322 
CALIFORNIA 
dry land that had become dust under the hoofs of famishing 
cattle took on 2 :>erpetual verdure when the streams were trailed 
over it, and the orange blossomed and fruited under a semi- 
tropical sun. Towns sprang up and cities were built largely 
from the proceeds of this citrus industry. Water was impounded 
in the mountains or was recovered from sunken streams in the 
plains. The desert became more than a garden. A great citrus 
ju’oduct soon to rival that of Florida was the promise of the 
future. How has it been fulfilled ? More than 8,000 carloads 
of oranges were shipped overland as the i')roduct of the season 
of 1894-’95. Not less than 14,000 acres have been planted with 
lemon trees, with the certainty that when the maximum of this 
branch of citrus culture shall have been reached, this fruit will 
compete for the first place in all the leading home markets of 
the United States. Of deciduous fruits altogether 4,435 carloads 
w^ere shipped overland in 1895. 
The olive took kindly to the soil. There was, in fact, no pro- 
duct of Si)ain or of any other country about the Mediterranean 
that could not be duplicated in California. The fig ripens as it 
does about the borders of the Adriatic, while of prunes more than 
32,000,000 pounds represent the annual production of the state. 
With wine to make his heart glad, oil to make his face to shine, 
and honey to sweeten his lips, the Californian may speak with 
enthusiasm of all this wealth of resources. Then there is $100,- 
000,000 invested in the dairies of the state, and 40,000,000 pounds 
or more represents the beet-sugar product of the state for the 
season of 1894-’95 — an amount larger than the aggregate pro- 
duction of all the rest of the country. 
Passing from these details of production, it remains to be 
noted that California is the most ])icturesque state in the Union. 
This wealth of scenery can never be obscured. There is the great 
Sierra range stretching along the eastern boundary for 500 miles, 
having a width of 70 miles and summits ranging from 7,000 to 
more than 14,000 feet. Nineteen of these mountain peaks rise 
to the height of 10,000 feet, and seven of them rise still higher, 
until mount Whitney wears the crown, rising into the heavens 
to the height of 14,900 feet. Some of these summits are still 
warm with volcanic heat. There they stand, white-hooded, with 
glaciers moving and grinding along their flanks, as if a thousand 
years were but as yesterday, letting loose the mountain streams 
that go singing down to the sea. There is the divine sculpture 
of the rocks, the lakes that mirror these eternal ramparts, the 
