194 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



those who invested in foothill lands at any price were considered as taking 

 desperate risks. Yet to-day as good fruits as were ever raised in this or 

 any other country are those which find their way to market from the foot- 

 hills bordering the great Sacramento Valley; and as showing the extent of 

 the business in that region, let me state that from two stations in the foot- 

 hills of the one county of Placer, there were shipped this last season 5,931,- 

 130 pounds of fruit. The entire shipments from the foothills of that county, 

 for the season, aggregate, as nearly as can be ascertained, about 7,000,000 of 

 pounds. This is exclusive of raisins and other cured fruits, and of citrus 

 fruits, the shipment of which constitute a considerable item ; and it is exclu- 

 sive also of the many tons of grapes grown in that region and manufactured 

 into wine and brandy. 



Referring to the foothills, inasmuch as they constitute an extensive area 

 of northern California, and inasmuch as their development has at this time 

 but fairly commenced, I would like to say that from my observation of a 

 number of years I am constrained to believe that they are destined, in the 

 comparatively near future, to become the most attractive portion of Cali- 

 fornia, and for homes the most desirable. It is demonstrated that the soil 

 and climate of the hills are particularly adapted to the growth and early 

 maturity of all the staple fruits in the highest degree of perfection — not 

 excepting the orange, the lemon, the olive, the pomegranate, the vine, and 

 the fig, as the exhibits here attest. Oroville is in the hills, Vacaville and 

 Winters are in the hills, Coloma is in the hills, Mokelumne Hill is in the 

 hills, Auburn and Newcastle are in the hills. Each of these places is rep- 

 resented here by a liberal display of the finest and choicest citrus fruits. 

 The climate of the foothills is unparalleled — above the ocean fogs, yet below 

 the mountain snow; and in Summer warm, but dry and invigorating. 

 Water and timber are abundant for all necessary purposes; and the scen- 

 ery- — with the snow-capped mountains in the background, and the great 

 Sacramento Valley, with its rivers glistening under the sun like silver 

 threads, in the foreground — is simply enchanting; inspiring the denizen 

 with nobler, grander thoughts, lifting him nearer his Creator, making him 

 purer, greater. In health the foothills are in themselves a sanitarium, and 

 already hundreds, not alone from this State, but from other climes, are 

 seeking them for rest and recuperation, and for relief from all manner of 

 bronchial and pulmonary ailments; and it is gratifying to be able to state 

 that few of those who pin their faith to the invigorating properties of the 

 foothill climate are called upon to suffer the regrets of misplaced confi- 

 dence. 



As showing the possibilities of the foothills, in a general Way, I may be 

 permitted to cite a case or two that have come within the scope of my obser- 

 vation. These instances, I believe, will be interesting to many Californians, 

 as well as to our visitors from other States, since it is true that most of us, 

 as I have shown in the outset, are prone to be skeptical regarding the true 

 merits of much of our own State. 



In 1877 John Wells moved with his family from Mendocino County, on 

 the coast, to the foothills of Placer County. He was burnt out where he 

 had been living, and had nothing left to start with but his hands. He 

 secured forty acres of land and went to work on it. He is a hard-working 

 man, and has worked hard. In the Fall of 1884, when he was relating to 

 me his experience, he said he had supported his family, had paid for his 

 place, had that year sold $2,500 worth of produce from it, and had just 

 refused an offer for his land and improvements of $6,500. 



Again, fifteen years ago an industrious German, somewhat advanced in 

 3^ears, by the name of John Kaiser, went into the foothills and settled on 



