258 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 May, 1918. 



The greater part of the country is mountainous in character, less 

 than 30 per cent, of the area being in farms. The estimated population 

 of California is at present almost exactly 3,000,000. On the eastern 

 side of the State are the Sierra Nevadas, and on the Avestern side the 

 Coast Range. Between them is the gi'cat interior valley drained through 

 the San Francisco Bay. The upper part of this area is known as the 

 Sacramento Valley (drained by the Sacramento River), and the southern 

 part as the San Joaquin Valley, drained by the San Joaquin River. 

 In the northern part of the State the mountains unite, forming the 

 Siskyou Mountains, with Mount Shasta as the highest Peak. In the 

 south, they are united by a cross range called the Tehachapi Mountains, 

 and beyond this is Southern California, with the San Bernardino Range 

 separating the highly developed valleys from the more or less desert 

 regions eastward. 



California has the highest and lowest land in the United States, the 

 greatest variety of temperature and rainfall and products of the soil. 

 Thus, in the Imperial Valley, near the border of Mexico, the normal 

 rainfall is but 2 inches per annum. In the north-western part of lhe 

 State the rainfall is 60 inches. 



Again, in the Imperial Valley, the Salton Sea is actually 200 feet 

 below sea-level, whilst many peaks in the Sierras exceed 12,000 feet in 

 height. 



3. Climatic and Soil Conditions of California. 



In the agricultural areas of California the rain falls almost exclu- 

 sively in winter and spring, while the summer is practically dry. The 

 distribution of rainfall is not unlike that in Western Australia, where 

 as much as 85 per cent, of the annual fall occurs between May and Sep- 

 tember, except that in California the rainy season is from November 

 to March. 



As with us, winter cereals, principally barley, are grown on the dry 

 'lands, whilst fruit, garden products, and dairying are conducted in the 

 better rainfall areas, or under irrigation. 



On the whole, California has a much larger area of dry country 

 than Victoria. The Imperial Valley and the greater part of the San 

 Joaquin Valley — two of the great valleys of California — have an annual 

 rainfall of from 2 inches to 10 inches. These are the two valleys where 

 irrigation has been so much developed. In fact, 95 per cent, of the 

 cultivated area of the Imperial Valley is under irrigation. Between 

 the Coast Range and the sea, and in the Sacramento Valley, the rainfall 

 is ample for raising fair crops without irrigation. Still, even on these 

 lands, irrigation is extensively practised. The summers are dry and 

 hot. In the interior valleys the summer would be much like our northern 

 wheat areas. Only in the Imperial Valley does the heat in summer 

 become intolerable, and here temperatures of 120 degrees in the shade 

 are frequently registered. No wonder that semi-tropical fruits and 

 cotton grow well in this valley. In 1910, according to the United States 

 census, no less than 2,664,104 acres were irrigated, and the acreage under 

 irrigation to-day is estimated to be well over 3,000,0<00 acres. 



On the whole, the soils of California are fertile. The ^soils of the 

 great interior valleys are deep, friable, porous, and, in most cases, rich. 



