ful and pleasing to a high degree, it is after all these 

 features which are distinctively Californian that have 

 proven the drawing cards thus far. 



The marvelous results obtained in that State from 

 the cultivation of a soil for years regarded as sterile 

 have attracted the widest attention. Her wonderful 

 displays at Chicago have turned all eyes upon Cali- 

 fornia, and the Mid-winter Fair will confirm the im- 

 pressions there received by thousands who will come 

 to see California at home after having caught a 

 glimpse of the hem of her golden robes at Chicago. 

 Readers of THE IRRIGATION AGE will be at once 

 struck with the important part which irrigation has 

 performed, when examining the varied and remarka- 

 ble products of the soil of California. From those sec- 

 tions of the State where it is still claimed that irriga- 

 tion is not necessary to the best results in agriculture 

 or horticulture, the exhibitors have been very careful 



to proclaim that fact. Creditable products raised 

 without irrigation are invariably placarded in large 

 letters with that announcement. No such notice is 

 deemed necessary regarding the wonderful products 

 grown on irrigated land, for such results are looked 

 for and expected. No higher tribute then to the value 

 of irrigation as a factor in California soil tillage could 

 be paid than to mark distinctly and draw especial 

 attention to these products not so grown. While it is 

 certain that in many favored localities in California 

 crops of various kinds, including several varieties of 

 fruit, may be grown without irrigation, yet in many 

 places formerly deemed to enjoy these peculiar ad- 

 vantages, it is now discovered that artificial means of 

 supplementing the annual rainfall have proven prof- 

 itable, though acquired at great expense. This is in 

 reality but saying that however well a favored sec- 

 tion may do without irrigation, it will generally be 

 greatly improved with irrigating facilities. Especi- 

 ally is this 

 true of the 

 production 

 of fruits for 

 which Cali- 

 fornia is so 

 justly cele- 

 brated and 

 which are 

 shown in 

 such profu- 

 sion and ex- 

 cellence a t 

 the Mid-win- 

 ter Fair. Not 

 every one of 

 the 57 coun- 

 ties in the 

 State is rep- 

 resented at 



the Fair, but most of the prominent fruit growing 

 counties are there in force with an astonishing 

 line of products. Several large, fine buildings 

 have been erected for the displays of single coun- 

 ties, while in other cases immense structures of a 

 high type of architectural excellence house grand ex- 

 hibits of a number of counties, each being allotted a 

 given space. These several buildings are stored with 

 a wealth and variety of products unsurpassed by any 

 other section of the globe, if indeed they are equaled 

 or even approached elsewhere. Oranges, lemons, 

 apples just from the trees, and peaches, apricots, 

 cherries, plums, olives, figs and berries of every 

 kind are flanked on one side by massive pumpkins 

 and cornstalks and on the other by a ton of gold 

 bearing rock or a dozen flasks of quicksilver, all the 

 products of the same county, often of a single town- 

 ship. 



