178 RESOURCES OF CALIFORN(A. 
county, had grown 125 bushels of oats to the acre; and that 
John A. Brown, of Crescent City, had a crop of 1573 bushels 
to the acre. According to the assessors’ returns, the average 
crop per acre of 1860 was—50 bushels in Alameda and Yuba 
counties; 40 in Butte, Placer, and Santa Cruz; 35 in Napa; 
30 in Amador, Sacramento, and Yolo; 28 in Humboldt; 25 in 
San Joaquin; and 20 in Klamath, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. 
The largest oat-growing counties in the state are—Alame- 
‘da, which in 1861 produced 449,000 bushels; Contra Costa, 
300,000; Santa Cruz, 262,000; Sonoma, 187,000, and Marin, 
174,000. 
§ 138. Maize—Maize can be grown to advantage in only a 
few places in California. Most of the land is too dry and the 
summer nights too cool for it. The principal maize districts 
are in the valleys of the upper coast, from Russian River to 
Humboldt Bay; in Yuba county, upon the moist bottom-lands 
of the Sacramento River; and at the Monte, in Los Angeles 
county, where the San Gabriel River sinks and fills the plain 
with moisture. Sixty bushels to the acre is considered a large 
crop; the average is not over thirty. Corn can be grown 
wherever the land can be irrigated, but this is a troublesome 
and expensive mode of cultivation, though it is not uncommon 
in gardens near San Fransisco. Green maize, grown in the 
open air, is in the market from June to September. 
The cultivation of rye and buckwheat differs little from that 
of the same grains in the Eastern states. 
§ 139. Potatoes.—The potato thrives wonderfully in a few 
places in California, particularly at Bodega, Tomales, and in 
Pajaro valley. The average produce per acre is perhaps not 
larger than in Ohio or England, but the tubers are larger in 
size and smoother in skin. The average size of those sold in 
the San Francisco market is probably fifty if not one hundred 
per cent larger than of those sold in New York. Potatoes 
six inches long by three inches through, and weighing a pound, 
are not uncommon; many have been seen to weigh four 
pounds; and one grew to weigh seven pounds. I saw a clus- 
