And the Desert Shall Blossom as the Rose. a3 
Before the Mast,’ faithfully portrayed the physical and social con- 
dition of our favored land during the last days of Spanish 
supremacy. But he would have needed a prophetic eye to foresee 
the semi-tropical luxuriance—the stately palms, the fragrant 
flowers and the profusion of luscious fruits, displayed on this 
occasion as the product of the then desert plains, over which the 
rattlesnake held undisputed sway. Nor could he have anticipated 
that in half a century the typical black eyes of the country’s 
beauty would be outnumbered by the Anglo Saxon blue. 
Men are but children of larger growth, and the hundreds of 
unique and tasty designs in oranges and lemons plainly 
demonstrated anew Shakespeare’s kdowledge of human nature, 
which remains unchanged throughout the centuries. Orange 
county expended its energy in a big orange mounted on a base 
composed of oranges and lemons. Riverside tried to outdo the 
orange by a big lemon, mounted on shining banks of oranges and 
lemons, surrounded with pyramids and other designs in citrus 
fruits. Ontario built anisland of oranges mid a sea of lemons, 
and crowned the summit with another big lemon. Pasadena, as 
the Queen City, built for herself a magnificent crown of oranges, 
jewelled richly with sparkling lemons, using oranges for the 
foundation of her chief work. 
Ventura county modestly displayed the products of her orange 
and lemon orchards, and showed additional taste in decorative 
plants and flowers, particularly in a profusion of the Egyptian 
Papyrus, a most effective ornamental plant. 
Santa Barbara led in beautiful palms and rare decorative plants. 
Pineapples, bananas, dates, persimmons, citrons, the pomelo or 
grape fruit, and other varieties of semi-tropical fruits, offered a 
decided relief to the masses of color elsewhere. 
The names of Duarte and Pomona in letters of golden fruit 
appropriately told the story of the horticultural wealth of those 
localities, while in an obscure corner the little gem of the valley, 
Alhambra, was typified by a single beautiful rose set amid a 
circlet of the golden apples. 
Fort San Diego commanded the key of the whole situation, 
however, her black mouthed cannon livid with color, threatening 
to bombard the audience with oranges and lemons. Two walls 
