STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 323 



SUTTER COUNTY. 



By Alvah Pendleton, Voluntary Signal Service Observer at Nicolaus, Sutter County. 



The following facts about Sutter County may be of interest, preceding 

 the tables of meteorological data submitted herewith: 



The area of Sutter County, in square miles, is six hundred and ten. It 

 is entirely level and alluvial, with the exception of the Buttes — a singular 

 group of peaks, which rise in the northwestern corner to the height of one 

 thousand eight hundred feet. It lies between two great rivers of the State — 

 the Sacramento and the Feather — and is also cut by the Honcut and Bear 

 Rivers. 



A large tract, and probably the richest portion of the county, lies to the 

 east of Feather River, in which is situated Nicolaus, where these observa- 

 tions were made. 



This town is situated on the east bank of Feather River, eleven miles 

 above its mouth. Here was made by Nicolaus Allgeire, in 1842, the sec- 

 ond settlement in the county, being preceded but one year by Sutter's 

 establishment at Hock Farm. He built him a hut of poles, covered with 

 tule and dirt, in which he lived five years; which shows that the weather 

 was bearable, though no mention is made of his having a thermometer. 



In June, 1850, the county offices were moved here, and for a number of 

 years it was the county seat. It once enjoyed a fair amount of trade, and 

 but for the ruinous mining debris would be an important shipping point. 

 Two large warehouses are situated here, having capacities of three thou- 

 sand and three thousand five hundred tons of wheat. In seasons of fair 

 crops these are filled, and as much more is shipped from the banks of the 

 river. 



Wheat and barley is the most important of the resources of Sutter 

 County, though almost anything that grows out of doors will flourish in 

 her territory. To prove it, the following partial list will bear testimony. 

 Heading the list are wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn; then follow buckwheat, 

 broomcorn, hops, castor beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables of all 

 kinds, hay, honey, wool, fruit trees, among which may be mentioned apple, 

 peach, pear, cherry, apricot, fig, quince, almond, prune, orange, lemon, 

 plum, nectarine, olive, walnut, mulberry, and an infinite variety of small 

 fruit. 



In Sutter County is the finest peach orchard in the State, belonging to 

 A. Abbott. 



In 1875 the County Assessor reported four hundred thousand gallons of 

 wine made in Sutter County, and the value of the fruit crop $250,000. 

 This latter has largely increased since then. 



Sutter in 1888 ranks the twenty-eighth in wealth, and her State tax 

 returns to the treasury were $43,177 47. Last year (1887) not one dollar 

 of her tax was delinquent. 



Her greatest drawbacks are the amount she has to pay to support the 

 levees, and the lack of a railroad through her center. With these overcome 

 (and they soon will be) Sutter County will be crowded with an influx of 

 people, who Avill find here everything worth living for, and the most delight- 

 ful climate in the world. 



Below will be found a summary of the weather for each month of the 

 year 1887, at Nicolaus, Sutter County, California. Also a table of rainfall 

 by seasons, for ten years past: 



January, 1887. — Mean temperature, .22° above normal. Rainfall, 1.12°, 



