THe JOURNAL 



OF 



^fiQ department of M^vimlfme 



OF 



VICTORIA 



Vol. XVI. Papt 5. 10th May, 1918. 



AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



Report to the Director of Agriculture on Agricultural Education 

 Methods and Agricultural Research Work in the State of 

 California, by A. E. V. Richardson, M.A., B.Sc, Agricultural 

 Superintendent. 



I. Introduction. 



California, from an agricultural point of view, is probably tbe 

 most interesting of all the States in the Union. The physiographic 

 features of the State, the long coast line, and the movement of the great 

 air currents from the Pacific give it a range of climatic conditions wider 

 that those possessed by any other State. It is nearly 800 miles in length, 

 and extends from 321 to 44 degrees north latitude, and, as its land surface 

 varies all the way from 200 feet below to 13,000 feet above sea-level, it 

 possesses greater diversity in climate than any other State in the Union. 



In the south long-stapled Egyptian cotton and semi-tropical pro- 

 ducts thrive to perfection, whilst in the north winter cereals are exten- 

 sively grown. Indeed, in one section of the country — -Butte county- 

 such a remarkable diversity of crops as apples, pears, barley, oats, rice, 

 cotton, and oranges are grown extensively within a radius of 20 miles 

 from Chico. The variety of climatic conditions conferred on California 

 by the topographical features of the country accounts in large measure 

 for the range of crop products and also probably explains the large 

 range of subjects dealt with at the College of Agriculture at Berkeley. 

 In order to appreciate the character of the agricultural institutions a 

 preliminary account of the physiographic, climatic, and soil conditions 

 is desirable. 



2. PiiYsiOGEAPJiic Features of California. 



California is, roughly, 780 miles in length, and varies from 150 to 

 350 miles in width. It has an area of, approximately, 100,000,000 

 acres, and is, therefore, not quite twice the size of Victoria. 



5876. 



