146 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



table farms, devoted exclusively to the production of vegetables of all 

 kinds, for the local markets and those beyond the Sierras. 



In this county hop growing has become a leading industry, and it is 

 stated that the production of hops is greater than that of any other county 

 of the State. Small fruit farming is also largely engaged in. 



The products of all these industries were exhibited in large quantities 

 and of great excellence. It would require a volume to report upon all the 

 exhibits. Your committee was impressed with the variety of products 

 which can be grown upon one place. The exhibits of Mrs. James Lansing, 

 Mrs. R. S. Lockett, James R utter, Albert Lea, and E. Greer, were all illus- 

 trative of this fact. On the tables of these exhibitors were almost every 

 variety of vegetables; all kinds of fruits, green, dried, and preserved, and 

 the choicest varieties of wine, table, and raisin grapes. There was also 

 cotton, silk, and tobacco. The areas under cultivation from which these 

 varied products came, are less than thirty acres each. 



The exhibits of corn, wheat, rye, barley, and oats, were large, and of 

 great merit. The manufactured goods from this county were a prominent 

 feature, and comprised almost every article used in the household, on the 

 farm, and in the shop. They demonstrate the fact that this is rapidly 

 becoming a manufacturing State, and that within a few years, at most, we 

 shall be comparatively independent of outside manufacturers. The mills, 

 factories, and forges, represented by the exhibits of manufactured articles 

 in the Sacramento exhibits, represent a heavy investment of capital, many 

 men employed, large sums paid for labor and raw material, and great 

 quantities of manufactured goods. When we consider how few years have 

 elapsed since there were no mills, forges, or factories on this coast, the 

 advancement already made seems the more marvelous. 



In this county there are wide areas of rich soils, near timber, and water, 

 and transportation, which are adapted to fruit tree, vine, vegetable, and 

 hop growing, and other areas adapted to grass, for grazing, and for hay. 

 This land can be had at reasonable prices. When it is considered that now 

 the markets of our own country are demanding more than our orchards, 

 vineyards, and gardens can supply, we may look in the near future for still 

 more wonderful developments in Sacramento County than the past has wit- 

 nessed. 



PLACER COUNTY. 



Placer County is properly one of the foothill counties, although her 

 territory extends into the Sacramento Valley. What are known as the 

 foothills of the Sierra Nevada Range, are the approaches to that great 

 mountain elevation in the eastern part of the State. They are comprised of 

 the rolling land adjoining the valley, the sloping uplands, deep, intervening 

 valleys, and the lower mountain sides. They were known to the Spanish 

 explorers as the tierra templada — the temperate region — to distinguish 

 them from the tierra caliente, and the tierra fria, the hot and cold regions 

 of the Spanish colonies in America. The term expresses a striking char- 

 acteristic of the foothills. To an elevation of three thousand feet above the 

 sea these foothills have a remarkably temperate, equable, and healthy 

 climate. They are neither cold in winter nor hot in summer, but have 

 that happy medium which is the golden mean between the two. 



All these foothills are well watered, having a well distributed system of 

 clear running streams from the canons and gorges above them, and an 

 abundance of springs bursting forth from the hillsides and valleys. They 

 are well supplied with timber, growing on the slopes, and along the 



