42 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 



gions a share in them. Either as residual loams resulting 

 from the decomposition of adjacent rocks, or as transported 

 loams which have been carried greater or less distances 

 by wind, glacial action or other moving force, or as allu- 

 vial or sediment soils, deposited by action of flowing 

 streams, every California county has its vegetable soils in 

 ample measure. Such is the diversity of soils within 

 narrow areas in California that it may not take a very 

 large farm to inclose several diverse types, and it is the 

 first duty of the settler to learn their special characters 

 and adaptations and plan his production accordingly. 



Alluvial or Sediment Soils. Though there is marked 

 difference in the origin of our soils which are suitable for 

 vegetable growing, when proper moisture conditions are 

 arranged, it is naturally the alluvial or sediment soils 

 which have hitherto been chiefly used. They have been 

 deposited by recent or ancient water courses and have 

 formelrly served as river banks or river and lake bottoms. 

 They have beneath them, generally quite far below, the 

 prevailing soil of the adjacent country. They consist of 

 fine alluvium with seldom any admixture of coarse mate- 

 rials. They are usually very deep and well drained. They 

 occur sometimes at a considerably higher level than ex- 

 isting streams and are sometimes designated as ''next to 

 river bottom, ' ' while the lower levels constitute the ' ' river 

 bottom." In some small valleys they have spread deeply 

 all over the original soil, having been washed in such quan- 

 tities from adjacent hills, and in larger valleys have 

 spread for considerable distances out upon the plain. 

 These are primarily the fruit lands, but they are also 

 largely used for such vegetables as thrive upon lighter and 

 drier soils. Below are the present river bottoms, usually 

 dark, rich and moist and not subject to baking or crack- 

 ing, which are, par excellence, vegetable lands. 



Peat Lands. Another class of alluvial soils is known as 

 peat soils, which consist of mixtures in various propor- 

 tions of silt and sediment with the debris of centuries' 



