The Garden of California

Why do we call this valley the "Garden of California"?

The Great Valley contains the largest area of rich land in California. It has also a climate which will grow almost everything that can be desired, and finally it has an abundance of water for irrigation.

Much of the area of the valley is yet uncultivated, much is still devoted to grain, but wherever water has been carried orchards and vineyards and thickly clustered homes with every comfort are turning it into a garden.

The successful growing of alfalfa has led to the development of dairying and hog raising until they have become important industries.

Oranges, lemons, figs and olives are grown everywhere, but the two first do best about the borders of the valley where the land rises to meet the foothills, for here it is less frosty.

The growing of table grapes is an important industry. The climate and soil of the Fresno district have been found especially suited to the raisin grape and so this has become the center of the raisin industry of the state.

Peaches, apricots and pears are raised in great quantities. These together with cherries reach the market first from the Vacaville region.

The "delta" about which we have just learned is remarkable for the variety and richness of its productions. If we take the steamer down the river from Sacramento in the summer, we see the boat taking on fruit and melons at every landing. If we go up the San Joaquin River to Stockton, we see men taking care of great fields of potatoes, celery, asparagus and onions.

The growing of rice along the lowlands has become one of the most important industries of the Sacramento Valley. If it were not for the absence of the curious costumes of the people of the East we might almost imagine, when we look at these great fields of rice, that we were in Japan, China or Java. Cotton growing is being tried in the San Joaquin Valley, where the great heat and long growing season offer favorable conditions.

How do the people of the valley dispose of the vast quantities of fruit which they raise?

Thousands of carloads of fresh fruit and vegetables are sent to the Eastern market from Sacramento, which has become the central shipping point. The use of refrigerator cars enables these products to reach the East in a fresh condition.

Many canneries use up a large part of the fresh fruit, while immense quantities are dried. Dried fruits will keep a long time and can be sent to any part of the world.

Does the Great Valley supply any minerals?

We do not look for minerals in a valley because they are usually found in rocks. In the valleys the rocks are buried deeply by the soil, but they appear everywhere in the hills and mountains which inclose the valleys.

In the hills about the borders of the southern San Joaquin Valley, and in some places extending into the valley, are some of the most wonderful petroleum deposits known in all the world.

Nature seems to have placed the oil fields in the driest and most desert-like portion of the valley, as though she wished to have all the land useful for something.

The most important fields are the Kern, near Bakersfield; the Sunset, Midway and McKittrick, on the west side of the valley opposite Bakersfield, and the Coalinga field, on the opposite side of the valley from Fresno.

The oil is obtained by drilling wells in the earth, some of them being nearly a mile deep. The oil is dark and some of it is quite thick before it is refined. The dark oil is valuable as fuel for engines of all kinds. It has largely taken the place of wood and coal upon the railroads of the West and upon the boats plying the Pacific Ocean.

There are many wonderful wells in the Sunset district. Two wells spouted oil high in the air for many months, and produced as much as 50,000 barrels of oil each per day.

Immense quantities of gas, suitable for lighting and for running engines, comes out of the oil. Much of the gas was at first wasted, but now it is piped to Los Angeles, where it is used for many purposes.

Rev 2000-02-18