A small garden, an adjunct of the hotel, shows what
the soil and climate of Del Mar is capable of producing. Tomato vines
are never frosted. The vegetables from the garden have a fresher,
crisper taste than those grown in a drier atmosphere. How good and
comfortable the bed felt to us that night! Sleep came, leaving the body
inert and lifeless in one position for hours at a time. The open air,
the sunshine, the long ride, the ever changing scenery, brought one
joyous slumber, such as a healthy, happy, tired child enjoys.

The next morning, after an ample, well-cooked and well-served breakfast,
we took the road on the last leg of our journey. Over miles and miles of
new-made roads we sped. Soon the long detour up the San Luis Rey Valley
will be a thing of the past. The new county highway will pursue a much
more direct course. We passed through miles of land being prepared for
bean culture. Miles of hay and grain, miles of pasturage, in which sleek
cattle grazed peacefully, or, having fed their fill, lay upon the rich
grasses and enjoyed life. Near the coast the growth of grain and grass
far surpasses that of the interior.

Santa Marguerita Rancho, with its boundless expanse of grass-covered
pasturage lands, its thousands of head of cattle and horses, its
thousands of acres of bean lands, ready for seed, is worth going miles
to see.

At noon we reached San Juan Capistrano. We drove into the grounds of the
hospitable Judge Egan. At a table, beneath the grateful shade of giant
trees, amid the perfume of flowers, the sweet songs of happy birds, we
ate our lunch. After a short rest we took up the run again. We passed El
Toro and finally came onto the great San Joaquin ranch, every acre of
which is now highly cultivated.

Then came the Santa Ana region, thickly settled, rich in soil and
products. We passed through beautiful and enterprising Santa Ana,
through miles upon miles of walnut, orange and other fruit groves,
through a solid settlement extending far on each side of the road, to
Anaheim. And still on through more walnut and orange groves, more
wealth-producing crops.

Through the orange and lemon and walnut groves of Fullerton, extending
to and forming a large part of Whittier, I could not help exclaiming to
myself, "What an empire this is! Where is the country that yields the
annual returns per acre that this land does?" At Whittier we got into
one of the newly constructed county highways, and at 3:30 p. m. we wer