The Newtown bee., 1904-07-08

acres of beans under cultivation, Q say nothing of the groves of English walnuts, apricots, prunes, olives and the like. Ten miles from Ventura is Oxnard, the greatest sugar beet grow ing section in this country, where 2O0O tons of beets are required every "A hours, and where the output of 2O00 acres are used every season, turning out 5000 bags of sugar every day, and employing TOO men. Two thousand head of cattle are fattened in the com pany's yards on the beet pulp. In Ventura county, of which Oxnard is 8 town, 21,0OO acres are given to the cultivation of the sugar beet. It's area is 1850 square miles and as yet it's popu- lation is only 10000. fraction more than 10 persons to the square mile. It stands among the first in it's school system, numbers 5000 children of school age, (which represents one-third of it's whole population. It is out of debt, and the school property of the county is valued at over S200, 0,000. A gently slooping plain, in Ia long sloping curve, leads to the ocean shore, and long, low range of mountain peaks form the background. A wonderfully fertile stretch of valley land, capable of supporting population of million people. It is the home of one of California's United States senators, Hon T. R. Bard.
 Rnrho nnA Vontr1Po ties are particularly the home of the English walnut. the olive and the lem- on. The output Of English walnuts alone for the two counties, last year, was 5000 tons. The lemon is an all the-year-round product, with blossom, green fruit and ripe fruit on the tree at all seasons of the year, differing from the orange in that respect. San ta Barbara county is particularly the home of the olive, one ranch alone puts out 10,0O0 gallons year of olive oil. And here might be applied that quotation from Judges: ''The trees went forth on time to anoint king over them. And they said unto the olive tree, reign thou over us.''
 But, all the time az we are look ing and thinking, storing something in mind for THE BEE, our train speeds on bringing new phases of growth, landscape and faces to take the place of those left behind. and we are near ing Camulos, the home of Ramona" Asking the conductor if be would point out to us the place that was her home, he said, Have you ever read the book?" "Yes," said, 'sfour time" ''Then you can't miss it, :" said he. Nor did we miss it, and it seemed as if the train slowed up as we rolled by. In the midst of small garden stands the ranch house that was Ra- mona's home, with 1t long grape arbor leading down to the brook where the maids in "Ramona" are made to do the washing of the Senora's household, and where AlexandrD first saw Ramo- na as she was busy washing the altar cloth that Margarita had carelessly al- lowed to be torn. On the group of high hills on our left we saw plainly a cross which HI. H." says the Senora Moreno caused Ito be erected that it might serve as notice to all passers-by that they were in the land of a good Catholic. --------
 THE REsPLENDENT BEAUTIES v. of the Sereno Moreno valley will ever remain 8 vivid feature in memory. which we beg leave to describe in the exact language of "H. H." in the fourth chapter of Ramona: Ut was late in the afternoon of one of those midsummer days of which Southern California has so many in the spring. The almonds had bl0omed and the blossoms fallen; the apricots also and the peaches and pears. On all the or chards of these fruits had come a(filmY tint of green, so light 1t was hardly more than shadow on the gray. The willows were a vivid light green and and the orange groves dark and glossy like laurel. The billovy hills on either side the valley were covered with yer dure and bloom, myriads of low blos- soming plants so close to the earth that their tints lapped and overlapped on each other and on the green of the grass as feathers in fine plumage over. lap each other and blend into a changeful color. The countless curves, hollows and crests of the coast hills in Southern California heighten these chameleon effects of the spring verdure; they are like nothing in na- ture except the glitter Of brilliant lizard in the sun or the irridescent sheen of "peacock's neck" All too soon we were speeded
 through the extensive valley lands
 that were once Senora Moreno's own,
 under the Spanish grant, until at the southern end we ran into a narrow canyon. The trainman came through
 our car, closed the upper side windows,
 lighted lamps, and 8 careful run was
 made through mountain tunnel, 1000
 feet in length, and later on we passed pigeon farm, where 20,00O domestic
 pigeons are kept, and from which the owner derives his income from selling squabs in the city of Los Angeles. We cross the city limits, our train slows up and soon we are landed in
 the tCity of the Angels" one of the
 fastest growing cities on the Pacific