THE CONQUEST OF ARID AMERICA 



cultivated on wheat-fields or in mining-camps. It comes 

 with irrigation, with the subdivision of the land into 

 thousands of diminutive holdings, with a citizenship 

 composed of a multitude of small proprietors. 



These conditions are exactly reversed in the northern 

 valley, with pitiful results. The same forces would 

 make the same civilization in both localities, for the 

 physical foundation is practically identical. The south- 

 ern valley lies open to the sea, the breezes from which 

 mercifully temper the summer heat. In other respects 

 the advantages are all on the side of the Sacramento. 

 It is far greater in area; its water supplies are both more 

 abundant and more reliable ; its surrounding advantages, 

 notably in the way of mines and timber, are much supe- 

 rior. Finally, it possesses the inestimable blessing of a 

 mighty river, navigable for a distance of two hundred 

 miles, and capable of being much improved. This is a 

 factor of the highest import. It furnishes cheap trans- 

 portation by boat, and materially lessens railroad charges. 

 Furthermore, it gives the valley a comprehensive system 

 of drainage from Shasta to the sea. The wonderful min- 

 eral riches of this locality will be rapidly developed. 

 They are by no means confined to gold, but include a 

 variety of natural riches. What has proven to be one of 

 the greatest copper-mines in the world has recently been 

 opened in Shasta county, with the aid of British capital- 

 ists. It is from the foot-hills on the eastern side of the 

 Sacramento Valley that the earliest oranges and lemons 

 seek the market. They command high prices, and are 

 mostly sold on the coast from San Francisco to British 

 Columbia. It is in this imperial valley, and in the foot- 

 hills and mountains which rise above it in splendid pict- 



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