the great valley of central california rises almost in the center of the state it is more than four hundred miles long and sixty miles wide and except for the narrow opening at san francisco bay it is surrounded by ranges of high mountains a long time ago this whole area was a great go and arm of the pacific ocean twenty swift streams flowed into it from the surrounding mountains rushing mountain streams like this carried millions of tons of earth down into the gulf now what happened after that went on for thousands of years decayed raw materials from the mountains were dumped into the gulf and spread out by the rivers and streams gradually the gulf fills up with these earths materials now all that is left of the old gulf is san francisco bay after countless thousands of years the great central valley was formed a valley filled with deep fertile soils and drained dry to reverse systems the sacramento fed by many tributaries flows from the northern end  down to the land east of san francisco and the san joaquin drains the southern end of the great valley flowing northward to the delta and the bay now we see that the valley is high at the north and south end and slopes to nearly sea level where the two rivers meet in the day as of the early settlers cattle were raised in the northern part of the great valley in the long hot summer as they could be driven up into the green meadows of the nearby mountains but some areas in the sacramento valley it was so dry that only sheep could be grazed profitably frighted the south in the san joaquin valley there was so little rainfall that millions of acres were wasteland only a handful of settlers tried to make this forbidding land supports them and these men in the san joaquin valley envied the farmers who took up the land four hundred miles to the north because most of the northern province of the great valley had enough water for wheat corn and vegetables the farms of this proud of the valley were prosperous the wealth of this northern section of the great valley was water flowing from the nearby mountains the farmers on this land harvested rich crops dairy farming prospered with green pastures and  water now let's remember this frying farm in the well watered pride of the northern valley and compare it with this in the southern sam rocky this oil is rich given enough water it could produce bountiful harvest only about forty miles from this drive valley floor but higher in the rain more sierra nevada mountains are the giant sequoia trees how mighty water can be in shaping the landscape but nature had not provided water down in the valley millions of acres would have remained a barren waste if the men who settled this pride of the great valley had not used their knowledge and strength to irrigate the land they dug wells and pump water into the naturally fertile soil as more and more why it was needed they build reservoirs to hold the excess water  the winter rains the frost free growing season is more than two hundred forty days a year and with irrigation many farms produce several crops each year today the valley is benefiting from the creation of a giant irrigation project many huge reservoirs and a great network of canals and pumping stations provide water for millions of acres in the great valley the nile river the climate and soil of the entire central valley are excellent for grapes and it's vineyards rival those of france and italy many varieties of grapes are used to make the which the valley is famous and here is another famous crop of the valley raisins the right grapes are placed on paper trays right in the vineyard where the hot sun dries them and turns the juice int sugar when they are dry on top they are turned to dry the grapes evenly and prevent mildew the city of fresno is known as the rays in the center of the world men use the hot sun of the long rainless summer to dry grapes into raisins plums in the prunes as well as figs pears and apricot dried fruit is a major product of the great valley and conditions for drying it are at their best near fresno finally the tray is nearly dried fruit stacked so that nature will finish the process slowly in the shade some writers operate their own roadside stand selling produce to customers who come along the highways but most of the crops go to nearby fresno where they are prepared for market that's a load of fresh picked grapes bound for market is stockton the natural fertility of the delta land has been increased by another system of canals and pumping stations distributing water to four hundred thousand acres of rich farmland the irrigated land produces valuable harvests of viens carrots celery tomatoes in fact a great many different kinds of crops are grown here on the rich down to the soil and stockton has become the key city in the central valley for marketing and distributing fresh vegetables and fruits by their north near the state capital sacramento we'll see how the farmers have made use of the lowlands bordering the sacramento river this broad river provides ample water for rice growers here we can see how rice is grown in china or egypt but this fertile rice field is in california huge fields are flooded dived into a large square is quite unlike the small patties of china or egypt the water supply of the northern sacramento valley has been increased by huge reservoir is like the one behind shasta dam water is distributed to thousands of acres that were once useful only for wheat or broccoli but are now capable of producing more profitable crops such as fruits irrigation and modern farm machinery increase the yield of the land and provide employment for millions of people the city of sacramento chief trading center for the northern valley lies at the head of navigation on the sacramento river oil tankers and brushes deliver fuel oil for sacramento's mills and factories for this city has become a busy manufacturing center producing tools and machines needed by the farmers of the valley to ship these products and to bring produce but by far the greater tonnage of vegetables and fruits goes to the cannery where it is processed and packed for safe delivery to all parts of the world stockton is famous as the canning center of the valley fruits and vegetables are often completely processed can labels and created ready to ship within a few hours after they have been picked in the fields stockton like sacramento is located on navigable river here on the san joaquin the farmers and packers goods may be loaded into ships for asia or australia or into trucks or freight cars which distributes the harvest of the central valley to every state in the union today the central valley of california is a rich source of food and wells for the whole nation three rapidly growing cities sacramento in the north stockton on the great delta and fresno in the south serve the regions around them we have seen how the farmers have used irrigation to turn useless land into rich farms and we have seen how the land and the climate help to shape th lives and occupations of the people who live the in this central valley