186 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



viding it has sufficient depth of soil to sustain it and 

 to furnish the constant, but not excessive, water 

 supply that it needs. Where the rainfall is large 

 and the soil deep enough to retain moisture and yet 

 open enough to prevent standing water, walnuts yield 

 satisfactory results without irrigation. In places with 

 light rainfall or where the soil is too shallow or non- 

 retentive to hold moisture for the long growing sea- 

 son, irrigation is requisite. 



The grape grows in all parts of California from 

 near sea level to an elevation of 5,,000 feet or more. 

 It is contented with nearly all fertile soils from the 

 deep valley loams, where the great fat firm-fleshed 

 grapes are grown for raisin and table purposes, to 

 the shallower soils of the high foothills and moun- 

 tain slopes, where the grapes are less in quantity but 

 of superior aromatic qualities. This wide adaptation 

 gives an immense area suited for grape culture. The 

 chief reason for the achievement and promise of the 

 grape in California is in the fact that the European 

 species (Vitis vinifem) thrives,, and thus the grower 

 has command of all that the Europeans have accom- 

 plished in centuries in the development of varieties 

 for special purposes. The European varieties are 

 the only ones from which raisins can be made; they 

 also furnish the world's wine and brandy and they 

 give size, beauty and shipping quality to table grapes 

 beyond all comparison with American varieties. 

 Table grapes are grown for local use everywhere and 

 for shipping chiefly in the interior valley. The 

 raisin interest is almost wholly concentrated in the 



