B. P. I.— 14. Agros.— 93. 



STOCK RANGES OF NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA: NOTES ON THE 

 GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS AND RANGE CONDITIONS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

 PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE REGION. 



Northwestern California as here denned includes the counties of 

 Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Del Norte, and the portion of 

 Siskiyou lying west of the California and Oregon Railroad. It is 

 approximately bounded by lines drawn at 39° and 42° north latitude, 

 and 122° 30' and 124° 30' longitude west of Greenwich. (See Map I.) 



It is a fairly well-defined topographical area, bounded on the east 

 by the inner Coast Range Mountains and on the west by the Pacific 

 Ocean. It covers the whole, of the drainage basins of the Eel, Mad, 

 Trinity, Lower Klamath, and Smith rivers and the smaller streams 

 along the coast north of the Gualala River. On the south it extends 

 beyond this naturally delimited area to include Lake County and the 

 southern boundary of Mendocino County, thereby taking in the drain- 

 age basin of Clear Lake and the headwaters of Russian River. 



AGRICULTURAL SUBDIVISIONS. 



This region is divisible into seven agricultural areas, which are 

 more or less clearly marked topographically, climatically, and phyto- 

 logically. They are: 



1. The Interior Plateau Belt, dissected into long ridges separated by 

 deep canyons, some of them running in a more or less northwesterly 

 direction, other and shorter ones almost due west. This belt is 

 bounded on the west by the redwood forest and on the east by the 

 Mayacama, Yallo Bolley, and South Fork mountains. Lying at a 

 higher altitude, 2,000 to 4,000 feet, it enjoys a warmer summer tem- 

 perature and less moisture than the Coast Bluff belt; also its soil is 

 heavier, containing more clay and less sand. With the exception 

 of a few mountain valleys included within its limits this is almost 

 exclusively a pastoral area. 



2. The Coast Bluff Belt, a narrow stretch of agricultural and pastoral 

 land varying from 1 to 3 miles in width, and occupying a mesa or 



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