334 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



ship of motor vehicles. It was carefully calculated 

 that of the 477,450 automobiles recorded by the State 

 Motor Vehicle Department in 1919, 241,175 were 

 owned in the open country and in communities of 

 distinctly rural character. At a farmers' picnic on 

 the University Farm in the Sacramento Valley in 

 April 1920 there were 2,417 automobiles parked and 

 counted. It was estimated from other data that there 

 were 14,000 persons in attendance. Without auto- 

 mobile transportation from the farms of the valley, 

 it is doubtful whether one-quarter of that number 

 of persons would have participated. 



The almost continuous traversing of the country- 

 side by observers in automobiles is rapidly extend- 

 ing knowledge of the agricultural geography and 

 topography of the State. Eeal estate dealers claim 

 that they need to be more careful than formerly 

 in their descriptions of farms for sale and the en- 

 vironments of them, because most parts of the coun- 

 try are so generally known that exaltation of a lo- 

 cality beyond its due is soon detected. 



