chards, vineyards of their
own, and add to the solid producing industry of the country. This
orderly, contented industry, increasing its gains day by day, little by
little, is the life and hope of any State.

CHAPTER XI.

SOME DETAILS OF THE WONDERFUL DEVELOPMENT.

It is not the purpose of this volume to describe Southern California.
That has been thoroughly done; and details, with figures and pictures in
regard to every town and settlement, will be forthcoming on application,
which will be helpful guides to persons who can see for themselves, or
make sufficient allowance for local enthusiasm. But before speaking
further of certain industries south of the great mountain ranges, the
region north of the Sierra Madre, which is allied to Southern California
by its productions, should be mentioned. The beautiful antelope plains
and the Kern Valley (where land is still cheap and very productive)
should not be overlooked. The splendid San Joaquin Valley is already
speaking loudly and clearly for itself. The region north of the
mountains of Kern County, shut in by the Sierra Nevada range on the east
and the Coast Range on the west, substantially one valley, fifty to
sixty miles in breadth, watered by the King and the San Joaquin, and
gently sloping to the north, say for two hundred miles, is a land of
marvellous capacity, capable of sustaining a dense population. It is
cooler in winter than Southern California, and the summers average much
warmer. Owing to the greater heat, the fruits mature sooner. It is just
now becoming celebrated for its raisins, which in quality are
unexcelled; and its area, which can be well irrigated from the rivers
and from the mountains on either side, seems capable of producing
raisins enough to supply the world. It is a wonderfully rich valley in a
great variety of products. Fresno County, which occupies the centre of
this valley, has 1,200,000 acres of agricultural and 4,400,000 of
mountain and pasture land. The city of Fresno, which occupies land that
in 1870 was a sheep ranch, is the commercial centre of a beautiful
agricultural and fruit region, and has a population estimated at 12,000.
From this centre were shipped in the season of 1890, 1500 car-loads of
raisins. In 1865 the only exports of Fresno County were a few bales of
wool. The report of 1889 gave a shipment of 700,000 boxes of raisins,
and the whole export of 1890, of all products, was estimated at
$10,000,000. Whether these f