ere it is possible to be disappointed, if we
expect to find the entire country an unbroken paradise of orange
trees and roses. Thousands of oranges and lemons, it is true, suspend
their miniature globes of gold against the sky; but interspersed
between their groves are wastes of sand, reminding us that all the
fertile portion of this region has been as truly wrested from the
wilderness, as Holland from the sea. Accordingly, since San
Bernardino County alone is twice as large as Massachusetts, and the
County of Los Angeles nearly the size of Connecticut, it is not
difficult to understand why a continuous expanse of verdure is not
seen. The truth is, Southern California, with a few exceptions, is
cultivated only where man has brought to it vivifying water. When
that appears, life springs up from sterility, as water gushed forth
from the rock in the Arabian desert when the great leader of the
Israelites smote it in obedience to Divine command. Hence, there is
always present here the fascination of the unattained, which yet is
readily attainable, patiently waiting for the master-hand that shall
unlock the sand-roofed treasure-houses of fertility with a crystal
key. It can be easily imagined, therefore, that this is a land of
striking contrasts. Pass, for example, through the suburbs of Los
Angeles, and you will find that, while one yard is dry and bare, the
next may be embellished with a palm tree twenty feet in height, with
roses clambering over the portico of the house, and lilies blooming
in the garden. Of the three things essential to vegetation--soil,
sun, and water--man must contribute (and it is all he can contribute)
water.

[Illustration: STRIKING CONTRASTS.]

[Illustration: WRESTED FROM THE SAND.]

[Illustration: A PALM-GIRT AVENUE, LOS ANGELES.]

Once let the tourist here appreciate the fact that almost all the
verdure which delights his eyes is the gift of water at the hand of
man, and any disappointment he may have at first experienced will be
changed to admiration. Moreover, with the least encouragement this
country bursts forth into verdure, crowns its responsive soil with
fertility, and smiles with bloom. Even the slightest tract of
herbage, however brown it may be in the dry season, will in the
springtime clothe itself with green, and decorate its emerald robe
with spangled flowers. In fact, the wonderful profusion of wild
flowers, which, when the winter rains have saturated the ground,
transform thes