142 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



than the Gulf of Mexico has on the twenty-ninth and thirtieth parallels. 

 We have said this much of California in general, and of the development 

 which has been made in the past ten years, in order that what we may say 

 of the ten counties which make count}' exhibits maybe better understood. 



SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY, 



To which the first prize was awarded, is situated in the center of the 

 great interior basin formed by the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. 

 It has, in round numbers, an area of one thousand five hundred square 

 miles, or nearly one million acres. The greater portion of the area is 

 valley land. The soils are dark alluvium or brown loams, and as rich as 

 those in the valley of the Nile. There is little or no waste land in this 

 county, nearly every foot of it being adapted to some form of cultivation. 

 The Assessor's returns for 1886 show that more than eight hundred thou- 

 sand acres were under the plow or in use for pasture. Large areas of these 

 valley lands were covered with oak growths at the time of the American 

 occupation, which have been thinned out for purposes of cultivation, trans- 

 forming them into one immense oak park of great beauty. 



The water system of this county is most complete. From the north, the 

 Sacramento River, with its great volume of water, drains the immense drain- 

 age basin of the north, and washes the western border of the county. The 

 San Joaquin flows through the county from south to north. Both of these 

 are not only navigable, but they are tidal streams on which the largest 

 steamers ply. The advantages which these streams afford for cheap 

 transit cannot be overestimated. From the east, draining the western 

 slope of the Sierra Nevada Range, there are several clear, rapid, mountain 

 streams. The most considerable of these are the Stanislaus, on the south, 

 the Calaveras, in the center, and the Mokelumne, on the north. These 

 streams, with their tributaries, furnish an abundance of clear pure water 

 for all domestic purposes and for irrigation. 



The climate of the county is its principal charm. It is truly winterless 

 and semi-tropical. There is no snow, no ice, and no sweeping winds from 

 the Arctic regions. All the productions of the semi-tropical zones are found 

 in this county. Every rare fruit and flower, from the sunny south, has 

 been brought here by the settlers and cultivated. 



The assessment roll shows that there were one hundred and twenty-three 

 thousand fruit trees in this county, and it is reasonable to presume that the 

 returns made the Assessor do not represent more than 60 per cent of the 

 actual number. There is little doubt that the fruit trees in the orchards of 

 San Joaquin County are not far from two hundred thousand. These 

 orchards are represented in the grand exhibit of the county, which occu- 

 pied an area on the floor of the pavilion of two thousand seven hundred 

 square feet. There were apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, and prunes 

 of large growth and fine flavor. There were many varieties of all these 

 kinds of fruits, and they show the perfect adaptability of the soils and cli- 

 mate for a great and successful orchard product. 



The exhibits of dried, canned, and preserved fruits represent a profitable 

 and growing industry. Fruit growing in San Joaquin County, still in its 

 infancy, gives promise of a great future. The area of lands adapted to 

 tree growths, the growing demand for green, dried, and canned fruits in 

 the markets of the United States and foreign countries, and the profits of 

 fruit growing, point to a rapid development in the next decade. 



The exhibits of vegetables were large and varied. The county has wide 

 areas of alluvial lands along the streams which are perfectly adapted to 



