10 



THE OEANGE; 



elsewhere in California, we designate by 

 the Spanish word mesa, meaning table. 



You liave seen, then, from your raast- 

 liead, the lowlands of Wilmington, the 

 uplands of Santa Monica, and the mesas 

 of the Coast Range. These are tj'pes of 

 the three natural divisions of our country. 

 Though comprehended in -the same geo- 

 graphical area, and often found contigu- 

 ous, they still vary in characteristics of 

 soil, climate and productions as much as 

 distinctive countries. Prof. Hilgard says: 



*• They are commonly distinguished into 

 lands of the first bench, or bottom lands 

 of the streams; lands of the second bench, 

 formmg either at the present time or orig- 

 inally a system of terraces elevated from 

 lifteen to twenty-five feet above the bot- 

 tom lands; and, finally, the mesa lands, 

 lying at higher elevations, and with no 

 definite relation to the present drainage 

 system. Of course, these distinctions are 



not absolutely maintainable; the second' 

 benches and lower mesa lands passing 

 into each other imperceptibly, especially 

 on the upper portions of the streams,, 

 while again, in the lower portions of the^ 

 same, the second bench lands often lie 

 high enough to be classed as mesas. On 

 the slopes of the mesa lands the soil of" 

 the latter and that of the bench lands are 

 of course frequently commingled." 



I have cited portions of IjOS Angeles 

 county byway of illustration, while spec- 

 ifying the general characteristics of South- 

 ern California. The principles which these 

 chapters are designed to illustrate apply 

 to all that portion of California lying 

 south of Point Concepcion. They also ap- 

 ply, measurably, to all other agricultural 

 sections of the State, and to all fruit-grow- 

 ing countries in the world, so far as I am, 

 able to judge from published reports at 

 my command. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE LOWLANDS. 



Our lowlands may be described, in 

 brief, as the troughs of the natural water- 

 sheds. They occur in tlie line of greatest 

 depression in the valleys, between moun- 

 tain chain and mountain chain, and re- 

 ceive whatever surface drainage there 

 may bo. Their principal source of moist- 

 ure, however, is in the subterranean flow. 

 These lands abound in cieneg as— marshy 

 flats — and the water is anywhere obtaina- 

 ble a few feet below the surface. Gener- 

 ally speaking, our lowlands are not unlike 

 the so-called "bottoms "of the Missouri 

 and Mississippi rivers. The soil is a rich 

 loam, and in some places quite sandy. 

 Willows grow in dense, natural thickets, 

 and cottonwoods are occasionally found. 

 Some sections, too damp and alkaline for 

 anj'thing else, produce a species of salt 

 grass. Where the configuration insures 

 sufficient drainage, these lands produce 

 amazing crops of corn, beets, pumpkins, 

 alfalfa, etc. Small grains are apt to grow 

 too rank for the best results. With proper 

 tillage, ihe farmer may here defy that 



bug-a-boo, the California "dry year,''' 

 since the moisture to mature his crops is 

 supplied unfailingly from below. 



But while this lowland belt excels in the- 

 products mentioned, to the extent of being 

 facetiously dubbed "our hog and hominy 

 country," it is not well adapted to horti- 

 culture. I except apples and English wal- 

 nuts, which thrive there, better perhaps, 

 than in other localities. Peach, pear, and 

 other deciduous trees grow, but the fruit, 

 while frequently of great size, is watery 

 and insipid. 



On such land were doubtless produced 

 those California pears which Bret Harte 

 stigmatized as "great and dropsical." The 

 more shame to him as a quondam Cali- 

 fornian, for abusing our fruits without 

 discrimination! But many people have 

 fallen into the same error; hence the 

 widely 'prevalent belief that California 

 does not produce fine-flavored deciduous 

 fruits. Those ponderous lowland pears 

 are designed to feast the eyes, not the pal- 

 ate; and the Eastern man who buj'^s them. 



