Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-10-11
CALIFORNIA; SPLENDID SHOWING
AT THE PARIS EXPOSITION.

Following is an extract from a letter
recently written by Mr.. VIM. 81. Mills,
of California, while in Paris in charge
of the Southern Pacific Company's ex-
hibit t the Exposition. It is remark
able for two reasons, first, as evidence
OF the great interest which is every
where manifested in that wonderful
State; also for the valuable informa-
ton it contains, and for which it is here
reproduced:
Paris, July 18th, 1900.
The panorama picture OF the Mariposa
Grove is admitted by all, including pho
~ographers to be the most wonderful pho
tographic reproduction that has ever been
made. Only yesterday a rep
r~esentiEg the greatest Fruit-GToWlng AS
ISOLATION of France. to the number OF nj
charge Of their President. who is the
largest individual fruit grower in the
fraP}ion Of the inef industriai and climatic con-
ditions under which our fruit IS grown
1 explained to them fully the proIne cnars
acter of our climate, and by pictures ana
Illustrations showed them that we had a
full crop every year; that our danger was
from oVer-bearing; that in no instance
had we missed two crops in succession
from any cause. You will scarcely I'M
derstand the intense interest of this in
Fruit-Growing Association practices fruit
culture in two ways, w~all-culture and
designations1. The outdoor cultivation of
fruit in France is extra,hazaTdous ana Is
fast being superseded by the artlnclal
means of wall and glass.
The gentlemen who were here yester-
day explained that the most prontaoie
cultivation was that wherein all the fac
tors of success were in the hands OF the
c%ultivator. have used this
Of irrigation. 1 have said that when the
moisture can be controlled, both with ref
erence to moisture and drainage, civilized
rIIlf1Ira will haVA hRen achieved. that at
that point only it becomes an art; put
where natural conditions are depended
man, the cultivation has not risen to the
dignity of an art. Its main factors are at
When I explained. however, the condi-
tons under which fruit was grown In
self and my auditors, that the natural
conditions in California are as nearly per-
feet for the production of fruit as 1t is
possible to be, and that at all events
there are. economies with us which win
give us the fruit markets of the world.
onstrated BY our exhibit and observation
here. California is hereafter to be the
orchard of the world, for reasons which
personal interview.
The reason for the foregoing narration
the interest Of the exhibit in showing the
fruits, the p~ineapples,, the dates, the
pies, the vegetables in all their varieties,
etc.
Ine DAY was extremely hO( III Ia IA
terview had become monotonous. I called
the company into an attitude IN which
they could get a good view of the pam
Drama of the great tree grove. I have
never heard more genuine expressions or
surprise and admiration. The President
of the Association. q man of fine mentality
and dignity of character. said, through the
Interpreter to me. that the picture was
the most beautiful presentation of a for
est he had ever seen and the forest was
the most beautiful of any that had ever
been shown abroad. The forest as ex-
pressed in that picture is infinitely su-
perior to any forestry expression possible
here. The largest pine tree I saw in Ger
many was less than twenty-four inches
in diameter, and not to exceed seventy-fve
or eighty feet high. After what We had
told them of the favoring conditions CT
climate and soil, we introduced them into
the heart of one of our greatest forests
by the best representation which can be
placed upon paper. You can nave no
adequate conception of how it broadened
and dignified and ennobied our state we
had shown them panorama pictures, pic
lures of prune orchards in bloom, pic
lures of orchards, one of which is a most
marvellous presentation. the panorama
itself being six feet by fourteen inches
of prune orchard. We had shown them
twenty-one square miles in one panorama
of a fruit orchard in Vaca Valley. We had
shown them large fruits and large veg
etables. and all these things had appealed
to them as exceptional The panorama OF
the great forests of California, including
the greatest trees that grow in the state,
conferred upon the entire exhibit proba-
bility and confirmation.