232 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



or bear so much grain, as the domesticated oat. The average 

 crop is from 30 to 40 bushels to the acre, 30 per cent, greater 

 than in the Atlantic States. The Crescent City Herald reported 

 in October, 1857, that Rigg and Reid, in Del Norte County, 

 had grown 125 bushels of oats to the acre ; and that John A. 

 Brown, of Crescent City, had a crop of 157J bushels to the 

 acre. 



164. Maize. Maize can be grown to advantage in only 

 a few places in California. Most of the land is too dry, and 

 the summer nights too cool for it. The principal maize dis- 

 tricts are in the valleys of the upper coast, from Russian River 

 to Humboldt Bay ; in Yuba County, upon the moist bottom- 

 lands of the Sacramento River ; and at the Monte, in Los An- 

 geles County, where the San Gabriel River sinks, and fills the 

 plain with moisture. Sixty bushels to the acre is considered a 

 large crop ; the average is not over thirty. Corn can be grown 

 wherever the land can be irrigated, but this is a troublesome 

 and expensive mode of cultivation, though it is not uncommon 

 in gardens near San Francisco. Green maize, grown in the 

 open air, is in market from June to September. 



The cultivation of rye and buckwheat differs little from 

 that of the same grains in the Eastern States. 



165. Potatoes. The potato thrives wonderfully in a 

 few places in California, particularly at Bodega, Tomales, 

 and in Pajaro Valley. The produce per acre is perhaps 

 not larger than in Ohio or England, but the tubers are 

 larger and smoother. The average size of those sold in the 

 San Francisco market is probably fifty if not one hundred 

 per cent, larger than of those sold in New York. Potatoes 

 six inches long by three inches through, and weighing a 

 pound, are not uncommon ; many have been seen to weigh 

 four pounds, and one grew to weigh seven pounds. I saw 

 a cluster that had grown together, eight inches long, six 

 wide, and four deep, that weighed eight pounds. A San 

 Francisco paper of December 31st, 1872, mentions a sack 



