BT \ 1 1: IGRICULT1 i; \i 80CI1 n . 195 



eighty acres of Land near the town of Loomis. He had me1 with misfor- 

 tune in previous investments, and was at the time $2,000 in debt. He 

 commenced by putting in a small patch of grapes, which he gradually 

 Increased until to-day he has twenty-three acres in full bearing. He strug- 

 gled along without capital, and was twice burnt out of house and home. 

 Now he has over three bundled acres of Land, has a good house, two good- 

 si/ed granite wine cellars, a distillery, suitable barns, convenient cooperage, 

 a blacksmith shop, and other aecessary outhouses. He has a oumber of 

 horses, cattle, and young stock, his old debl paid, and his cellars full of 

 wine and brandy. In short, he has, on a small vineyard, paid his debt, built 

 three sets of improvements, and boughl a Large piece of land. His stock on 

 hand, together with his farm ami improvements, are estimated to he worth 

 about $20,000. 



And again: Jerry Porter went into the foothills seven years ago, with no 

 capital except willing hands and a determined will. He sold out last Fall 

 and left with between $6,000 and $7,000 in cash. 



These instances could he multiplied indefinitely, hut it is not necessary. 

 These are cases, as 1 have said, that came within the scope of my own 

 observation. No doubt residents of the foothills from other sections could 

 i' cite similar instances. But it will he remarked that these are exceptions 

 m the rule. They are above an average, but not because the conditions 

 were more favorable to them than to others, hut because the men named 

 possess the elements of economy, industry, prudence, and forethought to a 

 higher degree than the average of mankind. They are cited to show what 

 men. possessing these characteristics in a high degree, can do in the vast 

 and comparatively undeveloped foothill region of northern California. 



We say vast ! This foothill region is vast. It ranges from Calaveras to 

 Shasta on the east of us. and from Napa to Trinity on the west of us. and in 

 all this great extent of rolling country the soil and temperature and pro- 

 ductive capacity are not materially dissimilar at the same altitude. The 

 foothills, however, vast as are their extent, and great and varied as are their 

 resources, constitute but the fringe, as it were, to the great arable regions of 

 northern California. 



The Sacramento Valley contains, in round numbers, nearly 6,000,000 

 acres of land, or more than the total area of Connecticut and Delaware 

 combined. Northern California, embracing about 50,000 square miles of 

 territory, is an empire within itself. It possesses numerous advantages not 

 possessed by the southern portion of this State, and yet its praises are less 

 sung, and as a matter of fact it is less known abroad than is southern Cal- 

 ifornia. Some have suggested that northern California is good, and great, 

 and grand enough without praising. We, however, are too much of a Cal- 

 ifornian to desire to reflect on any portion of our great State, or to detract 

 one iota from the merits due to any section. Southern California is great, 

 and its greatness and rapid development teach us the wonderful possibili- 

 ties of northern California, with its mines, its timber, its greater rainfall, 

 its inexhaustible water supply, its navigable rivers, its mountain lakes and 

 grander scenery, its greater arable area, its better transportation facilities, 

 its fogless and cloudless Summer skies, and its winterless Winters. It is 

 well known here that all the products for which California is famous 

 can be grown in as great quantities, and to as great a degree of perfection, 

 in the northern and middle counties, as in any other part of the State. 

 Indeed, the great volume of the wheat export goes from northern Cal- 

 ifornia, and of the 1,025 carloads of fresh fruits shipped from California 

 during the past season, all but sixty-six carloads were from the central and 

 northern portions of the State. About 800 carloads were shipped from the 



