State Agricultural Society. 133 



Placerville, Coloma, Jackson, Sonora, Columbia, Marii)Osa and Hav- 

 ilah. In the vicinity of tlicse towns, and also near the line of the 

 Central Pacific Railroad, the land is occupied bj-^ settlers. It would 

 be usinjj: a larju'c figure to state that a half million acres of these foot- 

 liillshave been i)reemi)ted. If we estimate that another million is 

 composed of lands granted to the Central Pacific Railroad Company, 

 ravines, river-beds and lands too rocky or i)recipitous for cultivation, 

 there would remain nearly three million acres of land, all of it tim- 

 bered, all having abundant rainfall, in a semi-tropical climate, and to 

 whicli title in one hundred and sixty acre tracts can be acquired by 

 settlement and com])lyi ng with the rules of the United States Land 

 Department. Throughout the whole region ever-living s])rings are 

 numerous ; and in those parts where there has been placer mining, 

 there are many canals from which water, by purchase, can be obtained 

 for irrigation. The immense precipitation that takes i)lace during 

 the rainy season along the western face of the Sierra, i)asses through 

 this region in streams that are tributaries to the Sacramento and 

 San Joaquin. AVithin this distance there are fifty-four of these prin- 

 cipal streams, whose waters are perpetually adding to the volume of 

 the Sacramento and San Joaquin. 



ADAPTATION TO CULTIVATION. 



Every agricultural i^roduct that can be grown in the valleys, 

 including the semi-tr()i)ical fruits, can be grown with equal facility 

 in these foot-hills. Ordinarily the land has to be cleared of the trees 

 found upon it, and cultivation must be continuous, for on the whole 

 western face of the Sierra the native trees, when cut or burned down, 

 are rapidly replaced by a new growth of the same kinds. These 

 lands are found to have all of the requisites for the succes.sful growth 

 of orchards. Fruit trees thrive better upon them than on the lands 

 of the valley. None of the many theories advanced as to the cause 

 of the treeless condition of many plains and prairies having ample 

 rainfall seem to be entirely satisfactory, but experience has denion- 

 strated that orchards grow best and thrive with less artificial aid on 

 lands that in a natural condition are covered with trees. The 

 increasing exjjorts of small fruits, such as strawberries, blackberries, 

 and raspberries, from the vicinity of New Castle and Auburn, and 

 their superior size and quality, prove that this region is better 

 adapted to their culture than any place yet found on the level lands 

 of the valley. The peaches of Coloma have a State reputation for 

 flavor and size. The apples of Nevada and Georgetown are equal in 

 size, taste, and keeping qualities to the best imported from Oregon. 

 The Oroville oranges have been pronounced e(}ual to the best Los 

 Angeles. The vine grows with luxuriance and bears abundantly 

 wherever it has been ])laiited throughout all this region. The wines 

 of Coloma have more than a local rei)utation. Persons comi>etent 

 to judge assert that wine from grapes grown on the foot-hills is free 

 from the earthy taste that characterizes much of the wine of the flat 

 land of the valleys. They also express the belief that if ever wine 

 is to be made in California as light as that from the Rhine, and as 

 free from alcohol, the grapes will be grown in the higher elevations 

 of the foot-hills, where snow falls and remains on the ground a few 

 weeks each season. It is said that the long summers and great heat 



