AGRICULTtTKE. 157 



the places where the Avater runs in winter. The only trees 

 growing a\vay from the watercourses are oaks, whicli are 

 usually found in groves, and almost invariably Avithout under- 

 growth. 



In the Sacramento valley there are about two hundred 

 square miles, or one hundred and twenty-eight thousand acres, 

 of tule-land, most of it above high tide, and covered by water 

 only in times of flood. Very little of it has been drained or 

 cultivated, and therefore we do not know its vaUie. All the 

 tule-land is covered five or six feet deep with water in times 

 of flood. 



The northern part of the San Joaquin valley is much like 

 the southern part of the Sacramento valley. When the San 

 Joaquin River approaches within fifty miles of Suisun Bay, it 

 divides into three channels, which are separated from one an- 

 other by islands of low tule-land. In times of high flood, the 

 river spreads out and covers a space fifteen or twenty miles 

 Avide. There is less gravel and clay but more sand in the San 

 Joaquin valley than in the Sacramento valley ; the soil is drier, 

 and contains more of alkaline substances, and the vegetation 

 is more scanty. From Pacheco's Pass across to Firebaugh's 

 Ferry, a distance of about fifty miles, there is not a tree, and 

 in the autumn the country looks like a desert. At Fresno 

 City the soil is nearly a pure sand, and the river at Ioav Avater 

 is not more than six or eight feet below the surface of the 

 plain. From the bend of the San Joaquin River, southAvard, 

 a district sixty miles Avide by one hundred and fifty long, most 

 of the soil is a barren sand, in many places covered Avith au 

 alkaline efilorescence. 



The country about Kern River is very desolate, and be- 

 tween that river and the Tejon Pass is a desert plain, covered 

 Avith a scanty and useless vegetation. East of Tulare Lake, 

 however, there is some rich soil, particularly in the " Four- 

 Creek country," Avhere the Cahuilla River, issuing from the 

 mountains, divides into half a dozen streams, Avhich spread out 

 over a space twelve miles Avide, and then unite again, filling a 



