ever would buy at a dollar apiece. So rare a bargain will not be credited any more than it will be readily believed that one needs only tickle the ground with a stick in Tulare County and drop in any seed one wishes, and this twice or thrice a year, to secure as bountiful a crop as ever came out of the most carefully fertilized and diligently husbanded acreage back

east.

To one who enters this rich country for the first time the impression is that here is great wealth waiting to be easily developed, for wherever it is possible to discover the vertical extent of the soil it is found to be of an almost incredible depth, as much as thirty feet and even more being not uncommon; for here, as in all parts of the San Joaquin Valley, the arable land is made of a rich alluvial deposit, the accumulation of geologic ages of washings from the granite mountains. The surface of the country, until the foothills are reached, appears as level as a billiard table, though there is a dip to the west of about nine feet to the mile, and much of it looks like eastern pasture land on account of the frequency with which great spreading oaks are seen, with cattle and sheep grazing beneath them.

To water this immense area, with its industries requiring such constant care, is a problem happily solved by the presence of six streams having their sources in the mountains and spreading in deltas so as to cover every acre of arable land in the county with the aid of the ditches of four irrigation districts, called the Alta, Tulare, Tule River and Poso. All of these are organized and operated under the State law, the annual assessments for maintenance being from 50 cents to $1 per acre, approximately. This pays the expense of the operation of flumes and provides a sinking fund for the payment of bonds. But these irrigation ditches are not the only sources of water supply. The waters of King's River, Sand Creek, Kaweah River, Tule River, Deer Creek and White River lie just beneath the surface of the ground, in apparently inexhaustible quantities, and wells of a depth of 100 feet invariably find a body of water which rises half way to the surface and usually refuses to be lowered by the most vigorous kind of pumping. Power for the operation of pumps is furnished by the Mt. Whitney Power Company, a corporation whose electric wires ramify the entire county, and which has reduced the cost of water nearly

fifty per cent below the figure which represents the cost under the steam engine pumping plant system formerly used.

It is not only for the consideration of fruits, but for habitation as well, that the matter of climate is important. It is important everywhere, but especially so in California, where climate is thought to be everything. Climate everywhere in the State is good and nowhere is it bad, so there is no need of comparisons, but the result of thirty years' observation in

Tulare County may be easily summed up. The climate there does not materially differ from the whole upper San Joaquin Valley. That it is tropical would be the natural supposition when it is known that oranges, lemons and figs are successfully grown, but it must not be supposed that thermal conditions producing such fruits are necessarily of a tropical nature. These citrus fruits are produced not only because of the thermal condition but also because of the soil and by the aid of artificial irrigation, yet of these three essentials the climate is the least tropical; it is not even semitropical. During what are termed the winter months - December, January and February-the mercury has never been known to go to 32 degrees or below and remain there as long as three hours after sunrise even in the shade. During these months the temperature will fall at times to the freezing point and below, but this always takes place between sunset and sunrise. In the summer there is some of what is termed hot weather, but not such

hot weather as afflicts those east of the Rocky mountains. The heat is always dry, so that there are never any prostrations such as occur in the eastern states. Men engage in hard manual labor with the temperature as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This, however, is an unusual heat. The average mean temperature for the summer months is about 75 degrees, and the average highest temperature about 95 degrees. There is almost an entire absence of humidity through the hot spells, so much so that it is not often that a trace of dew can be found on vegetation either at night or in the morning. This prevents the heat from becoming enervating, and there is always relief at night, for then comes a coolness. This never fails. In a properly ventilated building it is not possible to sleep through the night without covering, even when the day has sent the mercury up to 120 degrees.

The scenery of Tulare County is famous the world over. Kern River cañon and King's River cañon are two of the most picturesque localities known to the American traveler, and Mt. Whitney, 15,300 feet high, the highest mountain in the United States, excepting Alaska, is always an object of deep interest. To call the scenery of these gorges and cañons magnificent and sublime is to use only the current adjectives of travelers.

Photo by A. R. Moore From the summit of Whitney one may look sheer down 11,000 feet to Lone Pine, the distance being so great that the outlines of trees may not be seen with the naked eye, but with a glass objects may be distinguished. Perhaps the greatest interest for travelers in this locality lies in the Giant Forest, which is situated 57 miles due east of Visalia, the county seat. In this forest there are upwards of 4,000 trees of over ten feet diameter at the