AGRICULTURE. 209 



compounding. Of the total in the spring of 1874, about 

 1,500,000 acres were to be credited to the low land of the San 

 Joaquin Valley, 875,000 to the Northern Coast, 1,350,000 to 

 the Southern Coast, 730,000 to the low land of the Sacramento 

 Valley, and 200,000 to the Sierra Nevada, with the addition 

 of Siskiyou and Shasta Counties. 



It is estimated that 40,000,000 acres in the State deserve 

 to be considered tillable. The area of the land surveyed is 

 33,000,000 acres; and the amount disposed of, 22,000,000 

 acres. The last figure includes 8,000,000 acres of Mexican 

 grants, 7,500,000 acres given for educational purposes, 4,000,- 

 000 acres sold, 600,000 given as homestead claims, and 800,000 

 granted to the State as swamp land. The railroad grants 

 cover 30,000,000 acres in the State, but the patents have been 

 issued for only a small portion of this amount. 



149. Colorado Desert Volleys. In considering the dis- 

 tricts valuable for agriculture, let us first turn our attention to 

 the valleys east of the Coast and Sierra divides. 



The Carriso Valley, opening into the Colorado Desert, near 

 the line of Lower California, has no town, a very dry climate, 

 and a fierce summer temperature. The same remarks apply 

 to San Felipe and Cahuilla Valleys further north, the last be- 

 ing the largest and best of the three, with some excellent 

 soil. A district ten miles wide and forty long, thirty miles 

 east of the summit of the Coast mountains below the level of 

 the sea, could be irrigated from the Colorado, and might, no 

 doubt, be made valuable. The soil, though not very rich, 

 would no doubt be productive when supplied with abundant 

 moisture. Wherever there is any cultivation in the low lands 

 of the Colorado Desert, vegetation reaches maturity six 

 weeks earlier than on the western side of the Coast Moun- 

 tains. 



150. Valleys of the Enclosed JBasin. Crossing from the 

 Colorado Desert into the enclosed basin, we come to the Mo- 

 jave, which rises on the northern slopes of Mount San Bernar-. 

 14 



