AGRICULTURE. 179 



ter that had grown together, eight inches long, six wide, and 

 four deep, that weighed eight pounds. 



The soil at Bodega and Tomales, the chief potato district, 

 is a light, sandy loam, and the mists from the ocean supply the 

 ahiiiidant moisture which the plant loves. In 1860, k>onoma 

 produced 314,000 bushels, Sacramento 263,000, Marin 240,000, 

 and Alameda 73,000. The potato district of Sacramento coun- 

 ty is on the banks of the sloughs of the Sacramento River, near 

 its junction with the San Joaquin. The soil is a very light, 

 warm, rich loam, and the vegetables grown there are among 

 the earliest in the market. According to the assessors' reports, 

 the average crop of Sacramento county in 1860 was 390 bushels 

 l^er acre; of Sonoma county, 100 bushels; and of Marin, 80. 

 The Californian potatoes are mealy, sound, and palatable. The 

 potato-disease has never made its appearance in this state. 



The immediate coast, at least north of Point Conception, is 

 too cold for the sweet potato, which thrives, however, in the 

 Sacramento valley, especially in the low land about the head 

 of Suisun Bay. The true sweet potato has grown here to 

 weigh fifteen pounds — much larger than any I have ever seen 

 in the states east of the Mississippi. The flavor is not equal 

 to those grown at the East. They lack the mealiness and deli- 

 cate taste which make the Eastern sweet potato so palatable in 

 its season. 



§ 140. Hay.— In 1860, California had 150,000 head of horses 

 and 1,100,000 head of neat cattle, and cut 200,000 tons of hay, 

 or one ton for six head of large stock. In 1849, Ohio had 

 463,000 horses and 1,350,000 cattle, and cut 1,500,000 tons of 

 hay, or five tons for six head of stock. Ohio, therefore, cuts 

 five times as much hay, in proportion to the number of her 

 horses and cattle, as does California ; and if we suppose that 

 she exports one-fourth of her hay to the slave states, she still 

 makes three times as much in proportion for home use as this 

 state. The cause is, that there every horse and cow must have 

 hay throughout the w^inter, and many of them through the 

 summer ; while here very few cattle are fed with hay at any 



