The Arizona sentinel., 1888-03-03
OUR CALIFORNIA LETTER.
SACRAMENTO CITY. January 2i, 1888 Especial Correspoudenee.l

T-T il, GOO feet; the Coast Range from 2,5O0 to 1, 900 feet, and they are divided by number of valleys and rivers, the principal one being the Sacramento valley, 200 miles in length and 40 miles average width, through which runs the Sacramen- to river, a navigable stream for about 150 miles from it's entrance into Suisun bay, small bay at the head of the bay of San Francisco.
 Sacramento valley proper includes the counties of Sacramento, Tuba, Butte, Te- hama Colusa, Sutter, Yolo and Solane, these being bordered by the noun tain counties of Amador, Fl Dorado, Placer, Nevada Sierra, Plumas Shasta, Trinity, Mendocino, Lake and Napa, affording a great variety of soil and climate. owing to the difference in elevation.
 The soil of the valley counties bordering upon the Sacramento river is principally dark, rich adobe and a.lUvial soil, and well adapted to the growth of cereals. Along the foot hills varieties of soil from black adobe to light sandy soil appears The lower slopes of the mountains contain diff ferent soil, some being sands, of light color, others light clay, and much deep red clay. The summits are more rocky and volcanic, and the soils vary, some being clay hills, sandy ridges, loamy meadows and deep, rich valleys in the very tops of the mount ains being the favorite resort of large herds of sheep and cattle during the sum- mer months
 Stretching along the foothills and up the mountain sides to tEe altitude of 2 300 feet is what is known as the thermal belt." It is in this belt where the warm air fingers when the sun goes down, and to which the warm air rises when the first rays of the morning sun are tbrO VII upon the valley. Tender plants and semi-uopical fruits are grown in profusion, as was fully demonstrated at the Citrus fair held ill Oroyille, Butte Coun- ty, iu December last This thermal belt is also noted for l6swonderful curative qualities in lung and asthmatic complaints. hut very little good Government or railroad land near the railroads or rivers remain. Land is worth from $5 to $500 per acre according to location and improvements. In the foot hill region land is selling from S5 to $50 per acre. In the valley bordering on the Sacramento river large ranches of from 1000 to 60,000 acres have been the pre- vailiny feature As population comes in these will be subdivided and on their r ch alIuvial soil thousands of small farms the homes of thrifty families, will be estab- 1ished, but this can not be accomplished until the population increases and there is a demand The population of this great State is about l, 300, 900, but it is capable of supporting 10, 900, 900 people
 All this vast region of soil, water and climate, unsurpassed by any other, now in vite5 population-no5 lazy, shif5less im- pecunious persons, such would soon starve or be found begging-but men with brain and muscle, and enough money to give them fair start enough to sustain them while improving the lands, to make them produce that for which nature intended them-such men, if with families so much the better, can ind abundant opportunities to secure at moderate cost such home as will be pleasant and profitable. man with 2 family willing to help him, if he has from $1, 900 to $3, 900 in hand, is safe to make beginning which, if he is judicious, should lead him to prosperity.
 Two branches of the Central Pacific rail road leaves & Sacramento-one on the east side of the valley, via Marysville and Chico and the intermediate towns, the other on the west side, via Woodland Willows and Williams and intermediate towns uniting at Tehama, the now head of navigation on Sacramento river. From thence the road is continued to Portland, Ore, this TO Id
 
 sixty days, opening up country wonderfully rich in farming timber and mineral prod uctS
 Until the past five years the raising of wheat and barley was the principal occu- patton of the farmers of the Sacramento valley, the grain being transported to Europe on ships, but the completion of three trans-cOntinental rairoadS-the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka X Santa Fe with the pros pect of other roads soon coming, affOrding in creased facilities and reduced rates transportation, has given a wonderful i'm petus toward raising fruit, and California will soon be considered the garden spot of the world. The Sacramento valley has sup piled nine-tenths of the fruit sent E st, and the " Fruit Growers Union," an association of farmers, in the year 1887 sold their fruit in New York and Boston on the auction plan, and with gratifying success It will be tried in other cities this coming season, with reduced rates of transportation, so that sixty million of people in the United States can afford to purchase these Califor- uia fruits, and the progress and develop ment of the fruit business will be something wonderful
 The largest grain growers in the valleys do their blowing with gang blows and their harvesting with the latest improved machinery. Consequently farm hands in the past had employment only during Q portion of the year, but since the fruit and vine business is coming to the front, more and continuous labor is required, and in some of the mere advanced fruit districts during the fruit picking season the school vacations are extended in order to allow the children to assist in securing the crops.
 Fruit canneries and driers are being es- tablished and thousands of tons of fruit are preserved in this manner Good farm hands get from $25 to $50 per month by the year; harvest hands, $l. 90 to $2 50 per day; mechanics, from $2 to $4 per day; good house servants, from $15 to $50 per month, and gre scarce. Chinese are largely employed in house service, but could be easily displaced by bright Amer ican or German girls who would be willing to go into the country. The Celtic girls, as a rule, dislike to leave the cities
 Railroads now traverse the principal val leys, the rate of fare being three cents per mile on valley and four cents per mile on mountain routes.
 Dry-goods, clothing, and, in fact all the lighter class of goods can be purchas d as cheapiy as in the Western States Heavy goods, where freight is an important item Of cost are more eXpens,ve.
 Banks, both commercial and savings, are plenty, the current rate of interest at this time be ng seven to nine per cent per an- mum. Hotel accommodation bosh good and reasonable, fair Do rd being obtained at twenty-five cents per meal and tour dollars per week First-class hotels charge from two to four dollars per day for room and board
 There are plenty of good newspapers, churches and schools The writer, in his