92 J. W. BOULTBEE. 



given to the cultivation of the orange. Regarding it Colonel 

 Hinton states : — "At that time the site of Riverside was occupied 

 by an Indian villiage. Without artificial conservation and distri- 

 bution of water, Riverside, like other prosperous settlements of 

 San Bernardino County, would have had no real value for farm 

 purposes. It would have taken eight hundred acres of its area to 

 support a ranchman or hunter, and twenty -five to poorly feed one 

 broad horned steer. About 6000 people now live with the greatest 

 comfort, even luxuriously, upon 6000 acres of land. Within the 

 range of cultivated land in America there will be found no settle- 

 ment more closely worked or subjected to more intensive farming, 

 returning a larger result for labour, skill and enterprise, than this 

 cultivated area," 3000 acres of which are under oranges, the trees 

 varying in age from one to fifteen years. As at Fresno the yield 

 shows steady annual increase. In 1880 1,480 car loads of oranges 

 and lemons were forwarded to market as the product of the 3000 

 acres referred to. Taken at a value of 800 dollars per car load, 

 which is the official value given, the shipment gave a return of 

 1,184,000 dollars, and a net return of 395 dollars per acre. Since 

 1880, additions, referred to later on, through the inception of the 

 "Gage" system of artesian wells, have been made to the cultivated 

 area, which upon Riverside proper is now some 12,000 acres, 

 which supports a population of 8,000 souls. 



Besides the Citrus fruits the raisin grapes, the Muscat of Alex- 

 andria and the Gordo Blanco are largely cultivated, and the return 

 given for 1891 for this product alone amounted to 700,000 dollars, 

 while the annual average value of fruit of all descriptions, shipped 

 from Riverside, is stated to be 2,200,000 dollars. This gives a 

 return of 300 dollars per acre, presuming that 8,000 acres only 

 are at present revenue producing. Colonel Hinton thinks that 

 the original cost of this land did not exceed 100 dollars per acre, 

 or 1,200,000 dollars in all. He estimates the total cost of the 

 works for the original settlement at Riverside at 80 dollars per 

 acre, or a total of say 500,000 dollars ; for the other works, viz., 

 pipes, pumps, canals and artesian wells, the total cost will be 



