Arizona miner., 1866-07-11
ArisOna SNiner.
THE FRUITS OF .CALlFORlA AND
 SACRAMENTO

In late letter to the New York TriJap,, A. D. Richardson. one of Che Coliax party, writes as follows from san Francisco:
 The fruits of California, unequaled in variety and luSuriousness, are her surpossing riches. Trees are twice as large as in New York or Ohio at the same age. In one year the cherry has grown n feet high, the pear 10 feet, and the stems of peach trees 5 inches m diameter. One peach tree year from the bud grew feet high, with trunk circum- ference of St6 inches. 4 peach twig foot long, stuck in the Uround in 1858, bore fruit the next year. The apple tree bears in the second or third year from the bud, and ap- pies have been exhibited weighing 2H lbs. Distinctly 8 northern fruit, however, requir- ing a cold climate, it has not the pungeut flavor which New England and Oregon i'm part. But the enormous peaches, the straw berres-whose vines produce four or i've crops a year ar-and grapes, which grow with incredible profusion, have . peca,iarly rich and generous taste that fingers lovingly on the p9late
 In the orchard of Wilson Flint. near Sacramento, l saw hundreds of pear trees, seven years from the graft, each containing six boxes of pears of sixty pounds ench. At wholesale, in winter, they command from five to six cents per pound. by which weight fruits, vegetables and grain are invariably sold. These pears were enormous, though far from their full growth, and Flint assures me that they sometimes weigh 2% pounds each. 1 noticed a cluster of six, growing on one twig almost as close as they could be packed in dish and nearly as large as a mans fist This was the 2Gth of August, and the graft which bore them was put in last April It was the most wonderful sight off summer journey. Jonah's goard ceases to be the symbol of miraculous growth
 'ln the same orchard hundreds Of fig trees bent under rich purple fruit. Olives, pome- granates, lemons and aprlcots grow in various sections. The orchards of the State contain also about 2,500 orange trees. When six or eight years old they produce fruit, and con tiuue for half a century A fourteen years they are in full bearing, yielding from 1000 to 2.O10 orange pc= s.ce rAeT- a.gilssss,ssis7s. early in spring; the fruit is ripe in the fol- lowing February, and, if left on the branches, keeps until May. A full grown tree is thirty feet high, with dense bushy top nine or ten yards in diameter. It requires irrigation and careful culture.
 "Flint's vineyard, only five years old, con tained scores of varieties of delicious grapes, growing in enormous clusters, several bunch es weighing fully five pounds each. On Gov ernor Lows table one morning was a six pound bunch from the Sacramento market. Clusters weighing eight or ten pounds excite but little attention, and l am assured that bunch of r pounds was exhibited at the Fair. Two hundred varieties are cultivated :I the most delicate Malaga grapes. indeed near ly all vines from the Atlantic slope, Europe Asia and Africa flourish in this kindly soil The trnit growers began te make rsisiHs and preserve figs, and with the completion of the Pacific Railroad they expect to supply the eastern markets daily with fresh grapes. The crop never fails, and is said to average to the acre double the yield of the best vineyards of Ohio, France aud Germany The Catawba, though smaller than some varieties. excels, l think, all others in flavor. The vineyards of the State, of which more than one-third are in Los Angeles county, cover upward of ten thousand acres. The largest is in Sonoma county, and contains 5000 vines In 1861 the wine product was about 1000 gallons. and 1t has largely increased since Many varieties of still and sparkling wines are pro duced, but in general they are raw, 'beady and far less pleasant here than after they reach New York. The long voyage improves them greatly, and age adds much 10 their navor One uay this Will be leading branch of commerce, and the wines of California will excel those Of all other countries.
 Sacramento, the State capital, is at the head of tide-water on the Sacramento river. l20 miles above San Francisco. Its history is chapter of moving accidents by flood and field. Again and again it was destroyed by conhagration and submerged by freshets. and more than once schooners sailed through the principal streets. A friend assures ne that one night, upon returning home in boat, he found COW in his drawing room and tied her to the hall bannister, lest the food should float her up stairs before morning. Levees now guard the city from overflow, and the grade is being changed to afford sure and per manent protection The well shaded city, though intensely hot in summer, is agreeable, and contains much wealth and culture.r
 THE HusK PAPER.-The process of making f