24 CULTURE OF THE GRAPE. 



to a distance of six hundred miles north, with an average 

 breadth of about a hundred miles. In this region, the 

 amount of rain-fall is surprisingly small, the annual 

 amount at Los Angeles being less than ten inches ; and, 

 of this, eight-tenths fall during the winter and spring 

 months. In a work upon " The Resources of California," 

 Mr. Hittel, the author, says, 



" The soil of the vineyards at Los Angeles and Ana- 

 heim is a deep, light, warm sand. To the inexperienced 

 eye, it looks as though it were too poor to produce any 

 valuable vegetable growth. In Sonoma and Napa Valleys 

 the vineyards are planted in a, red, gravelly clay, near the 

 foot of the mountains, or in a light, sandy loam, in the 

 centre of the valley. Of late, the vine-growers of these 

 valleys have done without irrigation. In Santa Clara 

 Valley, most of the vines have been placed in a rich, black 

 loam ; but their vineyards are unhealthy. The Sacra- 

 mento vines are planted in sandy loam ; those of the 

 Sierra Nevada, in sanely loam or in gravelly clay." 



It is worthy of consideration, as exhibiting the nature 

 of rot and mildew, that while California is remarkably 

 exempt from, these diseases on account of its dry climate, 

 yet "in Santa Clara, Sonoma, and Alameda Counties, 

 where the vines are planted in a wet, black loam, or stiff 

 clay," both of these diseases make their appearance. The 



