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Show 209 also be raised on his farm, the altitude of which my aneroid indicated as 540 feet above the sea. The potatoes that we dug on his form certainly were above the average, both in yield and in qnality. I am prepared to believe his statement that he would get 150 bushels per acre of them. Corn yielded 75 bushels to the acre. The barley, which had jast been cut, averaged 65 bushels to the acre. The gentleman boasted on the apples he raised there. Barley was sowed in January or February; corn was planted May 1, and potatoes from December to June, depending somewhat on whether they were intended for early or late use. We found the oaks, pines, and everlasting chapparal the same as at Santa Barbara. July 17 we camped on a tributary of the Ojai and found, for the first time this season, some grass that had escaped the sheep. It stood about us over a foot high, but was so dry and tasteless that our mules would not touch it. The capacity of the soil for yielding paying- crops of the cereals was good. Indeed the environment was the most pleasing we had seen. A real lively brook, such as would have been no discredit to the Sierras, flowed over its rocky bed, worn out through the rich oak- covered plain. We found beautiful clumps of Eriogonum, Adenostoma, and, on a spray- covered rock, a handsome Lobelia. Along the road from here to the dividing- line separating the Santa Clara Valley we found well tilled farms and abounding signs of a comfortable community. The divide was 1,200 feet above the sea- level, and on it we found a soil that yielded good returns of wheat, corn, and melons, with how much more besides I know not. A vigorous grove of Eucalyptus stood by the road- side, proving that the altitude did not interfere with its growth. We camped on the Sespo Creek at an altitude 1,025 feet. July 20 we entered Santa Clara Valley, and as we did so passed by a large flourishing mill which was evidently doing a good business. Well- tilled farms became more common, and there seemed to be still more room and water sufficient for a much larger population. The ground reaching down from the hills was a sage- brush covered slope, while on the flats bordering the river we found a greensward, much of which was made up of sour grass, that a mule will eat rather » than starve. Earlier in the season it appears there is forage of a better character to be had in the valley. The water is alkaline, but less markedly so in the river. Northeast of the valley the whitish bituminous shales are visible on the hills, and the decomposition of them contributes largely to the surface of the valley. Camalas ranch is quite noted for the quantity of wine it produces. We found the red wine good, cheap, and with a large percentage of alcohol- quite conducive to early slumber and headache next morning. In addition to vine- growing the other interests of the region are not neglected. Altitude, 750 feet. Following the vallev up we entered by one of its arms the San Francisquito Canon, and then the pass of the same name, crossing the summit at an altitude something over 3,500 feet. Lake Elizabeth lay from this summit almost below us. The reading of my aneroid indicated 3,170 feet as its elevation above tide- water. The lake at which we camped is one of a series of three. It is about a mile long, and shallow throughout; water trickling down to it from the hills around indicates that it is simply the result of surface- drainage. The lower lakes of the series are deeper. It is said that the waters in the lake are rising each year. I can give no positive data, however, on this point. Good crops of corn, potatoes, and barley are raised here. The whole country has been overrun by sheep, until there was not a vestige of pasture left. We were on the western edge of the desert at Lake Elizabeth. From this place we crossed the edge of the desert to La Lievre ranch, a distance of about 25 miles. The scenery was mountainous in the extreme; here and there along the road we encountered a large yucca, that reminded us more of some similar scenes in Arizona than anything else we had seen on the trip. At this season ( July) there was a bare sprinkling of the driest grass; a possible reminder that during the rainy season it would be better. Bands of sheep and a few cattle manage to eke out a slender living. Water was not passed once after leaving Mud Spring. There is usu-ually water at one other place, but it was gone at the time of our visit. The Lievre Ranch House, however, redeems the region, for here we found quite a little stream. The water was good, but it was all evaporated or absorbed by the thirsty earth before it fairly reached the plain below. Along the edge of the desert, rocks of the Tertiary period along with some of volcanic origin are found. The former are much fractured, and are tossed in all directions. The volcanic rocks in places look almost as though stratified; they are very hard, and filled with cavities in which specimens of chalcedony are found. From the Lievre ranch house to Mrs. Gorman's the ground is of much the same character as that just passed over; perhaps more irregular iu surface, with an occasional basin in which water collects during the rainy season. Alongside the road standing water was found in several places, and on one hillside a bog indicated that a good spring could be developed by a little digging. The Gorman ranch is the most productive in the region, at least the largest crops are raised there. Whether this is due to better work, ( as is probable,) or to a better |