AND PACIFIC COAST GUIDE.

sembling a prairie dog town, only much
larger, and without the hole in the top.
rom Sycamore it is 9.8 miles to

Fresmo—ihe county seat of Fresno
county, a county the most diversified in
the State, where land can be purchased for
from $3.00 to $10 per acre. The town of
Fresno has a population of about 800, has
a $60,000 court-house, some good business
blocks, two weekly newspapers—the Hz-
posttor and Review—and is a thrifty, grow-
ing place. The soil about the town is
largely clay, producing well when irri-
gated, and never a seed without.

A most. beautiful view is here to be ob-
tained of the mountains on the left; the
principal peaks rise from 12,000 to 14,000
feet above this valley, covered with snow
the year round. Planted timber appears
at places, and some of the private resi-
dences are surrounded by trees, mostly
eucalyptus,

A stage line runs to Centreville, seventeen
miles east. Several schemes are in hand
for building large irrigating canals, taking
the water from the San Joaquin and King’s
rivers, which, when completed, will be of
great benefit to this people.

To the southwest, three and a half miles,
is located the California Colony of about
125 families. The colony’s land is regu-
larly laid out for a town, with 40 acres of
ground for each family. The canal that
supplies water to the colony is crossed
about five miles after leaving Fresno.
Little of the land along here lying near the
road is cultivated, but when the irrigating
canals spoken of are completed, they will
all be found occupied and yielding large
crops,

From Fresno it is 9.6 miles to

Kowler—a small station where trains
seldom stop, there being only half-a-dozen
buildings—so we roll on 10.5 miles fur-
ther to

Kingsbuary—where there are several
stores, and about one dozen buildings.

All along this valley numerous wind:
mills are in operation, for irrigating and
domestic purposes, that raise abundance of
good water from a depth of from fifteen to
forty feet. Soon after leaving Kingsbury,
the road is built on an embankment which
extends to King’s River, which is crossed
on a long trestle bridge.

This river rises in the high Sierras, to
the northeast, and after reaching this val-
ley, has a broad, sandy bottom, is very
crooked, its course being marked, far

237

above and below, with trees and willows
which grow thickly along its bank. King’s
River, where the railroad crosses it, is the
boundary line, beyond which lies the
county of Tulare. :

Sheep ranches, fenced fields—some very
large—are now noticeable extending to the
right and left—well we don’t know how
far, as the valley hereabout is full 40 miles
in width, and sheep and fences, and fences
and sheep, extend as far as the eye can
distinguish the appearance of the land, the
soil a which is clay and sand, in places
somewhat alkaline. Cattle are also
raised to some extent in the foot-hills, and
pens and shutes for shipping are to be
seen at many of the stations on the road.

The next station is Cross CREEK, 8.1
miles from Kingsburg, and 58 miles from

Goshen- Here we come to the South-
ern Pacific railroad—Goshen Division—
the track of which could be seen on the
right, just before reaching the station. This
division is only completed 40 miles, and is
designed, eventually, to connect with the
line extending towards it from Gilroy,
which is now completed to Trespinos 100
miles south of San Francisco, referred to
on page 231. f

The stations on the Goshen division are:
HanForD, 12.9 miles from Goshen; Lz-
moor, eight miles further; HEINLEN, 1.6
miles, and 17.5 more to

Huron—whole distance, 40 miles from

 

Goshen, distance from Huron to Trespi-

nos, 100 miles. This division runs through
what 1s known as the “Mussel Slough ”
country, a section where the land is very
rich, adjoining Tulare Lake, on the north,
wher: the yield of all kinds of crops is
marvelous Reports say some of these
lands have yielded as high as $250 per
acre in a singlo year; that five crops of
Alfalfa a year is common, and vegetables—
well, we will never tell you—the yield is
IMMENSE! two hundred pound pumpkins,
eight feet in circumference ; potatoes twelve
pounds in weight, and cornstalks 20 feet
high, are some of the figures The price
of land ranges from $20 to $100 per acre.

At Goshen, a track branches off to the
left, on which cars are run seven miles to

Visatra—the county seat of Tulare
county. It contains about 1,600 inhabi-
tants, and is situated in the midst of the
most fertile land in the State, and on the
Kaweah River. The country round about
presents to the eye a beautiful appearance.
Large oaks cover the plain in every di-

i a a a