nce than in
1887. Business is better organized, and, best of all, there is an
intelligent appreciation of the agricultural resources of the country.
It is discovered that San Diego has a "back country" capable of
producing great wealth. The Chamber of Commerce has organized a
permanent exhibition of products. It is assisted in this work of
stimulation by competition by a "Ladies' Annex," a society numbering
some five hundred ladies, who devote themselves not to aesthetic
pursuits, but to the quickening of all the industries of the farm and
the garden, and all public improvements.

[Illustration: SWEETWATER DAM.]

To the mere traveller who devotes only a couple of weeks to an
examination of this region it is evident that the spirit of industry is
in the ascendant, and the result is a most gratifying increase in
orchards and vineyards, and the storage and distribution of water for
irrigation. The region is unsurpassed for the production of the orange,
the lemon, the raisin-grape, the fig, and the olive. The great reservoir
of the Cuyamaca, which supplies San Diego, sends its flume around the
fertile valley of El Cajon (which has already a great reputation for its
raisins), and this has become a garden, the land rising in value every
year. The region of National City and Chula Vista is supplied by the
reservoir made by the great Sweetwater Dam--a marvel of engineering
skill--and is not only most productive in fruit, but is attractive by
pretty villas and most sightly and agreeable homes. It is an
unanswerable reply to the inquiry if this region was not killed by the
boom that all the arable land, except that staked out for fancy city
prices, has steadily risen in value. This is true of all the bay region
down through Otay (where a promising watch factory is established) to
the border at Tia Juana. The rate of settlement in the county outside of
the cities and towns has been greater since the boom than before--a most
healthful indication for the future. According to the school census of
1889, Mr. Van Dyke estimates a permanent growth of nearly 50,000 people
in the county in four years. Half of these are well distributed in small
settlements which have the advantages of roads, mails, and
school-houses, and which offer to settlers who wish to work adjacent
unimproved land at prices which experience shows are still moderate.

CHAPTER XIV.

A LAND OF AGREEABLE HOMES.

In this imperfect conspectus of a vast territo