48 [APPENDIX 



equally cool as' that in which it would be required here. Other varieties 

 of fruit bearing trees Qf foreign climates will flourish in these mountain; 

 among them may b^ mentioned the date, prune and fig, and in this 

 country we possess an advantage in the preparation of the two latter 

 fruits for the market, which is seldom found even in countries where they 

 flourish best, viz : a clear, dry air, or containing but a small degree of 

 moisture, a most essential requisite in forming a -good commercial article. 

 Often the entire fruit crop is ruined in the drying process in countries 

 where these fruits abound, (and where all conditions for their propaga 

 tion are not more fully developed than in this country,) from the pres 

 ence' of too great a quantity of moisture in the air, a circumstance that 

 cannot exist in this country south of the county of San Francisco. 



We have the most ample proofs of the capabilities of our soils in the 

 interior, in the production of the foreign fruits. In addition to the 

 above, the olive and the almond flourish and produce plentifully, and 

 though the latter is not indigenous, the luxuriance with which it grows 

 and its plentiful production of fruit, must be received only as another 

 evidence of the fact above stated. The value of these fruits as regards 

 their quality, suifers no deterioration from having been naturalized to 

 our climate, but in the case of the latter named fruit, it is found to be 

 materially benefitted by the change, for as it loses none of its flavor it 

 becomes the more valuable from its increase of size, being nearly double 

 that of the ordinary fruit of the msarket. 



Respecting the main body* of lands on the valley and shores of the 

 bay, but very little of which is not adapted to agricultural purposes, it 

 may be -said to cover an area little short of six hundred square miles, 

 nearly all of which is well adapted to the cultivation of the cereals and 

 root crops. The higher table of the valley produces excellent corn, and 

 the season though dry permits this crop to mature well. I observed 

 several corn fields on the high terrace of the valley last season, flourish 

 ing , well at altitudes of three hundred and sixty to four hundred and 

 ten feet, and in localities where it would hardly be -supposed from its 

 external appearance, that moisture sufficient to rear a blade of grass 

 could be found. The cause of this productivness in these localities, is 

 in a great measure attributable to the existence of a small quantity of 

 sulphate of lime in these apparently dry soils, derived from a limestone 

 formation in these mountains, and which extends south beyond the 

 Almaden district. The detritus of this rock is found mingled with 

 fragments 'of other rocks containing ferruginous pyrites in a decompos 

 ing state, hence'the key to its appearance in this locality, and in the case 

 before it serves the purpose of an absorbent of moisture, thus materially 

 facilitating the growth of crops in these sections. 



VALLEY OF THE SALINAS. 



This valley is situated south of the Pajaro River, and is separated 

 from the Santa Clara by a spur of the 'Monte Diablo Range which sink 

 into a range of low hills forming a divide between the former and the 

 Pajaro Yalley also. The leagth of the Salinas is about ninety-five miles. 

 The main course of the valley is about south-east by east ; and is coursed 



