46 THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 



and climate specially favor the peach, both as to 

 fruitfulness and long - life. Despite up-to-date ter- 

 ror of late frosts never but once in my ranching 

 years did I have to resort to buying imported 

 peaches. After sampling them one after the other 

 on my homeward road all were finally consigned to 

 the wayside dust. Thus easily are we spoiled by 

 the "gilt-edged" things of life! 



Fruit drying has been tried in a small way with 

 success; as why should it not be successful in a 

 climate so pre-eminently adapted to drying by natu- 

 ral means ? Everything exposed to the sun and air 

 desiccates rather than decays. A gay plumaged 

 bird shot and lost was found weeks later in a perfect 

 state of preservation, and carcases of dead animals 

 permitted to adorn our highways turn at once into 

 innocuous mummies. 



All vegetables grown in the Valley are well fla- 

 vored, whether due to altitude, climate or soil can- 

 not be told. The crisp melt-in-the-mouth celery 

 makes a person look with disgust on the tough, 

 stringy shipped-in stuff. But expert gardeners are 

 not evolved in a day, and unfortunately celery grow- 

 ers are all too few in the Valley. Canteloupes, cab- 

 bages, onions and tomatoes all thrive. The report 

 for 19 18 shows a yield to canteloupe growers of 

 between $125,000 and $150,000. Fifty acres of 

 cabbage sold for more than $20,000. But statistics 

 are dull reading, and figures uninteresting to all 

 but farmers. It is well to add, nevertheless, that 

 citrus fruits are not included in the Valley reper- 

 toire, eastern pamphlets, together with east- 



