New-York tribune., 1883-06-03
CALIFORNIAN HOLIDAYS.
VII.
RIVERSIDE.
lrRox STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRnuSE.I

shovel that project is now discussed in the news
papers for driving a tunnel into tho heart OF the
Sierra Madre, Los Angeles, not to get at the
ore which may perchance lie hidden in the noun
tam. but to collect still moro precious COM
modity-namey, water-which is certainly to
be found there Irrigation has already brought
great wealth to the Los Angeles plain,
but it seems that profitable use can be made OF
much larger supplies of water; and strange as the
tunnel scheme looks. 1t is not stranger than many
other enterprises which have prospered among these
remarkable and ingenious people. Probably there
Is no more impressive example of the magical effect
of irrigation than the settlement of Riverside, a
typical fruit town. created by ditch water IN the
midst of an absolute desert. The bare primitive
wilderness still frowns all around it. and on the
outskirts you may watch the successive stages Oh
the process by which the hideous waste is converted
into an ever-expanding garden. The town lies
seven miles south of the line Of the Southern
Pacific Railroad in San Bernardino County, the
nearest station being the junction town of Cotton.
1t is in this region that tho traveller going east by
RAIL- makes the rapid transition from the cultivated
plain country to the hopeless wilderness of sand
and rock and cactus which extends into Mexico
and the San Gorgonio pass, ianked by the San
Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains, is visible
apparently only few miles beyond though IL 10
much further than it looks. By this the rail-
road enters the dssolaton of the great Colorado
Desert There is strong forsaste of the desert all
around Cotton The niggard soil bears grease wood
and other scrubby growth in blotches and shows
between them hard surface Daked
like brick. There is not even siunted
tree to break the dismal monOtony. The stage road
to Riverside splits into numerous trails. every
driver choosing his way across the deep giiiles
and the broad divides. At last We begin to meet
with the sign Land for Sale; then we pass the
main irrigating canal there are patches of poughed
land and young pantations we are IN pretty
street. and suddenly the whole landscape is bright
with trees and flowers
The site of Riverside is 80 nearly fiat that you do
not see the place until you are almost it, and you
do not realize ITS extent until you Try
to walk through 1t. With the contiguous settlement
of Arlington the two places are really one town,
Riverside having the shops and Arlington the best
bousesl, it stretches nearly twelve miles, with a
breadth of perhaps two miles. As it is fast growing,
it will soon be as large Manhattan Island. It's
population does not exceed 5000. but ample room
is needed for the grapes and oranges Almost every
house is set in plantation The hotel itself has It's
VINEYARD and orange grove. Ii is twelve years
since the experiment of watering the ard e1panse
began; but the beauty aud prosperity OF Riverside
are Of much recent date. for it IA only within
seven years or thsreabouts that 1t has made any
rapid advance. large proportion OF the
orange trees, therefore, arc hardly in bearing.
But young as the town is, II has accomplished
wonders in the direction toward which the pioneers
of the wilderness are usually slow 10 turn their at
tention. IL has taken great pan9 with It's looks.most
of the houses arc built with eye to effect many
handsome villas show tho latest fashions ~ archiec-
tue; the churches and the large public
schoolhouse handsome. and the dis
play OF flowers is by far the finest have
seen in California Better still, the early settlers
planted shade trees in abundance, and these have
already grown TO fine PROPORTIONS; that all over
the town there pleasant walks, protected by the
cypress. the pepper and the eucalyptus In Airing
ton there Is famous broad ave
nue.. divided by central row of
pepper trees into two drives. and
bordered on both sides by orange groves and
pretty villas, with tnm hedges and shade trees and
with Towering plants adorning the margin of the
irrgating ditch which runs by the pathway. This
avenue is no less than six miles long. And there
is plenty OF room the desert to make It longer"
said an Arlington gentleman; 1--WE have had 10
extend II once already" OF course there are parts
of the town which still look rough and unfinished;
but the habit OF neatness seems nearly universal.
The cultivation is thorough the gardens one pat
terms of propriety the streets cean the diches
which might so easily become a nuisance. arc well
kept. Riverside and Arlington could hardly look
better If they were the most exclusive suburbs of
Boston.
captIous visitor might object that
with its painful neatness Its rigid uniformity
and its scrupuous regard for appearances,
1t is little too much like fashionable cemetery;
but then let MS not be captious
And what a spectacle confronts us when we raise
our eyes from this picture of smiling plenty and
look around There are bare mountains close TO US
on every side. Bold isolated hills. as destitute OF
verdurc as Ceopatra's Needle. stand forth from the
main ridges, crowdlng up 10 the very edge of the
green The plateau of Riverside seems to be COM
petely shut in, treeless range with occasional
snowy peaks bounding the view nevery direction.
1t is easy to understand how the charm of the oasis
must be heightened by the continual intrusion of
the solitude and sernness of the desert. The orange
tree borro WIS gloss from imagination, the fruit
richor gold, the blossom heavier perfume
The water which has worked these maryels Is
brought by a canal from the Santa Ana River,
which IL taps near Cotton. IL is conveyed by
substantial wooden nume across the ravine which
separates Riverside and Arlington. and it is dis
trbuted through the settlements by an elaborate
system Of ditches Before planting the land must
be graded with gentle and nearly uniform slope.
The supply ditch is carried along the upper edge OF
the field, and the water Is allowed to run from
small lateral orlccs into shallow channels marked
for IL in the loose soil between the trees or vines
Then the dry earth turned over IL TO prevent cak
ing In Riverside the watering lasts forty
eight hours, and is repeated at intervals of
month OF SIX weeks from May to October
In exceptionally dry years little irrigation is
required in winter also; but ordinarily the showers
during that season are sufficient.
The oranges Of this section are among the best in
the State; but the best, as everybody knows. are
by no means TO be compared with those of Florida.
Twas told of grower who realized this year 81 900
an acre net from trees twelve years old | do not