THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



crop, expanding their living expenses, and running into 

 debt. When this spirit becomes the breath of industry 

 no human laws can avert disaster. 



A true industrial system is like a noble river fed by 

 eternal snows : it never floods its banks with an exces- 

 sive flow, and never sinks below its normal stage. It 

 ebbs and flows with the regular tides of the great com- 

 mercial ocean to which it is tributary, but alike at high 

 water and at low, it bears the ships of men upon its tran- 

 quil bosom. 



After a very intimate acquaintance with California 

 horticulture, and with the army of producers who have 

 engaged in it, Mr. Edward F. Adams, formerly mana- 

 ger of the State Fruit Exchange, wrote as follows : 



"Unless certain reforms in the trade can be effected, 

 there is danger that a large portion of the capital will be 

 lost. The mortgage indebtedness is very serious ; the 

 general depression in values has temporarily wiped out 

 the equities of the nominal owners ; and while a partial 

 recovery is doubtless to be expected in due time, it is 

 not believed by the best informed that under present 

 conditions of marketing, our orchards and vineyards 

 can continue to maintain those who occupy them in their 

 present standard of comfort. We are endeavoring by a 

 general popular movement to remove the evils which op- 

 press us." 



Notwithstanding such warnings as this, and the sore 

 experience on which they are based, there are real-estate 

 interests which still advertise the fabulous profits of 

 California fruit-culture, and there are many who believe 

 them and proceed to organize their farms in the old 

 way. 



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