STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 155 



about throe thousand acres planted to trees and vines. The orchard of 

 A. T. Hatch, comprising eight hundred acres of trees, is one of the largest, 

 if not the largest in the State. There are also orchards and vineyards 

 along Putah Creek, on the Sacramento plains around Dixon, Treinont, 

 Batavia, and Elmira. The extreme western section, around Benicia and 

 Vallejo, is developing a great capacity for some kinds of horticulture. 

 The display of this county in the Pavilion was not in keeping with the 

 position she holds as an orchard, vineyard, and garden county. At the 

 right season she could, and doubtless would, fill the whole Pavilion with 

 fruit. No county in the State presents more attractions for the settler of 

 means than Solano County does. 



TEHAMA COUNTY. 



This county is situated at the extreme upper portion of the wide Sac- 

 ramento Valley. It is one of the large counties of the State, having an 

 area of about three thousand two hundred square miles, or two million 

 acres. This area comprises both valley and foothill land. The valley 

 portion is in the center of the county, and is thirty miles from east to west* 

 and forty miles from north to south. The foothill portions of the county 

 are in both the Coast and Sierra Nevada Ranges. There is a large and 

 widely extended water system composed of the Sacramento running south 

 and its tributaries from the two ranges on either side. Of these on the 

 east draining the western slope of the Sierras, there are Battle, Antelope, 

 Mill, and Deer Creeks. On the west draining the Coast Range are the 

 Cottonwood, Hooker, Dibble, Reeds, Red Bank, Oat, Coyote, Duncan, 

 Elder Thorns, and Stony Creeks. There is also a system of evenly dis- 

 tributed springs that burst out at the foot of the hills and bluffs and from 

 the valleys. 



There is an abundance of timber on both ranges; in fact, the forest belt 

 of the Sierras has its heaviest timber growth in this county. The valleys 

 have an abundant supply of timber for fuel for all time. The Sacramento 

 River furnishes navigation to the southern border, and there are two rail- 

 ways to this county, one on the east, and the other on the west side of the 

 Sacramento River. The California and Oregon line is now approaching 

 completion, when the vast country comprising British Columbia, and the 

 other portions of the Dominion of Canada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, 

 Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin clear to the lakes, will be 

 opened as a market to the orchards, vineyards, and gardens of the upper 

 Sacramento. 



The soil of Tehama in the valleys is a rich alluvium, and on the uplands 

 and foothills it is a rich brown or red loam. A quarter of a century's 

 tillage has demonstrated its fertility. 



There are old orchards and vineyards in Tehama which antedate the 

 American occupation, and they are still continuous and prolific bearers of 

 fruit. Within the past few years there have been many new orchards and 

 vineyards planted and they are now fruiting. These orchard experiments 

 cover all kinds of soil, and they have been remarkably successful. The 

 tree growths, and the quantity and quality of the fruit, are all that could 

 be desired. There are thousands upon thousands of acres of land in Te- 

 hama where thrifty families can have an independent income, make a 

 good living, and have just as picturesque a home as heart could desire. 

 The climate is winterless, and all kinds of semi-tropic fruits grow in 

 the county. There are many orange and lemon trees in Red Bluff, and 

 the town of Tehama, and on the older ranches. J. S. Cone has a fine bear- 



