STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 149 



this county would furnish bread rations for the standing armies of France, 

 Germany, and Austria. Some of the largest wheat ranches of the world 

 are in this county. The Glenn Ranch has a national reputation. It con- 

 tains forty-five thousand acres in one compact body, every foot of which is 

 under the plow. The past season thirty thousand acres of wheat were 

 harvested, yielding three hundred and fifty thousand sacks, or seven hun- 

 dred and eighty-seven thousand bushels. This is fifty million pounds, 

 twenty-five thousand tons, two thousand five hundred carloads, or one 

 hundred and fifty trainloads of wheat from a single ranch. There are 

 many other great ranches in this county. 



There is an abundance of timber on the valley lands, where there are 

 groves of great wide-spreading oaks. All along the streams there are bor- 

 ders of timber, and on the hill and mountain sides there are forest belts. 



The productions of this section are the most marvelous of its advantages. 

 Everything that thrives in higher altitudes and latitudes is found growing 

 here, and the tenderest and most delicate of the semi-tropic growths flour- 

 ish in the same valley and on the same hillside with their sisters of colder 

 regions. All the small fruits are produced here in profusion and in perfec- 

 tion. Blackberries, strawberries, gooseberries, and currants are raised with 

 only ordinary care and cultivation, and they are a paying crop. Vegeta- 

 bles are grown on all kinds of soils, and they are of the best quality. 



General fruit growing in this section has not assumed such proportions 

 as to be one of the leading industries, but it is far from being in its infancy. 

 It is now more than forty years since the first fruit trees and vines were 

 planted. From that time to the present many orchards and vineyards have 

 been grown, and with remarkable and unvarying success. The old orchards 

 and vineyards on the Glenn and Walsh grants, now forty-four years old, 

 are evidences of what the soil and climate can do. There are several hun- 

 dred other farm orchards and vineyards on all kinds of soils, which are 

 proof positive of the adaptability of this section for varied fruit culture. 

 These proofs are to be seen on the dark soils near the Sacramento, on the 

 brown sides of the rolling lands, on the clay loams of the foothills, and in 

 the higher mountain valleys. The clay loam belt of the foothills is from 

 ten to fifteen miles wide, and sixty miles in length, thus comprising many 

 thousands of acres. The soil is the same as in the far-famed Vaca district; 

 the valleys have the same perfect shelter, and the exposure is similar. 

 There have been numerous horticultural experiments made there, and the 

 success has been all that could have been desired. The tree and vine 

 growths are remarkably large and healthy, and the quantity and quality 

 of fruit produced will compare favorably with that of the best fruit regions 

 of the coast. 



The exhibits of fruit made by this county justify all that could be said 

 of them. The fruit in jars was especially fine, and it attracted attention 

 for its uniformly large size and high coloring. The exhibits of grapes 

 were of 'all kinds, table, raisin, and wine, and were of especial merit. The 

 other exhibits gave evidence of a varied cultivation. All the cereals were 

 represented, comprising wheat, barley, rye, and oats, from the great ranches. 

 There were samples of broom corn, the brush of which was thirty-three 

 inches in length. 



The vegetables represented every kind grown on the coast, and most of 

 them were of mammoth size. The grasses were especially noticeable, and 

 their introduction and growth are to be commended, as being in the direc- 

 tion of the production of our own meat and wool in this State. Specimens 

 of cotton were shown, which had large boles, long staple, and fine fiber. 

 The growth of cotton here would give use to large cotton manufacturing 



