The history of this one colony of six sections of old wheat
land is the key to Fresno's prosperity. It proves better than columns
of argument, or facts or figures, the immense return that careful,
patient cultivation may command in this home of the grape. Near this
colony are a half-dozen others which were established on the same
general plan. The most noteworthy is the Malaga colony, founded by
G.G. Briggs, to whom belongs the credit of introducing the raisin
grape into Fresno.
Fresno City is the center from which one may drive in three directions
and pass through mile after mile of these colonies, all showing signs
of the wealth and comfort that raisin making has brought. Only toward
the west is the land still undeveloped, but another five years promise
to see this great tract, stretching away for twenty miles, also laid
out in small vineyards and fruit farms. Fresno is the natural railroad
center of the great San Joaquin Valley. It is on the main line of the
Southern Pacific and is the most important shipping point between San
Francisco and Los Angeles. The new line of the Santa Fe, which has
been surveyed from Mojave up through the valley, passes through
Fresno.
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