Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-01-13
WHOLE NO. 1886.

and comparatively undeveloped foothill
region OF Northern California
we say vast This foothill region is
vast 1t ranges from Calaveras to
Shasla on the east Of us, and from
Napa to Trinity on the west of
us. and in all this great extent of
rolling country the soil and temperature
ana productive capacity are not materially
dlssimiiar at the same altitude The foot
hllis however, vast as ere their extent and
great and varied as are their resources.
constitute but the fringe, as it were, to the
great araoie regions OF northern California
! The Sacramento valley contains in round
numbers nearly 100000 acres of land or
more than the total area of Connecticut
and Delaware combined. Northern Cali
! lorna, embracing about 80 900 SQUARE miles
| OF territory, Is an empire within itself.
1t possesses numerous advantages not pos
sessed by the southern portion Of this State.
ana yet us praises are less sung, and as a
matter OF fact il is less known abroad than
! is southern California. Some have sup
gested that northern California is good and
great and grand enough without prasing,
while southern California. like the
preachers coffee, has 10 be praised in order
10 be swallowed. We, however are too
: much OF Il Californian to desire TO reflect
on any portion of our great State or to
detract one iota from the merits due to any
Z
| its greatness and rapid development teach
us the wonderful possibilities of northern
| California, with lis mines, its timber, its
greater rainfall, its inexhaustible water
supply, its navigabe rivers its mountain
lakes and grander scenery, its greater ara
bic area, its better transportation faciIi-
ties its fogless and coudless summer
skies and its winterless winters.
| 1t is well known here that all
the products for which California is ia.
nous can be grown i'll as great quantities,
and 10 as great a degree of perfection. in
the northern and middle counties as in any
other part of the State. Indeed, the great
volume OF the wheat export goes from
northern California, and of the .O25 car
loads of fresh fruits shipped from Califor-
mia during the past season, all but G6 car
loads were from the central and northern
portions of the State. About 800 carloads
were shipped from the Sacramento district.
showing conclusively that this city, the
commercial center of northern California.
is also the great center of the California
! fruit trade.
But then you will say, What has these
| great and varied productions got to do
with citrus fruits? Wheat and hay are
not oranges; peaches, pluIns and pears are
not lemons; grapes are not olives. Very
true; but we have said this much to indi-
cate briefly some of the characteristics and
possibilities of northern California in gem
eral Now, if in addition we can show
that northern and central California is the
natural home of the orange, it is to be
! hoped we shall not have talked in vain.
In the first place, while claiming that
northern California is the natural home of
! the orange, let us admit that southern Cali
| fornia, in the production of this rich and
valuable fruit, is at present far ahead of us.
Notwithstanding this, however, l will risk
repeating the prediction made in the New
Year edition of the RECORD UNION by DIR.
! Frey. of Newcastle to the effect that in the
course of time certain sections of northern
California will be preferred for the produc-
ton of the citrus fruits.
We Jamestown how by gradual expert
ment, and always in the face of popular
prejudice, one after another of our resources
has been unfolded. How at first it was
said there was no farming land in Califor-
mia, and how finally, the alluyial soil of
the river bottoms was admitted TO be good
for farming. How for years the plains
land was regarded as worthless for wheat
and how they now constitute the great
wheat fields of the greatest wheat State in
the Union. How the foothills were de-
spised for their apparent barrenness, and
how to-day they are giving proofs of be-
coming the richest and best fruit region of
the world.
Those who have been here for twenty
five or thirty years and observed these
changes will admit that the proof of our
capacity for the production of citrus fruits
in northern California is to-day much
more positive than was the proof of the
capacity of the foothills for the production
of such fruits as they are now noted, ten
years ago.
The question will naturally be asked,
Why, if northern California is adapted to
the growth of citrus fruits, is the indus
try so backward compared to the same in
dustry in southern California? The an
swer is not far to seek. In the first place
it must be remembered that emigration
projects itself on lines of latitude in the
movements of population. You trace ma
tionalities to their resting place generally
on the line of latitude from which they
start. The Swedes and Norwegans settle
in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Span
iards, Portuguese and Italians in Florida
and Louisiana. So of our own States The
New England States sent the overflow OF
population into New York and northern
Ohio, northern Indiana Illinois and Iowa.
The old colonies of Virginia and North
Carolina settled in southern Indiana, south
ern Illinois and Missouri. A people carry
with them the agriculture with which thev
are most familiar An emigrant from a
corn and wheat-raising country tests the
value of the country to which he emigrates
by its capacity to produce bread stuffs and
meats Northern California was settled
largely from the Northern States by men
but little versed in fruit culture, and es-
pecially the culture of citrus fruits. If the
country north of Stockton had been settled
by Portuguese, Spaniards, Italians and en-
igranis from France, the region TODAY
would doubtless he celebrated for the va
riety and quality and excellence of lis
citrus fruits Gerke whose 100 acres of
|
vineyard at Nina, the largest vineyard in the
world, was FTench-Swiss, and from the vine
craving region of Switzerland. The first
thought that occurred to him in occupying
his new home, us a transplanted inhab-
liant was" Will the products have been
accustomed to at home grow here?" lie
made the experiment, and found the an
swer to be in the affirmative But the
| wheat-raiserS of Butte and Colusa came
from countries where wheat and corn cat
tie and hogs were the chief objects of agr-
cultural industry. On the other hand
there was a large infusion of Southern
European element in the early settlement
of southern California. Their habits and
natures led them early to engage in the
citrus fruit industry, and to establish the
adaptability of that portion of the State
for the production of those fruits. Be-
side, the early American settlers of
southern California did not have to
await the result of experiment
to demonstrate that citrus fruits would
grow and mature in lat part of the State.
The Jesuit fathers had planted the olive
and the orange at the old missions in
southern California long before the advent
of the American people to this coast Con-
sidering, therefore, all these conditions.
our greatest wonder is that the develop
ment OF the citrus fruit industry in
the southern counties is not further
advanced than il is, and that
to-day their exports are not greater than
we find them. Northern California con-
tanned no mission, and no growing orange
tree on the advent of American i'm
migration. IL contained mines. rich
and numerous, and to them aud their de-
velopment all minds were directed Even
when the best surface digl,inss began to be
worked ont and a portion of our popula-
ton turned their attention to agriculture
and horticulture. our more northern lati-
tude. in the absence of such observations
as We're calculated to demonstrate the char
acter and temperature of that latitude.
served Ql~(. AIIra m s.tr