154 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



sprouts, which grow up to trees. Much of the prairie-laud is 

 tfeitile and suitable for cultivation, but it is remote from the 

 market. Klamath and Trinity counties are almost destitute 

 of valley-land. Both, however, have numerous small spots of 

 rich soil in their mountains, and both have a mining popula- 

 tion who must be fed, and have the means and disposition to 

 pay well for the necessaries and delicacies of life. The farms 

 mu«t be small, but the farmers are protected by the rugged 

 mountains from the competition of those in the large valleys. 

 Hay -Fork valley, one of the best little tracts of tillable land in 

 Trinity county, is three thousand six hundred feet above the 

 sea-level. 



The largest tract of level land in the plateau of the Sierra 

 Nevada is the valley of Suisun River and Honey Lake, about 

 sixty miles long and ten wide. The elevation is about four 

 thousand five hundred feet above the sea; much of the soil is 

 sandy and alkaline, with no indigenous vegetation save the 

 worthless wild sage. Portions of the soil, however, are fertile, 

 and there are a number of farms under cultivation. Honey 

 Lake valley has the advantage of proximity to Washoe, and 

 good roads for communication. There are 115,000 acres in 

 the valley, of which 20,000 are swampy, at least in w^et sea- 

 sons. Eagle Lake valley is about one-third the size of Honey 

 Lake vallev, and of similar soil. 



All along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada there are 

 little spots of fertile soil, well suited for cultivation ; but with 

 the exception of a few, they are too small to deserve special 

 mention. The soil is usually a red clay or a black loam. The 

 largest tillable spots on the western descent of the Sierra Ne- 

 vada are in Plumas county. Sierra valley is forty-five miles 

 long by six wide, and is drained by a tributary of Feather 

 River. Much of the land is barren sand ; much is tule-swamp, 

 and only a small portion is fit for tillage. No water flows from 

 the valley after July. The Big Meadows contain 100,000 

 acres ; Beckworth's valley, 90,000 ; Indian valley, 20,000 ; 

 Mountain Meadows, Red Clover valley, and Mohawk valley, 



