SPATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 153 



opment has been made to prove beyond a doubt that every fruit and grape 

 known to the United States or Europe can be produced there with profit. 

 In soil, climate, timber, water supply, and the cheapness of lands, El Do- 

 rado offers unexcelled inducements for settlers, especially those of limited 

 means. Many thousands of families can find room and opportunities where 

 industry can make picturesque homes, surrounded by smiling plenty. 



YUBA AND SUTTER COUNTIES. 



These two counties make a joint exhibition, and can therefore be jointly 

 considered by your committee. They are situated in the center of the 

 Sacramento Valley, extending from the east bank of the Sacramento Val- 

 ley almost to the crest of the Sierras. Together they comprise about 

 eight hundred and fifty thousand acres, one hundred and fifty thousand of 

 which are Sierra foothills, and the balance, six hundred thousand acres, 

 are level valley lands, mostly of alluvial formation. 



Sutter County is for the greater part a delta plain between the Feather 

 and Sacramento Rivers. With the exception of the area of the Marysville 

 or Sutter Buttes, it is one fertile garden spot. It was there that the first 

 farming in the upper Sacramento was carried on. Early in the forties 

 General Sutter established the celebrated " Hock Farm" on the west side 

 of the Feather River. There he planted fruit trees and vines, and raised 

 the first fruit, and made the first wines of the upper country. Yuba 

 County is two thirds valley and one third foothills. Taken together these 

 two counties are remarkably well watered. Within their area there are 

 the Sacramento and the Feather Rivers, both navigable, the Honcut, Yuba, 

 and Bear Rivers, which furnish an abundant supply of pure mountain 

 water for all the purposes of civilization, navigation, irrigation, manu- 

 facture, and domestic use. 



Timber once covered the most of the valley lands and the foothills. .In 

 the valley portions this has been cleared away, leaving just enough to form 

 oak openings or parks of great beauty. Every section of these two counties 

 has wood for fuel, and the eastern portion of Yuba County extends into 

 the great forest belts of the Sierras. All kinds of building materials are 

 abundant and cheap. The soils are noted for their fertility and lasting 

 qualities. The first large orchards of deciduous fruits in the State were 

 near Marysville, and they demonstrated the perfect adaptability of the 

 soil and climate to a varied and highly remunerative horticultural produc- 

 tion. For nearly a quarter of a century Marysville has been one of the 

 prominent fruit shipping points of the State. In that time it has been 

 demonstrated that the fruits of that section are among the earliest and the 

 best in the State. Along the Honcut, the Feather, the Yuba, the Bear, 

 and Sacramento there are large areas of sediment land of unsurpassed fer- 

 tility. On these sedimentary soils great quantities of vegetables are raised 

 with large profit to the tillers of the soil and to the land owners. Within 

 the past four years there has been marked activity in fruit tree and vine 

 planting, and the area thus planted to orchards and vineyards will aggre- 

 gate many hundreds of acres. 



The area of alluvial and sedimentary lands available for tree and vine 

 planting is very large, and, considering its quality, it is held at low rates. 

 The Yuba County foothills, in soil and climate are similar to those so fully 

 spoken of in Nevada, Placer, and El Dorado Counties. 



It is now more than a quarter of a century since citrus and other semi- 

 tropic fruit trees were planted in these two counties. On the Hock Farm, 

 General Sutter's old place, there is a grove of fig trees, the oldest in the 



