AGRICULTURE. 179 
ter that had grown together, eight inches long, six wide, and 
four deep, that weighed eight pounds. 
The soil at Bodega and Tomales, the chief potato district, 
is a light, sandy loam, and the mists from the ocean supply the 
abundant moisture which the plant loves. In 1860, Sonoma 
produced 314,000 bushels, Sacramento 263,000, Marin 240,000, 
and Alameda 73,000. The potato district of Sacramento coun- 
ty is on the banks of the sloughs of the Sacramento River, near 
its junction with the San Joaquin. The soil is a very light, 
warm, rich loam, and the vegetables grown there are among 
the earliest in the market. According to the assessors’ reports, 
. the average crop of Sacramento county in 1860 was 390 bushels 
per acre; of Sonoma county, 100 bushels; and of Marin, 80. ~ 
The Californian potatoes are mealy, sound, and palatable. The 
potato-disease has never made its appearance in this state. 
The immediate coast, at least north of Point Conception, is 
too cold for the sweet potato, which thrives, however, in the 
Sacramento valley, especially in the low land about the head 
of Suisun Bay. The true sweet potato has grown here to 
weigh fifteen pounds—much larger than any I have ever seen 
in the states east of the Mississippi. The flavor is not equal 
to those grown at the East. They lack the mealiness and deli- 
cate taste which make the Hastern sweet potato so palatable in 
its season. 
§ 140. Hay.—In 1860, California had 150,000 head of horses 
and 1,100,000 head of neat cattle, and cut 200,000 tons of hay, 
or one ton for six head of large stock. In 1849, Ohio had 
463,000 horses and 1,350,000 cattle, and cut 1,500,000 tons of 
hay, or five tons for six head of stock. Ohio, therefore, cuts 
five times as much hay, in proportion to the number of her 
horses and cattle, as does California; and if we suppose that 
she exports one-fourth of her hay to the slave states, she still 
makes three times as much in proportion for home use as this 
state. The cause is, that there every horse and cow must have 
hay throughout the winter, and many of them through the 
summer; while here very few cattle are fed with hay at any 
