PHYSICAL AND CLIMATIC SETTING 11 



200 feet above sea level, while in the next 100 to 300 

 miles they must rise from 4,000 to 7,000 feet to 

 reach the lowest crossing places in the mountain bar- 

 riers. This is a good indication of central California's 

 great stretches of low valleys and the height of the 

 mountain ranges that encircle them. 



Study of the relief map (Plate I) will impress 

 these facts, viz: (1) that California is thickly set 

 with high mountains closely connected into continu- 

 ous ranges roughly parallel and having a general 

 trend from northwest to southeast; (2) that asso- 

 ciated with these mountain ranges are wide open 

 spaces which are for the most part broad valleys of 

 relatively low elevation, although some of the open 

 spaces, chiefly on the east side of the central and 

 northern regions of the State, are high plateaux; (3) 

 that such a multitude of mountains suggests that there 

 must be innumerable smaller valleys at various ele- 

 vations; (4) that in nearly all parts of the State 

 there are mountains in sight, towering above the 

 small valleys and discernible even from the central 

 parts of the largest valleys as features of the horizon 

 lines; (5) that such variation in topography, gen- 

 erally within short distances, indicates great diver- 

 sity in elevation, exposure, soil and other natural 

 conditions which expresses itself in corresponding di- 

 versity in agricultural production and in the comforts 

 and hardships of living. 



Such observations might lead to a conclusion that 

 California must be incongruous, narrowly antagonis- 

 tic in its natural conditions and unfitted for great 



