480 suRGEOisrs' reports — California — northern district. 



The Northern Sacramento Valley is drained by the Sacramento, Ynba, and Feather Eivers 

 Into these rivers their tributaries pour the waters from the western slope of the Sierra Nevada oti 

 the east, and the eastern slope of the Coast range on the west. The margins of these livers 

 abound in large tracts of marsh or tule lands, which are intersected in all directions by extensive 

 sloughs, wliich latter frequently have no connection with the rivers except at the time of freshets. 

 The banks of these rivers are usually the highest portion of the country through which they pass; 

 so that when the rivers fall after an overflow, a very large surface of land is left undrained. 



After the first bottom-grounds "are passed more elevated table-lands are reached, whose 

 extended ])laius are unaffected by the rains of winter. The bottom-soil in the valleys is a flue rich 

 alluvium, in some parts sandy ; the higher tables are mostly clay. The superficial water on the 

 tule-lauds soon drains off through the gravel-beds which geuerally underlie the upper strata of soil, 

 or it is carried away by evaporation during the early summer months, the deep sloughs only 

 remaining partially filled. Watei can be obtained at almost any point in the valley at the depth 

 corresponding with the beds of the streams. * # * 



Before closing this part of my report, it may be of interest to extend the remarks to some of 

 the productions of the district, confining them to such as are of practical importance. 



Forest trees. — Pinus lamhertiana — Sugar-pine. — This tree is found in the mountains from 

 San Diego to Oregon. At the south it is found at an elevation of about live thousand feet above the 

 level of the ocean, and, at the Oregon line, immediatelj' on the coast. Its height varies from one to 

 two hundred feet, and it is from one to ten feet in diameter. 'It is, perhaps, the most beautiful as 

 well as the most useful tree in the State. The rift is exceedingly straight. It was from this tree 

 that miners in early times provided themselves with shingles and clapboarding, a common ax only 

 being required to manufacture boards from six to ten feet in length. 



Sequoia sempervirens — Red-wood. — Dr. Torrey has improperly made a distinction between this 

 and the mammoth Washington (WcUingtonia gigantea.) The Washingtonia gigantca, (as it should 

 be called,) is really no other than a mammoth red-wood tree, while the Sequoia sempervirens is a 

 smaller growth of the same species. 



At Humboldt Bay a forest of mammoth and smaller red-wood trees are found intermingled. 

 The only appreciable difference is that the trees called red-wood do not exceed thirteen feet in 

 diameter, while the mammoth Washington may vary from fifteen to thirty feet. In the space of a 

 few acres I once measured eight trees, all exceeding seventeen feet in diametei', and one measured 

 twenty-two feet, at a height of five feet from the ground. 



• The red-wood is in general use for boards, shingles, railroad-ties, posts, and piles ; its timber is 

 durable. * 



Lihocedrus f7ecMrreH.s— White cedar. — This is a valuable timber, and much used by farmers for 

 fencing and building. 



Juniperus virginianus— Red cedar. — This is also a common tree and much used for lumber. 



Abies douglasii — Oregon pine. — This is the most abundant of all the timber-trees, and is in gen- 

 eral use for planks, joists, &c. 



Pinus hrachyphyUa — Yellow pine. — This is a soft wood, and easily worked. It is equal in 

 beauty to any other pine. It sometimes rises to the height of a hundred feet or more, and has a 

 diameter of from one to six feet. 



Pinus edulis — Nut-pine. — This tree attains to forty or fifty feet in height, but is not used for 

 domestic purposes ; the wood is hard, and if found durable it might be used to advantage for railroad- 

 ties. The nut is sweet, and much used by Indians as. an article of food. 



Quereus echinatus. — Leaves, hjnceolate, oblong, sometimes obovate, commonly obtuse, but 

 occasionally quite acute ou the same tree; leaves four to five inches long, sharply toothed. The 

 acorns are two or three together; the cups are an inch in diameter, and thickly covered with rigid 

 .sublutate scales. The acorns are short and thick, about three-quarters of an inch in length. In 

 the mountains this oak attains the height of from thirty to fifty feet, and is from six to eleven inches 

 in diameter. 



Quereus densiflora. — This evidently belongs to the preceding species, the former being found in 

 the foot-hills, and the latter high in the mountains. 



