The San Francisco call., 1897-03-29

want of sufficient transportation, want of
competition in railroads or navigation,
the quantity of fertile lands, health, ati-
tude and SO forth. In all of the foregoing
Salinas will bear the closest and most
minute investigation by prospective set
tiers.
The industries of Salinas and environs
are almost as varied as the resources of
our State. Wool, wine, livestock, fruit OF
all kinds, lum ber, stone, marble, granite,
salt, sulphur, quicksilver, coal, natural
gas, iron and coal oil are among the in
dustries now receiving attention, as we'll
as one of the greatest of all industries in
the country, the raising of sugar beets.
Lying west and east Of Salinas are some
exceedingly fertile valleys and foothills,
ana which surpass in productiveness and
quality many famous valleys of the State.
Salinas is the halfway house of the
Salinas valley. In the awakening OF
the latent industries of the great South
she is the first to move forward. Hereto
fore content with a modlcum of pros
perity, while leading all her rivals, she
now rises TO the grandeur and Importance
of the occasion. From an uninhabi
grain field thirty years ago the close of
1896 found her with a popua ation of about
20C0. Costly brick blocks, stone sidewalks,
buildings and courthouse, imposing
churches and palatial dwellings, all attest
to the thrift and prosperity of the valley.
The city is lighted by electricity and gas.
The growth of the city is steady and of
permanent and architectural character,
eIcelled nowhere in the interior.
The Salinas Valley bursts upon the Wis
ion OF the weary traveller, after crossin g
the arid plains of Southern California, as a
land of wonder and beauty, and the
problem presents itself, why is nature so
partial in the distribution of her gifts
Not many towns in this or any other State
can truthfully claim the natural advanta-
ges that Salinas and its environs can.
More SO perhaps than may other places
in the valley, Salinas enjoys climate as
serene as a dream of luxury; serene in
that it is robbed OF all severity-balmy,
bright and tranquil as summers sea.
The domain OF winter Is met on the
mountain slopes, where its advance is
stayed by the greetings Of perpetual sum-
mer. Above the hoary garments of The
frost king shroud the monarchs and car
pet with its icy breath peak and plateau
cove and canyon. But beneath lies the
pretty town of Salinas in the smiling val
ley OF the Sacramento, carpeted with en-
erald and bespangled with flowers. Here
wherever the eye is directed a new charm
appears, new delight is present, and the
soft air, laden with fragrant odors, with a
mere suggestion of the sea, is as balm to
the lungs.
There is no more beautiful landscape in
all the country than this garden spot,
where the eye reaches out over thousands
of broad acres OF luxuriant orchards and
VINEYARDS, and the olive with its silvery
sheen, the magnolia with its waxen leaves.
the cypress with its burden of yerdure,
tie stately palm, the occasional sturd Y
oak, the intervals of waving grain, each a
delight In itself, and ali adding their
shades of color under a cloudless sky,
save perchance O few white fleeces steal
ing way to hide in some quiet nook in
the mountains that rise majestically In
their garb of many shades of green, con-
tributing greater charms and magnificent
relief TO the landscape.
1t is a generally admitted fact that hor-
ticulture is the coming industry of Cali
fornia. The State has successively passed
through the stages of gold mining, stocK-
raising and agriculture, and is now in the
dawn of a still brighter era, that OF horti-
culture. Monterey County, being behind
many other localities OF the State in de-
velopment, is not so far advanced in the
fruit industry. The reader will have in
ferredi ere this that grain growing has not
reached the zenith of its glory, and 1T is
unreasonable to expect that Monterey
County Will be covered with orchards and
vineyards for several years to come. But
enough has been done to demonstrate the
practicability of he fruit business, and
the adaptabiiity of nearly all kinds OF de-