Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-02-16
QUE CALIFORNIA LETTER.
SACRAMENTO CITY. January q, 1888
ISpeciaI Correspondence.

/
/ California the largest State in the Union
| except Texas is 700 miles long with an
! average width of $50 miles. The Sierra
! Nevada and Coast Range of mountains run
parallel, northeast and southwest, the Sler-
| ras having an altitude of from 5000 to
$4,000 feet; the Coast Range from = 800
to j, 900 feet and they are divided by a
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 Sacrament
to river, a navigable stream for about 100
miles from its entrance into Suisun bay. a
small bay at the head of the bay OF San
! Francisco
Sacramento valley proper includes thu
counties of Sacramento, Yuba, Butte, Te-
hama, Colusa, Suffer, Yolo and Solane,
these being bordered by the mountain
counties of Amador, FL Dorado, Placer,
Nevada Sierra, Plumas, Shasta, Trinity,
Mendocino, Lake and Napa, afording
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 a
| dark, rich adobe and alluvial 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 dit
ferent soil, some being sands, of light color,
others light clay, and much deep red clay.
| The SUBMITS 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
| aims, being the favorite resort of large
| herds of sheep and cattle during the sum-
mer months
Along tie foothills there is more or less
dense growth of fuel timber, principally
| oak. The mountain sides are covered
| n n =
Astounding in game. The climate of
the valley is warm in summer and
not cold, the thermometer rarely dropping
| below 80 degrees above zero in winter.
In june July and August the mercury fire.
| quently rises to 100 and occasionally ITO
degrees, but owing to the peculiar dryness
! of the air and constant circulation of the
Winds which take off all perspration and
cool the body, the heat is not oppressive,
and business in the towns and harvesting
| in the fields go on as usual, a case of sun
stroke being very rare indeed. The mineral
| belt is in the foothills and mountains, the
| gold once Astounding in the beds of all the
streams in ravines and gulches, ON the
surface of gravelly plains, in the clay hills,
| on the tops of the mountains and in the
| great veins of the rocky ridges. Much still
remains and thousands OF miners yet derive
remunerattve employment digging it out
! but the old miners now caution the new
| conner with the proverbs Gold is where you
| find it.
Stretching along the foothills and up the
mountain sides to the altitude of 2, 500 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 thro Wn upon the valley Tender
| plants and seui-uopical fruits are grown
| in profusion, as was fully demonstrated at
E.,, I,1I i -.
| ty, III December last This thermal belt il
also noted for itswonderful curative qualities
| in lung and asthmatic complaints But very
| little good Government or railroad land
| near the railroads or rivers remain. Land
is worth from So to $500 per acre according
| to location and improvements. In the foot
hill region land is selling from So to $50
| per acre. In the valley bordering on the
| Sacramento river large ranches Of from
| 1000 to 10000 acres have been the pre-
| vailing feature AS population comes in
| these will be subdivided and on their + CHI
| aluvial soil thousands of small FARMS the
| homes of thrifty families, will be estab-
| lished, but this can not be accomplish
until the population increases and there
a demand The population of this great
State is about l, 800 900, but it is capable
of supporting 10, 0OO,O 900 people.
| All this vast region of soil, water and
climate, unsurpassed by any other, now in
| vites population-not lazy, shiftless, i'm
| pecunious persons, such would soon starve
or be found begging-but men with brain
and muscle and enough money to give
| them a 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 much
| the better, can find abundant opportunities
| to secure at moderate cost such home as
viii be pleasant and profitable. A man
with family willing to help him, if he has
| from 81 900 to So, 900 in hand, is safe to
| make a beginning which, if he is judicious,
| should lead him to prosperity
! There are mineral springs in the foot-hill
| ranges upon both sides of the Sacramento
valley that vie in their curative qualities
with the far-famed springs of Germany,
| and are resorted to by invalids from every
section of the United States
| 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 road
having been completed within the last
| 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-contnental railroads-the Central
| Pacific, Southern Pacific and the Atchison.
| Topeka & Santa Fee, with the prospect of
| other roads soon coming, affording in
creased facilities and reduced rates of
transportation, has given wonderful i'm
will soon be considered the garden spot of
| the world The Sacramento valley has cup
piled nine tenths of the fruit sent East, and
| the 6 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-
mia fruits, and the progress and develop
meEt of the fruit business will be something
wonderful
Fruit canneries and driers are being es-
tablished and thousands of tons of fruit
are preserved in this manner. Good farm
| hands get from $50 to $50 per month by
the year; harvest hands, 81. so to So 50
per day: mechanics. from So to 81 per
day; good house servants. from SO to
$50 per month, and are scarce Chinese
are largely employed in house service, but
could be easily displaced by bright Amer
lean or German girls who would be willing
to go into the country. The Celtic girls
as n rule dislike To leave the cities