The herald., 1897-03-07
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF PROGRESS
Southern California as II Was and as 1t Is Now

introduced into Riverside in 1872, and
the hrst fruit Of thfs variety was ex-
hibited In 1878 at little gathering OF
neighbors at the residence of G. w.
Garcelon. This fruit created sensa-
tion in the spring Of 1879, when the
Southern California Horticultural So
ciety, under the presidency of the late
Hon. J. De Barth Shorb. held the first
citrus fair ever held in the United States
at Odd Fellows hall in Riverside. To-
day two-thirds of the orange crop Of
California Is of this variety. The navel
sells for from $500 to 5000 car this sea-
son. while other varieties are bringing
from $3.50 to $500 per car
It was not known what varieties Of
fruit would do best in Riverside and
hence all kinds were tried and one va
riety after another was abandoned
,Walnuts and almonds were planted
and dug up after years Of trial and after
the raisin grape had been tried and
found profitable for season 1t too be-
came improbable and the vines-many
Of them at least-were dug up to make
room for the more profitable citrus
fruits. In the lower lands the apricot
and peach have proven profitable and
there Is large acreage under the River
Side canals where deciduous fruits will
prove more profitable one year with
another than the more tender citrus
fruits because of the cold winters
Water was originally furnished to ir-
rigators at the very low price Of cents
per inch for q twenty-four hour flow
and a steady domestic stream was fur
nished by the year at a much lower rate
This price was afterwards advanced to
8 cents per inch and again to 7h cents
per fnoh.
The theory of the Land and Water
company was to sell the land with the
water right at low figure and then
make their money from the perpetual
sale Of water.
In 1874 Mr.. 8. C. Evans and J. w. Say
ward purchased the Hartshorn tract,
now known as Arlington. They COM
rnenced the construction Of an inde-
pendent canal on a lower level, but af-
forwards bought out the old company
and consolidated the two systems, which
had the disadvantage of giving the
valley two long canals to construct and
maintain, whereas one canal would
have served just as we'll at one-half the
expense.
In 1879 the new company. then owned
by s. c. Evans and Hon. c. N. Felton,
purchased another tract of land from
the tin mine company. thus extending
their interests to the Temescal wash.
In the meantime the laws of the state
had been so amended that boards OF
water should be sold by irrigating COM
panies. This new law gave rise to an
irrepressible conflict between the water
company and the consumers and users
Of water.
The people finally became afraid Of the
board of supervisors, fearing that they
would yield too much to a powerful cor
poration, and desirous of getting mat
ters In their own hands more securely
they proposed In 1883 to incorporate the
city OF Riverside and thus elect their
own board of city trustees who would
thereafter fix the water rates for the
people who elected them. The question
Of Incorporation was fought through on
this basis, and for this reason the boun-
daries OF the proposed city were extend
ed 80 as to include all the lands under
the flow Of the canals from two miles
aboye the town proper to the Temescal
fWssh, edistance q dbout eiehtebn miles