The record-union., 1897-07-06

>
chief market town, and the jobbing
trade from this terminal point and COM
petltive center reaches hundreds of
miles in all directions, and extends be-
yond the bounds of the State into ad-
jacent States and distant Territories.
Manufacturing is limited to foundries,
wood working establishments, Touring
mills, iron works, pipe works, meat
packing, vegetable and fruit canning
and packing, and some lesser industries.
The city is supplied with electric light
ana power from three sources, one from
local manufacture, two from natural
power. One of these is at Folsom
twenty-five miles distant, where a great
dam spans the American River and pro-
duces power that is transmitted cleo
trically to Sacramento and here distri
buted from an extensive and model sub
station. The extent of this power is
practically unlimited, since it is but a
matter of duplication of water deliveries
to turbine wheels. Another source Of
light and power is furnished by the
waters of the Yuba River, with a power
house some thirty miles distant, from
which point transmission is made by
wire to the sub-station in this city. Sac
ramento enjoys the distinction of being
the first city in the United States to
demonstrate the commercial possibility
o. long distance transmission Of cleo
trica1 energy.
Beyond the foothill range on the east
Of the city lie boundless forests of sugar
pine that now furnish to manufacture
raw material of great value and the be-
ginning of the utilization of which has
just opened, and is manifest in the first
large wood working mill operated by
electric power at Folsom, where the
great American River dam is located.
The bottom lands Of the Sacramento
and American Rivers, all tributary to
this city, are conceded to be the richest
and most fertile in the United States. On
them are found the largest hop fields in
the world, and fruit, grain and veget-
able production on these lands is carried
on upon every present available acre
ON these bottoms two crops of barley
or wheat in one season are harvested.
Beet sugar cultivation is now in the ad-
county and with every promise of sue
cess. In the low land section alfalfa
growing is carried on with greater sue
cess than in any other spot on the coast,
or probably in the United States. To
state the number of crops of alfalfa har-
vested each season without reseeding,
would be to invite suspicion that We are
drawing a very long bow.
The county is notable for berry grow
ing of ali varieties and Of this product
is an extensive shipper. 1t produces,
probably, the best and most asparagus
of any point in the State. 1t is grown
here with remarkable ease and success
for shipment throughout the whole
transmontaine region.
Our winter seasons are wet with dry
stretches extending from three to thirty
days. Rarely do we have violent storms.
Hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones are
unknown. To speak of cave shelter
here one would not be understood.
While the summers are warm, the Win
ters are cooler than in the coast coun-
Of
bodies of salt water While fogs on the
coast are common, in the valley they are
abnormal. In the fall and winter we
have them occasionally, but never to
material discomfort.
Vegetables we have in full variety the
year round. If there is any one variety
we do not have all the time in season,
some neighboring section supplies the
need and we reciprocate with a produc-
ton that is seasonable with US and not
with our neighbor. So it is, that except
reference to tomatoes and cucumbers
only, we are able to say that we have
fresh vegetables all the year, green from
the field or garden.
Our berry and melon seasons are long,
and we do not trespass upon the truth
when we say that California tables may
command outdoor grown strawberries
any week in the entire year.
Oranges ripen with us in December
and adorn our tables and satisfy our
desire at Christmas tide and until Feb
ruary, when the orange growth of
Southern California comes to market,
and supplements our own, so that for
joy the fruitage of their orange groves.
Olives we grow in abundance, and the
oil we express in quantities. The ripe
picked olives of our foothills is a lux
ury to which we invite the taste of our
visitors. AS indicative of our climatic
advantages, we can assure our friends
from the East that our lawns are green
every day in the year, and are mown
in every month of the twelve.
Frost occasionally burns the young
tendrils of our vines and plays mis-
chief with our smaller fruits, such as
cherries, and does injury to the peach
and the apricot. But these damages
are seldom extensive, and frost vista
tions only rarely affect a wide belt.
For Californians have nothing to con-
ceal. Our rose is not without its thorn,
but our claim is that our thorns are
as those which the home regions of our