STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 145 



Much more might be said of the exhibits of this county and the future 

 which is promised by their variety and excellence, but lack of space for- 

 bids it. 



SACRAMENTO COUNTY 



Had one of the largest exhibits in the Pavilion. In fruits of all kinds, 

 and vegetables, it was most excellent. 



This county is a central one in the Sacramento Valley, and is on the 

 Sacramento River, which is navigable one hundred and fifty miles above 

 Sacramento City. The most of the area of this county is rich alluvial 

 land. In the eastern portion there are foothills on which the soils are 

 brown or red loams. The area of this county is six hundred and forty 

 thousand acres, of which two hundred thousand acres are under the plow. 

 The crop of 188(3 included two million bushels of wheat, five hundred thou- 

 sand bushels of barley, and large quantities of oats, rye, corn, and hay. The 

 hop crop was two million pounds. The county has, in round numbers, 

 ten thousand horses and fifty thousand sheep. The number of fruit trees 

 returned by the County Assessor is four hundred and eighty-four thousand, 

 and it is safe to say that there are fully six hundred thousand fruit trees 

 growing in the county. The county is watered by the largest streams in 

 the State! On the west is the Sacramento, and on the east are the Amer- 

 ican, and the Cosumnes, and their numerous tributaries. There is an 

 abundance of timber in every township. This county is one of the oldest 

 in agriculture in the State, General Sutter having been engaged in farming, 

 on ground now included in Sacramento City, long before the days of gold. 



The first development in agriculture was in grazing, which was followed 

 by grain growing. In late years orchards, vineyards, and vegetable farms 

 are crowding out the grain fields at a rapid rate. In some districts along 

 the American and Sacramento Rivers vines and trees occupy all the arable 

 lands. In these districts there are some of the largest orchards and vine- 

 3'ards of the State. So large are the orchard products of the Sacramento 

 River district that ten or twelve steamers are engaged in transporting the 

 fruit from the various river landings to th£ bay of San Francisco and to 

 Sacramento. There are in this district about three hundred thousand fruit 

 trees, or three thousand acres of orchards. The product of these orchards 

 per year is from twenty thousand to thirty thousand tons. This year the 

 crop was much more than an average one, and the yield was in excess of 

 these figures. There are in the county several thousand acres of vines, 

 comprising wine, table, and raisin grapes. These vineyards have the 

 choicest varieties of grapes brought from the vine countries of Europe. 



The Natoma Company, near Folsom, has two thousand acres of vines, 

 which include table, wine, and raisin grapes. This vineyard is on the red 

 foothill soil, and demonstrates its perfect adaptability to grape growing. 

 The greater portion of these vines are now three years old last season. At 

 two years of age, they yielded two tons of grapes to the acre, and this year 

 they averaged three tons. This company had some older Flame Tokay 

 vines, which illustrates what the soil and climate, combined with good til- 

 lage, will accomplish. Last year some of these vines averaged six tons to 

 the acre, and the grapes sold at $90 per ton, or $540 per acre. This year 

 the yield is not so large, but the net returns are $300 per acre. The Natoma 

 Company has fine orchards near their vineyards. The amount of its or- 

 chard and vineyard products this season is seven thousand tons, or seven 

 hundred ten-ton carloads. 



On the alluvial soils of the streams of the county, are many large vege- 

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