386 



TRANSACTIONS OP THE 



LAKE COUNTY. 



According to the Immigration Association of California, the Government 

 still owns in Lake County, mostly of this hill and mountain land, 440,000 

 acres, and says of these lands generally: In Lake, Mendocino, and Hum- 

 boldt Counties, the Government lands are generally mountainous, with 

 narrow valleys and plateaux, covered with valuable timber of pine, oak, 

 cedar, laurel, etc., with considerable undergrowth. There are many open 

 places, either level or sloping enough to be plowed, and where nutritious 

 grasses grow during the rainy season. Nearly every section is well watered 

 by pure, cold springs or running streams. 



FRUITS. 



All the ordinary fruits do well. Apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, 

 and prunes mature finely and are of excellent flavor. Oranges are suc- 

 cessfully raised. All the small fruits grow well, and there is no county 

 where the soil and climate suit the growth of strawberries better. 



CLIMATE. 



But the great charm of this county is its pleasant and healthful climate. 

 The winters are never severely cold, and the summers never oppressively 

 warm. From November to April much rain usually falls, and ice occasion- 

 ally forms in some places, but during this period we have days and weeks 

 at a time when the sun shines brightly and the weather is perfectly delight- 

 ful. Flowers usually bloom all winter, which is sufficient evidence of 

 mildness. From May until November, the weather is always fine. But 

 little rain falls, and though the summer days are warm, they are not very 

 sultry. A gentle breeze nearly always springs up in the afternoon, and 

 though the evenings are sufficiently pleasant for even invalids to sit out of 

 doors until bedtime, the nights are usually cool enough to make a light 

 blanket or quilt comfortable as a bed covering. Fogs rarely ever visit this 

 county, and harsh sea breezes are absolutely unknown here. 



Average Precipitation in Lake County. 



SONOMA COUNTY. 



Sonoma has four principal valleys: Sonoma Valley, from which the 

 county takes its name, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and Russian River Valleys. 

 The last three may be said to form one great valley, through which the 

 San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad runs, from its terminus on tide- 

 water, for sixty miles, without a cut more than ten feet deep on the entire 

 line. 



^,The four great valleys which we have just mentioned are the chief topo- 

 graphical features of Sonoma County. The southern section of the coast 



