96 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



mental mold are like plants, indigenous, and it is unnatural 

 that they should take root and thrive as exotics. 



But we will take the train and hie away across the deserts 

 to California, and see what our chronic emigrant will see 

 when he reaches the end of his long journey, and gets into 

 the full swim of his "coming thing." We are now in 

 the vicinity of Los Angeles, and it is the beautiful month 

 of June, when the hills and valleys of New England are in 

 all their glory of verdure and bloom, the air loaded with 

 sweet perfume and vocal with the music of singing birds ; 

 but here the great range of view is brown and sere. The 

 wild oats, the only native herbage on the hill-sides, are 

 seeded and dead. Here and there are green spots of grove 

 or vineyard, but they only serve to make the great sweep 

 of country look more forbidding. The traveled roads are 

 inches deep with a fine, almost impalpable dust, the color 

 of yellow snuff, and about as pungent to eyes and nostrils. 

 As teams or equestrians pass along, it rises and settles upon 

 and in everything, leaving its dirty hue. Far away in the 

 line of the road we are pursuing we notice a dense cloud 

 rising, and we remark to the driver of our vehicle, "A 

 rain is coming up yonder ; we thought you did not have 

 rain here at this season of the year." He gave us a quiz- 

 zical look, as much as to say, " You are a green one ; " and 

 replied, " I reckon it will be a dry one, but wait and see." 

 We did not have long to wait before we found the cloud 

 was dust raised by a flock of two thousand sheep, who, as 

 they moved along nipping here and there a tuft of dry herb- 

 age, raised so thick a cloud of dust that only the outer edge 

 of the flock could be distinctly seen. Sheep, dog and shep- 

 herd were coughing and sneezing ; all were of dark snuff" 

 color, all looked haggard and dejected, and the last de- 

 mented, — at any rate, he was uncommunicative. We re- 

 marked to our driver, " This is a hard-looking country now, 

 but I suppose you have rain in the winter, and the country 

 looks fine." His reply was, " Yes, perhaps so ; the country 

 is fine enough, ])ut it rains all the time, the roads l)ecome a 

 perfect porridge, the bottom drops out, tourists don't come, 

 you can't get around, business is dead, and we den up. Give 

 me the dry season, dust and#all." 



