I 4 I 



One large estate the speaker referred to made a specialty 

 of raising " alfalfa,' 7 having over twenty thousand acres- 

 devoted to that crop. It is excellent feed for horses and 

 some of the land produces ten tons to the acre by cutting 

 five or six times in the season. It is stacked in the fields 

 by machinery. 



Riverside is the great orange producing place, and one- 

 half the oranges raised in California are produced here. 

 Twelve years ago there was not a shrub here, now it is 

 covered with orange groves and beautiful ornamental trees. 



The land companies sell land for agricultural purposes 

 with water privileges, and an annual tax of from sixty cents 

 to five dollars an acre for irrigation; sometimes this water 

 is brought in open ditches and sometimes in pipes. Lat- 

 terly however, the people are learning to cultivate the ground 

 more and irrigate it less; thus improving the flavor of the 

 fruit and preventing much needless growth of wood. 



Southern California was comparatively but little known 

 until the opening of the Santa Fe route and San Diego in 

 that section has one of the finest harbors in the world. 



The rolling country about San Diego has proved to be 

 finely adapted to agriculture, has a system of irrigation 

 costing $200,000 and the previously barren hills have been 

 converted into fine groves. Besides the orange and lemon 

 groves, the olive groves are giving much promise. 



The raisin industry centres at Fresno, and is yet in its 

 infancy, though 534,213 boxes were shipped last year. The 

 air here is so dry that raisins arc cured out of doors, and 

 the absence of dew aids in this process. The grapes are 

 laid on trays, about twenty-five pounds to each, and are dried 

 in about fifteen clays, after which they go through a " Sweat- 

 ing'' process, under cover, lasting from ten to twenty days. 



All fruit growing requires constant attention and five acres 

 is enough for one man to take care of, the tendency being 

 in favor of smaller holdings. 



The imrmnse grain-growing interests of the state •were 

 touched upon, and it was stated that twenty-five million 



