STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 377 



MARIPOSA COUNTY. 



Mariposa County is triangular in shape, with its north side bounded by 

 Tuolumne; its south, by Fresno; and Merced lying at its western base. 

 It is perhaps principally remarkable as containing the Yosemite Valley, 

 but this fact, though it attracts a host of visitors and tourists, who all leave 

 some money behind them, has little to do with the position of Mariposa as 

 an important county of California. It has an area of 1,560 square miles, 

 divided as follows: lower foothills, 530 square miles; higher foothills and 

 Sierra mountains, 1,030 square miles. 



The county reaches eastward from the edge of the San Joaquin plains 

 across the foothills, far into the Sierra mountains, its altitude thus varying 

 from about 300 to from 10,000 to 13,000 feet, that of Mount Dana being 

 13,227 feet. The largest stream of the county is the Merced River, which 

 rises on the extreme east and flows westward to the plain. 



On the south, Chowchilla River forms part of the boundary between this 

 and Fresno County, while numerous smaller streams flow westward into 

 Merced County. The eastern part is timbered with pine, spruce, and cedar, 

 the central with oak and pine, while the western is sparsely timbered, and 

 the extreme west is almost timberless. 



The grape and fruit interests are at present insignificant, owing princi- 

 pally to distance from railroad communication, but the capabilities of 

 production of Mariposa County are great. The diversified climate, varying 

 all the way from semi-tropical near the edge of the plains, to temperate on 

 the higher foothills, produces all kinds of fruits, from oranges and citrons, 

 to apples and potatoes, in perfection, according to the situation. Mariposa 

 apples are considered to be among the very best in the San Francisco 

 market. Mariposa mountain potatoes always command one cent per 

 pound more than any other potatoes, in the railroad towns. Grapes are 

 an eminent success anywhere in the lower foothills. The climate, as before 

 stated, ranges from semi-tropical to quite temperate, according to the alti- 

 tude. But in salubrity, anywhere, it cannot be surpassed by any county 

 in the State. 



MERCED COUNTY. 



The Merced River Valley, which at Hopeton is about 4 miles wide, is 

 bordered on the south by a line of hills some 50 or 60 feet above it, which 

 extend westward, gradually falling in elevation, nearly to the railroad at 

 Cressy. The adobe lands mentioned, occupy the landward slope of these 

 hills; and are found to be underlaid by a whitish, fissured clay-stone, 

 sandy and ferruginous, easily cut, and used for building low walls. The 

 lands of this river valley are a sandy loam, interspersed with underground 

 gravel ridges, which in many places spoil the lands for farming purposes. 

 The soil of Dry Creek is light and reddish, very deep, and yields 25 or 30 

 bushels of wheat per acre. The uplands north of Merced River are sandy 

 and in part more gravelly than on the south, and will yield from 20 to 25 

 bushels of wheat per acre. 



Merced County is essentially an agricultural county, and much of it is 

 held in large tracts, and large farms are rather the rule than the excep- 

 tion, and gang plows, harvesters and reapers, and in fact all of the improved 

 agricultural machines by which large tracts may be put in and the crops 

 secured at the minimum cost, are in almost universal use. 



