ITS CULTUKE IN CALIFOKNIA. 



9 



Since 1862 the spirit of modern progress 

 has been infused into orange-growing, 

 and the area of plantations has increased 

 with marvelous rapidity. In 1880 the en- 

 tire number of orange trees in the State 

 Avas estimated at one million, a quarter of 

 which were in bearing. In 1882 the bear- 

 ing trees had increased to half a million. 

 The ratio of increase for the years 1883 

 and 1884 has probably been fully as great, 

 -and, at this writing, we may say there are 

 a million trees in the State that are yield- 

 ing oranges. 



The original orchard of Father Tomas 

 Sanchez, of blessed memory, still remains 

 in the Mission garden at San Gabriel. It 

 IS a decrepit old patriarch still lingering to 

 witness the glory of its tribe. The iuclo- 

 sure comprises about six acres, and it is 

 probable that 400 trees constituted the 

 original plantation. Of this number less 

 than thirty survive. I wish that I could 

 say that these trees, now more than eighty 

 years old, remain in a fair state of preser- 

 vation, but they do not. Few of the 

 trunks are sound. Some of them appear 

 half or two-thirds dead, and only a nar- 

 row margin of live bark and wood'to keep 

 vigor in the top. Some have a water- 

 sprout growing from the old trunk with 

 all the thrift of youth, the sprout itself in 

 a number of instances having attained the 

 proportions of a tree. One of the old 

 trunks that I measured showed a girth of 

 forty-two inches near the ground. Three 

 or four years ago the old trees were 

 topped, probably as a restorative measure. 



They now boast new tops of respectable 

 dimensions, but the trees possess some- 

 thing of a stubby appearance, neverthe- 

 less. It is a matter of record that, before 

 the topping process, one of the old trees 

 bore in one season 10,000 oranges. The 

 trees are now bearing from the new 

 growth, and the fruit is a good quality. 

 The spaces between the patriarchs, which 

 were made vacant by those that were 

 gathered to their fathers, have all been 

 filled by younger trees. Some of these 

 replants are now full grown — probably 

 twenty-five years old, and others younger. 

 The orchard, in the main, presents an in- 

 congruous appearance, with young, mid- 

 dle-aged and old trees intermingled. The 

 well-meaning Father who replanted prob- 

 ably did not bear in mind the Scriptural 

 injunction about putting new wine into 

 old bottles, and mending an old garment 

 with new cloth. 



The Mission orchard and garden is 

 farmed out to a tenant (Mexican), who 

 cares for it and takes a part of the crop 

 for his pay. While the orchard is fairly 

 tended at present, it shows evidences of 

 great neglect in former times. Probably 

 its long and eventful history has been an 

 unbroken succession of over irrigation 

 and under cultivation. Hence the dis- 

 eased condition of the trunks. Some of 

 the patriarchs must bow to the inevitable 

 in the course of a few years. Others 

 promise to round up their century of ex- 

 istence, and perhaps more. 



CHAPTER V. 



A GLANCE AT OUR ORANGE-GROWING COUNTRY. 



"All Gaul," says Caesar, " is divided into 

 three parts." The same is true of all 

 Southern California. But our tripartite 

 division, unlike Caesar's, is based upon 

 topography. 



If you were at the masthead of a vessel 

 off the coast of Los Angeles county, you 

 might have these three grand divisions 

 within your range of vision. Looking up 

 the perspective of Wilmington inlet you 



would descry the low, half-marshy coun- 

 try behind Wilmington, At the left of 

 the view the headlands of Santa Monica 

 indicate the upland plain lying beyond. 

 The mountains of the Coast Range form 

 the background of this plain, and at their 

 base you perceive there is an irregular, 

 sloping strip of land, forming the line of 

 junction between the mountains and the 

 plain. This intermediate land here, as 



