The San Francisco call., 1897-02-19
THE OLOVBRDALE FAIR.

In his address at the opening OF the
Sonoma County Fair at Cloverdale Judge
A. G. Burnett of Santa Rosa very truly
said that no words or advertising docu-
ments could so clearly express the fertility
and resources of Sonoma Valley as the
fine exhibits of fruit and wine which he
saw around him. This statement, though
trite, was worth uttering and worth COM
ment. 1t can never be too often repeated
that the best and surest way for California
to make her resources known is to exhi bit
them.
The people OF the Eastern States are
ignorant of the real conditions of CaIifor-
MIA. They know a little about some sec
tions, but of the State as a whole they
know almost nothing. Accustomed to
think of States as they exist in the East
where each has certain definite climate
and a certain limit OF products, they do
not realize that in California there is an
infinite variety, and that within the limits
of this commonwealth we have the SHOWS
and pine forests of Name ombined with
the orange groves and mild winters of
Florida. The few people of the East who
do know something OF the wide range of
our products do not know that there is q
citrus belt in the northern as well as the
southern part of the State, and that the
area of California suited for the produc-
tion of semi-tropical fruits reaches further
in line from north to south than it does
from east to west.
The Cloverdale Citrus Society, in erect
ing handsome and spacious pavilion for
holding county fairs, has conferred an
inns M banafiF nn1r NJ ~
of Cloverdale and county of Sonoma but
upon the whole State. Reports of the ex-
hibits will find their way to the East. and
people in that section Of the country who
think OF seeking homes in milder clim a tes
will be sure to look on the map to see
where Cloverdale is. In this way an i'm
portant work of educating the Eastern
mind will be accomplished, and the fair
will achieve far more for Northern Cali
fornia than will be apparent from the sur
face.
From the reports which come to us it
seems that the exhibit includes a much
larger variety of fruit than even some Cal
ifornians expected. There are excellent
displays, not only of oranges and lemons.
but of lines, figs, prunes, olives and
almonds. That the wine exhibit is good
goes without saying, for Sonoma has long
been famous for its wine production. 1t
is to be noted that among other displays
was a considerable one of silkworm CO.
coons. This gives another promise of the
coming of the time when California will
be a silk-producing State and when we
will be able to furnish perhaps all the silk
which the American market demands.
Taking all things into consideration the
exhibit has been notable one in every
respect, and reflects credit upon the enter
prise and the management Of the men
who promoted it. The Cloverdale fair will
take rank hereafter among the important
State events of each succeeding year and,
as time passes, will receive an increasing
patronage. Congratulations are therefore
due to the men and women who have
taken the risks of the experiment and
made it successful. They. deserve the
thanks not only of their own community
but of the State at large.